Robin was a treble, Hel was an alto. In the Allegri, I was in the semi-chorus with Ella (?), Margaret Duthie, & Stephen Power, hidden behind the altar. My friend Stuart was a ringer, adding some heft to the bass line. A cat emerged from the middle of the choir during the Gibbons (see photos). And one of the tenors (not in photos) finished the concert lying on a slab at the back of the church awaiting an ambulance.

Tracks in alphabetical order (if anyone has the programme I shall rearrange these!):

Allegri: Misere Mei

Bairstow: Let all mortal flesh keep silence

Bassano: Dic Nobis, Maria

Duthie: Song of the Nuns of Chester

Gibbons: O clap your hands

Mendelssohn: Lift thine eyes, from Elijah

Parry: My soul, there is a country

Parry: Never weather-beaten sail

Parry: There is an old belief

Rhienberger: Abendlied

Sheppard: In manus tuas

Stanford: Justorum animae

Stanford: Coelos ascendit hodie

Stanford: Beati quorum via

Wood: Hail, gladdening light

Photos

Chimneys and Pen y Fan

Pen y Fan and Corn Du

Railings on the Prom

Buckingham Place, viewed from the river path

Minor murmuration, this nearly worked, but not quite!

Big cold tree

Pollards in The Avenue

crocodiles…

teenage skimmer…

first snowdrops…

and an epic panorama…

Lessons learned, it was much easier this time, though still pretty tricky and some bits seemed warped with age (know the feeling). We looked at photos of other assembled RZ85s on the internet to work out how the gunwale bits went together (not easily!), and had to make do without a couple of nuts. Here’s the finished article, after about an hour of building:

Now there’s not much water in our garden, so the next step was to lug the thing to the river at the Prom, where Lois assured me there was a purpose-built entry ramp for canoes. The thing felt quite manageable for the first thirty feet or so, but then became surprisingly heavy and awkward, so lots of rests were called for. Tim Cronin zoomed past on a mountain bike, one eyebrow distinctly raised, while we contemplated crossing the road.

We made it to the Prom, chucked the thing in the river, and watched intently to see whether water came pouring in. It didn’t. Then we put a Lois into it, and I watched for a while longer – still no water, so I added my substantial self, and since all seemed well we paddled off upstream.

We only had one and a half double paddles, as one had a split thingie, so Lois took the half, being more used to Canadian canoeing.

We went as far as Forest Beach the first time, and chickened out at the rough water and barely-submerged rocks, as Lois thought it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if we made a hole in the bottom hull.

We’d also noticed that some bits of the frame weren’t as correctly assembled as we had thought, which we couldn’t fix from the inside. So we hurtled back to the Prom (the thing is really quite nippy with two people paddling, and this was downstream), got it onto the bank, and pummelled it into submission. Then back into the river for a tour of the weir and back up to Forest Beach, where this time we braved the rapids and made it through, only to be truly defeated by major obstacles a bit further up. Must try again when the water is higher.

Anyway here we are back again at the Prom, eagerly looking forward to the uphill lugging back home. We need a trolley!

It was a fun expedition, but the logistics of the unpacking, construction, moving and vice versa are a chore, so I’m not sure how much use it will get in Brecon. It wants a camping holiday by a lake, with lots of other things to do for the people who aren’t in the canoe.

Notes about the Pouch RZ85

Some history of Pouch http://www.pouchboats.com/background.html

And a truly amazing steam-powered version

http://www.faltbootbasteln.de/fbb-dampf-faltboot.html

We have a new Dean called Paul Shackerley

Who’s renowned for the way he spectacularly

Offended everyone

By saying “sin is fun”

Though he claims that he didn’t mean it actually

The Dean and his wife like to dine

on communion wafers and wine;

when it’s time for dessert

they rearrange her skirt

and together sing Hymn 69.

Anon, 10th March 2013

The Minor Canon of Swansea

has decided to leave Aberhonddu

he's going to the Rhondda

where the people are rather

more fond of a priest in a onesie