It's been a busy day in tour-planning HQ today, with large numbers of emails sent, websites trawled and online forms completed (some of them in Dutch, too!), not to mention cakes baked for this week's fundraising cake sale (Rocky Road this week, although I may have forgotten to buy nuts making it more like Slightly Bumpy Road).
As for the results of all this frantic activity, you'll just have to wait and see, but in the meantime, I stumbled upon this little video from the hotel we'll be staying in...I think it may be the blogging equivalent of elevator music...slightly pointless but oddly inescapable!
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Magnificent Music-Making, Here We Come
Well it took a little while, but the lovely people at Antwerp got back to me yesterday and it's all systems go! We've now got two concerts confirmed for our tour:
Antwerp
We'll be playing in Antwerp on Sunday 2nd May at 2:00pm in the bandstand located on the Groenplaats (literally Green Square).
It looks like rather a nice place to play and there'll hopefully a decent number of people in this picturesque square which is located at the foot of the Cathedral at the heart of the city, surrounded by cafes.
Bruges
Famed the world over for beautiful buildings and chocolate (not necessarily in that order), what better place could there be for our second ever international venue than the main Market Square (the Grote Markt) in Bruges. Woodley Concert band will be performing here on Monday 3rd May at 3:00pm.
Bruges is always busy and the main square is nearly always full of a mixture of locals and tourists so hopefully, we'll get a decent audience!
So...we've got the concerts confirmed...now...what else shall we do...?
Antwerp
We'll be playing in Antwerp on Sunday 2nd May at 2:00pm in the bandstand located on the Groenplaats (literally Green Square).
Bruges
Famed the world over for beautiful buildings and chocolate (not necessarily in that order), what better place could there be for our second ever international venue than the main Market Square (the Grote Markt) in Bruges. Woodley Concert band will be performing here on Monday 3rd May at 3:00pm.
So...we've got the concerts confirmed...now...what else shall we do...?
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Money, Money, Money!
It's offical...I'm obsessed. Since the start of the year, I must have spent hours carefully studying various sites to see how the Pound is faring against the Euro...it's nail-biting stuff!
The pound's not been doing too badly recently and by complete coincidence, I managed to pay the deposit for the hotel on the day that Sterling's been strongest against the Euro since about September last year which is good news. The Pound's had a bit of a boost today, too, courtesy of some unfortunate issues being experienced in the Eurozone but there's a long time to go before May...who knows what might happen in the interim!
Ah well...not much we can do for now...back to the planning!
The pound's not been doing too badly recently and by complete coincidence, I managed to pay the deposit for the hotel on the day that Sterling's been strongest against the Euro since about September last year which is good news. The Pound's had a bit of a boost today, too, courtesy of some unfortunate issues being experienced in the Eurozone but there's a long time to go before May...who knows what might happen in the interim!
Ah well...not much we can do for now...back to the planning!
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Patience...patience...
WCB's fate hangs in the balance...how much longer must we wait?
Maybe that's a little melodramatic, but I'm waiting for an answer from the city of Antwerp - I'd like to claim that it's been months, but actually it's more like a week and a half (which is perfectly reasonable, if we're honest). I'm waiting to discover whether they're going to be nice enough to let us play in their fair city during our little trip - in practice, it's not all that urgent but it would just be nice to know...that way, we can get on with arranging all the other bits and pieces for the trip.
In the meantime, I suppose I'll just have to sit and twiddle my thumbs, ponder whether there are any well-known traditional Belgian pieces that we could include in our programme and look forward to the closest we'll get to going abroad before May...the WCB Spring Concert - A World of Music - tickets available soon!
Maybe that's a little melodramatic, but I'm waiting for an answer from the city of Antwerp - I'd like to claim that it's been months, but actually it's more like a week and a half (which is perfectly reasonable, if we're honest). I'm waiting to discover whether they're going to be nice enough to let us play in their fair city during our little trip - in practice, it's not all that urgent but it would just be nice to know...that way, we can get on with arranging all the other bits and pieces for the trip.
In the meantime, I suppose I'll just have to sit and twiddle my thumbs, ponder whether there are any well-known traditional Belgian pieces that we could include in our programme and look forward to the closest we'll get to going abroad before May...the WCB Spring Concert - A World of Music - tickets available soon!
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Gent...? Wrong!
I have a big dilemma. Throughout this blog so far, you'll have noticed I've talked quite a lot about Gent...but is it Gent? Or should it be Ghent? This is obviously a serious issue worthy of some lengthy research and some in-depth analysis...!
Unfortunately, it turns out that there's not a great deal of research to be done - it's simply the case that Gent is the Dutch name for the city whilst Ghent is the English, in much the same way that Bombay was (until 1995) the English version of Mumbai. For language fans, the French for Gent (or Ghent) is Gand and the English version used to be Gaunt - you may have heard of John of Gaunt (born, of course, in Gent in 1340) who was the Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III and cropped up in Shakespeare's Richard II.
All of which means that technically, I suppose I ought to be talking about Ghent, at least until my Dutch improves significantly but as a fan of languages in general, this doesn't sit very comfortably so for the time being, I'm afraid that you're stuck with Gent!
Unfortunately, it turns out that there's not a great deal of research to be done - it's simply the case that Gent is the Dutch name for the city whilst Ghent is the English, in much the same way that Bombay was (until 1995) the English version of Mumbai. For language fans, the French for Gent (or Ghent) is Gand and the English version used to be Gaunt - you may have heard of John of Gaunt (born, of course, in Gent in 1340) who was the Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III and cropped up in Shakespeare's Richard II.
All of which means that technically, I suppose I ought to be talking about Ghent, at least until my Dutch improves significantly but as a fan of languages in general, this doesn't sit very comfortably so for the time being, I'm afraid that you're stuck with Gent!
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
The Numbers Game
So, we know all about where we're staying and how we're getting there but is that enough? Well no, of course not. "What we need," I hear you cry "is some proper information about Gent...enough of the airy-fairy waffly bit, we want some cold hard facts."
Without further ado, therefore, here are some of Gent's vital statistics...
Without further ado, therefore, here are some of Gent's vital statistics...
| 24,144,001 | Metric tonnes of freight in the harbour |
| 236,629 | Inhabitants (‘Gentenaars’) |
| 475 | Restaurants |
| 250 | Types of beer |
| 239 | Miles from Woodley to Gent |
| 134 | Rooms in the Ibis Gent Centrum Opera Hotel |
| 108 | Days before WCB sets off on its first ever international tour |
| 74 | Parks |
| 30 | Hectares of pedestrian space in the city centre |
| 26 | Civic ponds |
| 20 | Fountains |
| 19 | Museums |
| 10 | Chocolate shops |
| 2 | Mediaeval Castles |
| 1 | Impressive City! |
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Of course it's all very well making up your mind whereabouts you want to go but that doesn't solve the complicated logistical problem of how to get 30 or so excited tourers plus all their luggage, instruments and music to where they want to go. After much research, we eventually selected the lovely folk at Thomas Coaches in the Rhondda Valley in Wales. I've used them for a couple of tours with other groups in the past and always found them to be very friendly and helpful, not to mention extremely reasonably priced...in fact, cheaper than all the firms based near the band in Reading! Here's one of their lovely shiny executive coaches - just the job for a small army of people with tubas, drum kits, euphoniums and all manner of other music-related junk!
Once we get to Gent, we've decided to stay at the Hotel Ibis Gent Centrum Opera. This hotel is about a ten minute walk from the centre of the city and should be really convenient for seeing the sights and exploring all that Gent has to offer.
As the name suggests, the hotel is close to the city's Opera House (about 200m away) - Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake will be showing whilst we're there! It is also, however, close to the King Albert Park, a botanical garden created on the site of the city's original railway station and a ten minute walk from the iconic Castle of the Counts, complete with mediaeval moat!
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Destination: Belgium
The first question after deciding to go on tour was, naturally, where?!
For our first tour, we didn't want to bite off more than we could chew so, after much deliberation, we settled on going a short hop over the channel to beautiful Belgium, specifically, to Gent. Located in the north-west of Belgium, between capital Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges, Gent is Brussel's fourth largest city in terms of population and can be traced back all the way to 650 AD when two abbeys were founded. The city has come a long way since then and now boasts a thriving tourist industry, partly thanks to the large number of mediaeval buildings still standing today.
Belgium is, of course, famed for its chocolate, its chips and its beer so we'll be endeavouring to verify that these claims to fame are justified during our stay. We'll also be giving two concerts, showcasing the finest in Berkshire music-making to the good people of Belgium, hopefully in some really exciting locations...more on this soon!
Next up...but how do we get there...and where should we stay...?!
For our first tour, we didn't want to bite off more than we could chew so, after much deliberation, we settled on going a short hop over the channel to beautiful Belgium, specifically, to Gent. Located in the north-west of Belgium, between capital Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges, Gent is Brussel's fourth largest city in terms of population and can be traced back all the way to 650 AD when two abbeys were founded. The city has come a long way since then and now boasts a thriving tourist industry, partly thanks to the large number of mediaeval buildings still standing today.
Next up...but how do we get there...and where should we stay...?!
Saturday, 5 December 2009
It all starts here...
Hello, and welcome to the Woodley Concert Band on Tour blog. So...what's it all about?
Well, Woodley Concert Band is a wind band based, as you may have guessed, in Woodley near Reading. In 2008, we ventured forth on an epic journey, all the way to exotic Eastbourne in order to give a concert on their rather lovely bandstand.
We had rather a good time so during the summer of 2009, we decided that it was time to expand our horizons and give even more people the opportunity to experience Woodley Concert Band live in person. Accordingly, without further ado (well, much further ado anyway), I was volunteered to be in charge and the planning was underway.
This blog is intended to keep both band members and WCB fans up to date with all that's going on with the tour as it gets closer so that you can see what we've got lined up (and what's not quite been sorted out yet!). Over the next few posts, I'll be bringing you up to date with how things have shaped up since the planning started and then it'll be full steam ahead until May 2010 when we set out on our adventure!
Well, Woodley Concert Band is a wind band based, as you may have guessed, in Woodley near Reading. In 2008, we ventured forth on an epic journey, all the way to exotic Eastbourne in order to give a concert on their rather lovely bandstand.
This blog is intended to keep both band members and WCB fans up to date with all that's going on with the tour as it gets closer so that you can see what we've got lined up (and what's not quite been sorted out yet!). Over the next few posts, I'll be bringing you up to date with how things have shaped up since the planning started and then it'll be full steam ahead until May 2010 when we set out on our adventure!
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