Bringing Harmony to North Staffordshire  

WE MADE OUR trip to Mittertich in Bavarian Germany during the summer of 2001, where a week of singing and not a little imbibition took place. We considered ourselves to be very fortunate to have been asked to attend this exercise in European cooperation and amusement. We were taking part in a cultural exchange organised by the people of Cheddleton village, Staffordshire.

THE PICTURE (kindly taken by Mark Brayford again - that's him on the right hand side of the photograph) shows the choir after singing in the inaugural church service. We sang a number of religious items from the organ/choir loft, which gave  us a very good picture of the service taking place below. The organist (center) and the solo vocalist (rear left) were local German townsfolk heavily involved in the music scene of Mittertich.

ACCOMMODATION was provided by either local families or two Pension boarding houses in a neighbouring village. There were a number of occasions during the week for the choir to experience fellowship with the local German choirs. Indeed the day we arrived was the start of the town's beer festival. A blistering hot day with plenty of local brew  

THE CHOIR PERFORMED a number of times outside during the day, and were well received. The photo shown on the right records our participation in the open air. street organised for the SUNDAY celebrations in the town. The day was blisteringly hot and several gallons of good Bavarian beer were consumed to  cool us down.

SEVERAL TRIPS  around Bavaria were kindly organised by the town twinning committee, Nurnberg and a Falconry Centre were especially memorable trips. Some of the more adventurous even took their bi-cycles in order to tour the local area for an extra week.

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