Trumpets!

Two imperfect photos, but never mind . . . 

We went to Buckfast Abbey (Extra) for the 1100 Mass today as it's only about 10 miles from the caravan site for this week.  Although we were there only a few weeks ago it was wonderful to hear the choir singing part of the Mass; and the priest (the main celebrant among many) demonstrated a startlingly rich tenor, both speaking and singing.  And as if in sympathetic ambition, I managed the highest notes in the opening hymn, "Guide me O Thou Great Redeemer", one of my favourites – on or off the rugby pitch.  Of course, the organ all but drowned out my efforts, so I could kid myself.

After Mass we went for coffee and biscuits and I managed to speak briefly to one of the monks who was at school with me, Dom Leo Maidlow-Davis.  He was in the community at Downside Abbey, in Somerset, but they moved to Buckfast last year while they looked for a new place to be.  Downside was too big for the dwindling numbers.