A talented group of singers and musicians from Churchill Retirement Living’s Mount’s Bay Lodge in Penzance have been on a Christmas Carol Singing Tour across the county, bringing musical entertainment and fun to other Churchill Lodges at Truro and Newquay.
The Mount’s Bay Lodge Choir was formed in 2017 and its members all enjoy the social side of regularly rehearsing together and sharing the joy of music. They wanted to do something special for Christmas, so Churchill arranged a coach to take them on a special one-off tour of the county on Monday 9th December, performing for other apartment Owners at Tregolls Lodge in Truro and Perran Lodge in Newquay.
Choirmaster Sheila Richards has been instrumental in keeping the choir going after her husband Alan – who originally founded the choir – sadly passed away earlier this year. The choir members are all extremely grateful to Sheila for her determination to keep leading their weekly rehearsals, ensuring they can all continue to enjoy making music together.
Lodge Manager Katheryn Bailey, who helped organise the Christmas tour, says: “It was a fun day and we were all really grateful to Churchill for paying for the coach. There were carols from the choir and a range of other performances from our talented Owners. Angie Sibley read a Pam Ayres poem, Anne Jones read a letter from a WW1 soldier detailing how both sides in the front trenches halted hostilities just for Christmas Eve. Eric Bilkey, who plays guitar and sings in a folk duo, entertained us with “Streets of London” and “Stick a Little Label On It”, with the choir joining in for the choruses.
“We also had some campanology, with Anne Jones, Angie Sibley and myself playing a set of hand bells kindly loaned to us by the Madron Church. We’re looking forward to expanding the bell ringing group with more Owners in the New Year.”
Churchill’s Regional Marketing Executive Jo Ridehalgh adds: “The health benefits of singing together are well known, and it was great to see Churchill Lodges from across the county coming together at Christmas and enjoying some great music.”
For further information about the apartments on offer at Churchill Cornish developments, visit www.churchillretirement.co.uk or drop in at one of their Show Complexes, which are open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.