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Writing a Rugby Tour report is always a little tricky. Those on the tour know what happened, where it went on and to whom! However, much of the enjoyment of a trip like this is simply the atmosphere generated by a tour party and this cannot really be put into words. Anyway here goes.

We set off for Dublin as term ended, all dressed in our tour coats (with thanks to Ron McBride and A. T. M.). After two hours, on what can only be described as a "ship out of hell", some members of the party got to the front of the queue for food (if you had wanted a drink as well you would have had to queue at the returning journey!!). Messrs. Gibb and Stephen by now matched the colour of the tour coats and all the stock of Irish tourist board hats had been purchased for a "hat call". Arriving at La Touche Hotel in Greystones we were greeted by splendid hospitality in the form of Phil Mooney and his welcoming party. We discussed at "length" the quality of the opposition whilst the local bar provided solace for the troops. Up early for a good fried breakfast and off to play Greystones R.F.C. U. 18 Colts. In a game in which every fit member of the party played we won 34-10 with Nick Walker showing a "surprising lack of pace" not to score. Rhys enjoyed his return to the back row, Mike Helme managed a full game for the first time in the season, and all the L.6 players acquitted themselves well. The afternoon was spent watching the cup final in which Greystones U. 19 Colts won the county cup. Back to La Touche for a splendid evening meal and time for cocktails before dinner. Gordon and Ben Lumsdon established local friendships! With an early fried breakfast and an "intact" play we set off for Dublin Airport to pick up our " p r o" Naithan McBride. From here it was a gentle trip to Limerick. It was still raining so Mike Hunter was unavailable for training because of his suntan and "hamstring" problems. The rest ran a little and moaned a lot!!

Our next fixture was to be against Garyowen F.C. and we knew it would be difficult. The hotel kindly gave us directions to an ideal training ground which prepared us well for what was to follow in the game!! The arrival of more rain dictated a move to a pitch away from the clubhouse. In monsoon conditions we were very soon under pressure. Scott Bradley found running in ankle deep mud difficult and their ball retention proved very good!! At half-time we sent on Messrs. Gibb arid McBride and explained that at the rucks the laws were not to be observed. Our ball retention become excellent and we clawed our way back from 29-5 down to lose a thrilling match 29-22. Sadly, we lost Mike Helme to a recurrence of his knee problem and Nick Walker in the last thirty seconds of the game with a rib injury. Fortunately we had Mr. Clark on the sideline willing to turn his Ferrari into an ambulance (many thanks for his efforts). As we took rather too much of the pitch back to the clubhouse in the bus Jim Bellis was left like the U.N. in Bosnia sorting out our rather irate driver! A wonderful meal and several glasses of "black gold" and we were ready for off. ' 'Sadly" the keys were in the bus and we were not!! This gave us another two hours of psychopathic hospitality to be rescued in the nick of time with the return of our keys!! A rest day in Limerick followed — especially for Rob Pugh and Clark who missed both breakfast and our little run by the river. Our quite revolting shirts were washed by the hotel and the bar never shut. At this point the writer of the report "retired hurt" to England.

From here the boys continued on a "day trip" to Cork to play Constitution Colts. Another thrilling game should have been won in the first-half but chances went missing and we went down 10-3. Injuries had taken their toll and Nick Middleton had to step into Nick and Tom's shoes at scrum-half. Back to Dublin and a visit to a none too welcoming Royal Hotel in Bray. By now the old legs had but one game left and the desire to complete things on the right note was apparent. A training run and dip on the beach dressed for "Chariots of Fire" prepared the boys well. Toby Cockcroft's concise and unprintable team talk helped his skipper to raise the lads for a final win of 48-5 against Barnhall Colts R.U.F.C. This was our game and a fine way for those young men to sign off their rugby careers at St. Peter's. The ball was run from everyone with the result that spectacular tries were scored. Finally a long night in the only open bar (Good Friday) sent the troops to bed ready for the early departure for England.

I must thank the boys for their effors on tour and for giving me some unforgettable moments over the year, especially Mr. Lawrence and Bellis who ran the show after my departure. However, special thanks should also go to all those who helped raise money for this tour including Peter "Race Night" Simpson, Ron "Jackets" McBride and the Music Department's brass concert organised by C. Blood and D. Greeves.

P. J. Stephen

Thursday February 10th, 1994

The tour party of twenty-four left School at about 4.30 p.m. Those in the new minibus had a relatively comfortable if rather cramped journey, while those of us who had chosen the more spacious old bus donned extra layers to combat the effects of the cold air which seeped, no rushed, in through the gap in the back door. The journey passed uneventfully and we arrived safely in Scotland. At the first pick-up point, for those who were not staying in the boarding house at Morrison's Academy, the Rolls Royce which was there to take two lucky people to their house for the night, caused something of a stir. The other cars having been filled, we continued to the School, arriving at midnight. Here, other people were collected by their hosts, and the lucky final few were taken to sample the joys of life in a Scottish boarding house, after being told to meet promptly at 9.00 a.m. the next day for a training session.

Friday 11th

As instructed, we were there on time, full of porridge. As you would expect there were some late arrivals — Mr. Harvey and Mr. Shread setting an example to all! (However, in their defence I must say they were only forty minutes late.) We were joined by Mr. Bellis and went down to the pitch for a training session. We jogged out in our new training tops looking the part. Mr. Bellis then gave us the first lesson on how to make yourself popular by making us do the infamous "falling on the ball" exercise — also known as "the fastest way to cover your brand new training top in mud". After a quick shower and change (except for Lee, in whose vocabulary the word "quick" or anything remotely related to it, does not exist), we climbed into our luxurious transport and headed for the Glenturret Distillery. After a tour and a taste of their famous malt whisky (strictly for over 18's of course) we visited the shop. Failing the straight line test, Mr. Harvey, clutching his purchases, climbed onto his booster cushion and drove the nervous pupils in his bus back to the School for lunch, amid impressions full of the Scottish accent of the women who gave the tour. With just over half an hour until the match, lunch was a little more than a snack before we returned to the pitch to prepare. It turned out to be the closest game on the tour, but we left Crieff victorious and headed for Edinburgh. We arrived at our luxury accommodation (in the form of Belford Youth Hostel) and made ourselves at home in our "hives".

Our first taste of the Scottish night life was in Queensferry, overlooking the Forth Bridges, which unfortunately, were not lit. Here everyone sampled Haggis; I am not entirely sure where the teachers disappeared to? After this culinary delight it was back to the youth hostel via Princes Street and Calton Hill. Inside the hostel we were exceptionally quiet, carefully observing the hostel's rule of no noise upstairs after 10 p.m.!

Saturday 12th

The match on Saturday morning was against Musselburgh Grammar. It was bitterly cold and the changing facilities were somewhat on the "wee" side. But we battled on against the weather and some interesting interpretations of the rules during the match by the referee, and left Musselburgh with another victory under our belts and warmed by some hot mutton pies, courtesy of the Musselburgh Rugby Football Club. We drove back into the centre of Edinburgh to be let loose on Princes Street for an hour, before gracing the local derby between Heriots FP and Edinburgh Academicals with our presence. The game was hard fought but the apparent strategy of both sides that "if the kicker looks like Jon Callard he must be good" didn't quite work out, and a vast number of scoring chances went a begging — not the example they were supposed to be setting us, but at least Mr. Bellis's team "C'mon The Accies" ran out winners. Then it was back to the hostel to smarten up for our evening fixture against Ike's Pizza Emporium. We must have been clear favourites to win and rightly so, for all the pizza and anything edible was demolished as soon as it arrived at our table. This was followed by a cheery guided tour of the Royal Mile and an introduction to the bizarre tradition associated with the heart of Midlothian. The long journey up had started to catch up with us and it did not take long to get to sleep that night.

Sunday 13th

In the morning there were one or two aching bodies described by some expressive similes. After leaving the hostel slightly behind schedule, we headed for the pitches of Edinburgh Academy for a short practise session for the final game. We had half an hour in which to prepare for the match on which our hopes of completing our own Grand Slam rested. It proved to be enough, and we were very proud to be capping the tour off in style, enabled by the excellent refereeing we were able to play running rugby unhindered by those incessant Scottish offsides that Mr. Bellis was always complaining of. The result represented the highly successful tour as a whole. The 27-12 score line could have been more heavily weighted in our favour, but the score was far less important than the outcome. We were in high spirits when we went to the Commonwealth Swimming Pool afterwards — but the local Scots did not seem to appreciate our rendition of "Swing low, Sweet chariot" on the way down the flume, especially after the result of the Calcutta Cup the previous weekend.

Back at School a few days later, watching the video exposed some of our weaknesses (and Mr. Harvey's — holding a video camera) but could not dampen the feeling of achievement which the tour had produced. It had been both successful and enjoyable and our thanks go to everyone who made it possible, but in particular to Mr. Bellis.

David Hancock

CHAMBER CHOIR VISIT TO SOUTHERN SPAIN AND GIBRALTAR

The train was late leaving York. We had to change at Manchester Piccadilly for the airport, the plane was delayed by two hours — was it going to be this sort of holiday? Fortunately no. Travelling through the night we arrived at Malaga in the early hours and travelled south to Los Alamos, a villa complex about fives miles from Algeciras.

On the first day, a rest day, much use was made of the swimming pool and again on the second day before we travelled by taxis to Los Barrios for a concert organised by the local police in the new bandstand in the town square. The concert was amplified around the square to a sizeable crowd and the local television filmed the concert. The reception aftewards in some very old buildings was very welcome and the inner courtyards of these buildings were beautiful.

The next day, Sunday, saw us all travelling to Punta de Tarifa beach on the most southerly point in Europe and a centre for wind surfing. It was a special day with soft sand and a fresh, warm sea. The local hotel gave us a free meal and drinks for singing to the customers which was a real bonus — we arranged to come back on the following Wednesday!

That night at Los Alamos we gave a concert in the area in fro at of the restaurant with an audience made up of Spanish, British and Scandinavians. "Jubilate" by Lassus made a good fanfare-like start and pieces like "Stand by me" and Beatles numbers went down well. Alex Martin's violin solo — Elgar's "Salut d'amour" was especially well received.

After a relaxing morning we set off, on Monday, for Gibraltar by local bus. The Spaniards show their unhappiness with British control of Gibraltar by delaying cars and buses at the border — we walked across the border and runway — the party being temporarily divided by a plane taking off!

The tour around Gibraltar by air-conditioned bus was most enjoyable and a visit to the famous caves fascinating. We, of course, saw (and fed) the Barbary apes although many of them looked as though they might have trouble eating much more!

My own impression of Gibraltar was that it had probably seen better days. Many of the properties belonging to the services were closed and boarded up and the town was busy but in places a little run down although there was some evidence of Scandinavian investment.

Our concert in the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity went very well with excellent acoustics and the audience was most appreciative. Dominic Greeves' opening trumpet piece "The Prince of Denmark's March" sounded majestic in the rich acoustic and Mark Airworthy's horn solo by Alan Abbot was richly sonorous.

The Rockin' Hairdressers, as always, were on excellent form. Ireland's "The Hills" and Parry's "My Soul, there is a country" were among the high points of the choir's singing. Unfortunately, the publicity for our Gibraltar concerts was a little inadequate but the settings were lovely.

After the concert we all went to a Pizza Hut for a hugely enjoyable meal finishing with the Rockin' Hairdressers singing to the whole catering staff!

Tuesday was a very busy day — perhaps too busy. At lunchtime we sang at Sotogrande International School to an audience covering a very wide age span. Oliver Button played a movement of the Saint Saens Oboe Sonata beautifully as did Cherry Alton in Debussy's 'Syrinx'. The Choir's singing of "Fiddler Man" was as lively as ever. We then headed north to the city of Ronda high in the hills. The hair pen bends were very numerous but, eventually, we arrived at this characterful centre. We all visited the oldest bullring in Spain and its museum; it was a most atmospheric stadium — it seemed a pity it was used for such a violent 'sport'. We all saw the precipice on which the city is situated and visited the spot where five hundred Franco supporters were thrown off a cliff top by the republicans — within living memory of the residents. The drive back on the 'old' road passing several hilltop villages with houses perilously clinging to the rocks — it was a memorable day concluding with an authentic Paella cooked at our villa bar.

While the rest of the party had a restful day at Punta de Tarifa beach again, a couple of us did a live interview on local Spanish television spreading the name of St. Peter's School, with Daniel Perry acting as interpreter. We all joined together in the evening for another concert in Gibraltar, this time in the Roman Catholic Cathedral, again with a resonant acoustic. "The Mermaid" with its chorus of "Rule Britannia" was especially asked for reminding us that Gibraltar is more British than Britain! Jeffrey Gray's accompaniments were as sure as ever and his social contributions throughout the tour will be missed next year. Our meal back at the villa started at 11.30 p.m.! — late nights with morning lie-ins had become the order of the day and so on Thursday, our last day in Spain, waking every one up at 7.45 a.m. seemed really cruel but we were all off by 8.45 a.m. to Jerez de la Frontera, the centre of sherrymaking in Spain. We visited Williams and Humberts, the makers of Dry Sack sherry, and tasted samples of their range with many bottles bought as presents, then off to the dancing horses — a beautiful stadium with many elaborate formation displays demonstrating a high level of horsemanship and also one display where horses were 'encouraged' to jump in the air kicking both back and front feet outward. It looked uncomfortable but apparently horses enjoy performing — whether they were given much choice I'm not sure.

On the way back we visited Medina Sidonia, a village set on a hill with the church at the very top. After a meal, whose menu was chosen after various animal noises had been exchanged, we climbed the church's tower and were rewarded with a spectacular view. The church itself had a magnificent reredos behind the altar with a pair of metal bull horns given centre place. After a short time to finish packing and clearing up we were off to Tivoli World, a theme park, where in exchange for a concert we were given free admission and a meal. The 'House of Terror' lived up to its name with one of the party crying as she emerged! We all had a great time trying most of die rides before we headed for the airport and home in a fairly shattered state, having lost anouier night's sleep. Another good tour over, a more relaxed tour in many ways with many memories to savour — the pool, the beach, Gibraltar, Ronda and Jerez, was much in a week. Very special thanks to Mrs. Nina Perry who did so much to mastermind the tour arrangements; to Jeffrey Gray and my wife Jane who helped so much and to all the pupils who were such an excellent group to share a holiday with.