It was a good occasion, I think, though as I was so involoved in it I didn't see it with an onlooker's eye.
Anyway, 80 of us sat down to a hot meal of local sausages from Summerleaze, followed by apple pie. As the menu put it:
Sausages from free range poultry, Gloucester old spot pork and quality beef and venison, made by Summerleaze Poultry of Street.
The dinner was expertly cooked by Christina Moreby on a gas stove parked outside the vestry.
A group of the Glastonbury and Street Sea Cadets served us. I was most impressed by their smartness, their willingness to help, and the skill and enthusiasm with which they danced a hornpipe for us after the meal. Some of them stayed long after the programme ended, and helped with the washing up. Bravo for the Sea Cadets!
There was good wine to drink, half of it organic, and excellent punch made from apple juice kindly given by Hecks - John and Mary Hecks were among the diners.
The guests of honour were the Hon Robert and Mrs Boscawen. Mrs Boscawen's great great grandfather, as Gary Sowerby told us in his speech, was a captain fighting under Nelson at Trafalgar, and went on to be an admiral himself, Edward Codrington.
The entertainment that followed included the aforesaid hornpipe by the Cadets, two organ pieces with naval associations by local composer Michael Kidd, Fanfare for Freedom and HMS Formidable. an unaccompanied Bach violin piece played stunningly by Clarice Rarity, Sea Fever sung movingly by Helen Lunt, and sea shanties sung by all. The evening ended with some of the Sea Songs collected together into a Fantasy by Henry Wood just 100 years ago, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Trafalgar. Helen Lunt played the beautiful cello solo in 'Tom Bowling' and Clarice Rarity brought a storm of applause with the hornpipe, played faster on each repeat, as at the Last Night of the Proms.
Someone was kind enough to comment afterwards that it ws a memorable evening. Gary Sowerby was the master organiser, so it was a great shame that he was suffering from a virus that he picked up in Italy. He soldiered on manfully, but he must have been looking forward to a good night's rest.
