Plans for Haughley Church Choir for this year
A total of eleven Haughley cyclists will be taking a circular route of about 20 miles, leaving Haughley at 10.00 and visiting churches at Harleston, Onehouse, Buxhall, Rattlesden, Felsham, Gedding, Drinkstone and Shelland. My best guess is that cyclists will arrive back at Haughley around 16.30.
Four of the eleven cyclists are Haughley choir members and will join with the choir at the four churches where the choir are singing.
Cyclists and non-cyclists will meet up at Buxhall Church at 11.00 where the choir will have its first “sing”. The choir will also be singing at Rattlesden, Felsham and Gedding. The choir will sing for about 20 minutes in each church. We sing, mainly unaccompanied, a variety of hymns, anthems, Taize. We will also this year sing to recorded accompaniment Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine and a couple of Gospel Songs.
We shall be having a light pub lunch in Rattlesden to lubricate our voices in preparation for the afternoon singing.
How it started
It all started in 1998. We were younger then! Haughley choir has participated in what is now called the “Ride & Stride” almost every year since then. We even continued during the Covid years when we weren’t allowed to enter churches. Instead we sang, suitably socially distanced, outside each church we stopped at.
Back in 1998 when we started, the majority of the choir were on bikes and the remainder travelled by car from church to church. With the advancing age of choir members we now have more travelling by car than cycling between churches. Over the 28 or so years we have sung in over 40 different churches within a 10 mile radius of Haughley.
We have sung in smaller, beautiful, remote churches such as St Mary the Virgin Langham (accessed across rural fields) and St Mary’s Badley (half a mile or so off the main road). The acoustics at Badley were so good (no traffic noise just the sound of a few birds) that we revisited the church to make a recording of several Taize songs.
And, of course we have cycled to and sung at several of the impressive larger medieval churches such as St Andrew’s Great Finborough and St Mary’s Woolpit.
The Experience
For those cycling we have had wonderful days cycling across our beautiful Suffolk countryside, usually in fine September weather. Cycling in the knowledge that we are helping to raise funds for the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and our own local church.
And, what a privilege it is for our choir to have the opportunity to sing in these beautiful churches.
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From David Fleetwood , longstanding Haughley choir member and local bike ride co-ordinator.
(We love to hear your stories of Ride and Stride past and present. Please email them to mail@rachelsloane.co.uk)