Sunday, 26 October
Yes that’s right, the Broughton Boys are back in the Isle Of Man, with the most famous and fabulous Head Chorister blog in all the land!
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It was a later start to the day than usual for us on one of our trips, with the boys and their parents meeting at St Martin’s a bit before noon. We then had a very intense briefing by Mr Walmsley. After that hugs and kisses from parents to boys were exchanged and then off we went.
As usual there was a bit of a wait at the sea terminal, but eventually we got on the boat. It was our first time going on the new boat, the Manxman, so it was exiting to see what new adventures we could amuse ourselves with on the slow (4 hour) journey. The crossing was a bit bumpy but with only a few people feeling the effect of the rough sea we made it through to the other side (the Isle of Man!). Off the boat we got and into staff cars, then eventually we all made our way to King William’s College.
This time we are staying in a different boarding house at the College which had made our first day feel different and exiting. The first activity waiting for us was pumpkin carving which was enjoyed by all as a really fun activity. Mess was made all over the kitchen but the outcome of the carvings was impressive! We lit them and watched in awe as our wonderful creations glowed in the dark.
Then dinner was served in the kitchen, prepared by Mr Walmsley and Mrs Brennan. It was lasagne on the menu, with garlic bread and salad, and it was throughly enjoyed. Then our rooms were assigned and we unpacked our bags. We had a biscuit and a drink before bed, then went off to our rooms to dream of what big adventures we will get up to tomorrow.
Monday, 27 October
Today was the first full day for the boys on the Island. We started our day being woken up nice and early! Some of the boys were up-and-about before seven o’clock with eager smiles on their faces. We then made our way down to breakfast in the Barrovian Hall which was a full English to fill us up good and proper.
We ventured back to our rooms for room check with Mr Walmsley and Mrs Brennan. They seemed very impressed! On our way to our first practice we stopped at the famous JR Bank to take out our daily allowance. Then our first practice began led by our choirmaster Mr Spencer. The practice went very well.
After the practice, lunch was served! This was hot dogs prepared by our in-house chefs (Mr Walmsley and Mrs Brennan). We then made our way to St Thomas’ to have a quick run through of our service and to get everything in check.
The activity for the day was swimming at the National Sports Centre; a classic IOM activity. The boys went zooming down slides, swimming races just like the Olympics (not!) and getting spun around in the whirlpool.
We then headed back to King William’s college for dinner which was chicken, sausage rolls, and beef casserole with vegetables which was a nice meal to fill us up for our first service on the Island. We swiftly got on our way to St Thomas’, where we robed up and got ready to sing.
The service went really well! Henry sang “O God You Search Me” very well and Toby and Ezekiel did the readings well. Maxwell, Rory and Samuel did the prayers very nicely. When we had finished the service and chatted with some of the congregation, we set off back to the College and attended postcard writing school.
The lesson, taught by Head Master Walmsley, was very informative and very successful in the end. Our day ended with a trip up the many ‘apples and pears’ to dream of the famous Ramsey Tea which awaits us tomorrow.
Tuesday, 28 October
We awoke to the chime of the College tower bell (ding dong) which woke the boys up ready and eager for the long day ahead.
As usual we headed down for breakfast and then up to our rooms for room check. As soon as our rooms were looking spick and span we made our way down to bank to get our money.
We then hurried down the long corridor to the rehearsal room. We practised our music, readings and prayers for the services to come, and there was even a bit of Christmas music popping up as well!
When we had finished rehearsing, we popped back to the boarding house for lunch. Today pasta with DIY toppings was on the menu, which all of the boys enjoyed.
Lunch eaten, we then had a long journey along the mountain road with lots of lovely views of the Manx countryside.
We arrived in Ramsey and went straight to the bowling venue. Pins went flying, strikes were calling and so was Mr Walmsley’s bowling career – he got the highest score! All of the boys enjoyed the bowling and so did the staff as well. We crossed the road into St Paul’s to have our pre-service run though.
Then! There it was, the famous Ramsey tea arrived!
There was a wide array of any food the heart desired, from hot dogs and sausage rolls, to lots of different flavours of cake. We want to say a huge ‘Thank you’ to all of the people at the church of St Paul’s, Ramsey for providing us with this lovely meal and another ‘Thank you’ for their kindness in doing so.
Our bellies full, we went into church and sang the service, which all of the congregation enjoyed. Henry sang “O God You Search Me” beautifully again. Tobias and Henry did the readings well and Eli, Ezekiel and Harry did the prayers very successfully. The service went well and the vicar even had us come back into the church for a round of applause from the congregation at the end of the service.
We then packed up and made our way back to the College along the coastal road. It was juice and snacks (including some lovely grapes!) as usual then it was off to bed for lots of very tired choristers – time for some well-needed rest.
Wednesday, 29 October
As the autumn leaves rustled in the wind the Broughton boys rustled themselves out of bed.
You know the routine by now: breakfast, room check to make sure our rooms are nice and tidy, bank, and the practice to make sure we know all our music and readings for the services to come.
At one point today all of the choristers sang dotted around the rehearsal room to improve our listening skills and working together as a treble section. The boys also sang ‘Abide with Me’ but included lots of mistakes! My job as the Head Chorister was to spot the mistakes and get them to correct them as well. We then had a quick lunch which was soup and sandwiches which the boys enjoyed. Cookies followed the main course!
With lunch digesting, we went down the road to Port St Mary where we did our pre-service practice as usual. It went great! We haven’t sung in this church before, and even Mr Catterall had never been, so it was really nice to get a new experience and meet a new church community.
Then came the time for our afternoon activity – high ropes. The boys were swinging in between the trees and having a really good time. There was a low course which everyone did, and high course which some of us moved onto.
At the end we got to climb the climbing tree to try and reach the bell. I think this has been the best activity yet!
We then took the winding roads back to the College for dinner which was chicken curry or mac and cheese, served with chips and vegetables. Chocolate sponge and custard was on offer for dessert which the boys enjoyed.
Back down the road we went to Port St Mary’s for tonight’s service. The service went well with Ezekiel singing the “O God You Search Me” solo very beautifully. Samuel and I did the readings well and Toby, Tobias and Freddie did the prayers nicely. It was Freddie’s first time doing something like this! The congregation enjoyed the service and some of them stayed to have a chat with us at the end. They served us drinks and biscuits before we journeyed back to the College, where we had a bit of free time.
We were all tired after a busy day and rest is needed so that we are ready for our busy last day on the island tomorrow!
Thursday, 30 October
As the sun rose over the hills of the Isle of Man the boys rose as well for their last busy full day on the island.
We started our day as usual with breakfast, room check, bank and our last morning practice. The practice has really shown in our singing this week and it has made us work better together as a choir.
We then had lunch which was chicken wraps which the boys enjoyed. After we had eaten we traveled to Douglas to have our pre-service practice as usual to make sure everything is in check.
When we had finished our practice, had a little shopping spree through Douglas high street. All of the boys love a little shopping! Souvenirs, footballs and even a rocket launcher were bought. Wallets a fair bit lighter, we then made our way to the Manx Fun Farm to do Laser Tag. The boys turned into shooting machines, shooting, sniping, and dodging lasers from all sides across the arena. Mr Ranson came first in both games! The boys all enjoyed laser tag and were very tired afterwards!
We then went back to the College for dinner which was steak pies, chicken with tomato, or spaghetti. Our next trip was going back to Douglas to sing our final service at St Matthew’s church. I sang the “O God You Search Me” solo nicely and Henry and Samuel did the readings powerfully (which was needed because there are no microphones in the church!). Also Freddie, Billy and Eli did the prayers really clearly as well. Our last service was the best we have sung all week – it is always good to end on a high!
After we’d found our way back to the College, we got on with suitcase packing and our last sleep in the Isle Of Man.
Friday, 31 October
The wind whistled through the corridors as All Hallow’s Eve came upon us. Mr Ranson woke us up with a gift of a little Halloween goody bag to get us into the seasonal spirit.
We then headed down for our final breakfast at the College. On behalf of everyone, I would like to say thank you to all of the catering staff at King William’s College for feeding us this past week. The food has been lovely and it is always one of the highlights of staying here.
Next, we raced back up the stairs for the last room check! We had to make sure we packed away all of our stuff and were ready to go before we could go downstairs.
We then had a morning of games. We started off with a few team games and then did a scavenger hunt outside. We were put into teams and we had to find objects whose names spelled out the word ‘Saint’. My team got some steel, an antique hockey stick, an indigo flower, a nail, and a teacup. We also had to take a team photo to gain extra points. Our next activity was finding which team could make the best cross out of newspaper and tape (which had to stand up by itself!). The boys became engineers, trying to construct the most impressive cross. My team, of Rory, Ezekiel, Henry, Toby, and Billy, won.
The next game was a blind-folded obstacle course which is an Isle of Man classic. We had to get around the course only using one word for our instructions. My team used ‘fish’.
Then we had a chippy lunch which we have been waiting for all week. After lunch, we travelled to Douglas for another shopping trip and some more swimming. Lots of gifts were bought! The award for the best purchase of the day goes to Harry Ward who got a giant Christmas caterpillar. For the second time this week we went to the swimming pool which was enjoyed by all. The boys pretended to be fish and have a fish spa day with the odd trip down the flumes and finished off the afternoon with a big game of catch together in the big pool. Following our energetic activities, we took the cars back to the College for the last time to collect our belongings. Thank you to all the housekeeping staff for making sure our boarding house stayed nice and tidy while we were here.
Our bags retrieved, we headed to the sea terminal. There was a quite a long wait before we actually set off, but eventually we set sail. The journey was a bit bumpy, and there were a lot of tired and sleeping boys. We eventually arrived back on ‘the adjacent island’ after a long, slow journey. We reunited with our parents with stories and memories to last.
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Well, that went fast. Thank you to all of the staff, especially to Mr Walmsley and to Mr Spencer, for making this week happen and thank you to all of the other boys as well. We have all really enjoyed our time and we’re hoping the visit will be going ahead next year!
I have been writing the blog for the past three trips and this is my final one. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog over the years; I have enjoyed writing it. So that’s it: me, Maxwell, your Head Chorister, signing off for the final time on behalf of all of the boys and staff for the Isle of Man tour 2025.
Broughton Parish Church Choir 