Resting and recuperating at Station pub , Nutsfield , Surrey : Peter Gillman far right
basses , one of the choir ’ s four sections , along with the top tenors , second tenors and baritones . Around 60 strong , the choir rehearses every Thursday and stages some ten concerts a year , mostly at halls and churches in and around Croydon . The choir also undertakes an annual tour , sometimes in the UK ( Gloucester and Norwich have been recent locations ), sometimes abroad , to France , Belgium and the Netherlands .
In 2010 I was still walking in Scotland ( see timetable above ). It had been 15 years since I last climbed a Munro in winter , an activity which brought some of the finest memories of all . Then , in February 2010 , I woke to see our garden carpeted in snow . The instinct was irresistible . I called my two closest friends in the bass section and proposed going for a walk . They agreed without hesitation and so we drove to the village of Shoreham in northern Kent . I constructed a round trip of some six miles and we savoured the winter conditions , snow ankle deep on places , a familiar chill wind that I remembered intimately from the Scottish winter .
Thus was the Croydon Male Voice Choir Walking Group born . A few weeks later we embarked on our second walk , having extended the invitation to other voice sections . Our trip that time took us to back to Kent , this time starting and finishing at the village of Knockholt , passing the government retreat of Chevening en route .
outdoor focus / autumn 2023 5