I was recently on a plane returning from Slovenia when the captain, having brought the plane down safely on the ground and tiring of having to tell everyone to sit down until the plane was stationary, announced: “We are very sorry but due to a strike of baggage handlers we are having to ask the passengers to unload the plane themselves. If there are any volunteers, will you please stand up.” As you can imagine, everyone remained sitting until the captain had finished taxiing to the ariport...and explained he was just kidding.

I remember a similar incidence a few months ago when, as a guest, I attended a Town Twinning Meeting to which the Zrece choir had written saying they would like to come to Sedbergh. And how when a volunteer was asked to organise it all, a similar death-like silence and stillness descended on our group, until it was proposed that the choir be told that we weren't ready for them and that they should try again next year.

And how I heard this foolish voice (which bore an uncanny resemblance to my own) speaking rudely out of turn, saying that it thought this was a big mistake as the most common question in Sedbergh was: “When are the Slovenians coming?” And here we were telling them to go away! And then Dave Smith, who had recently organised the excellent school visit, wisely added: “Does that mean you're prepared to take it on yourself”?

And so it was I found myself writing to Zdenka saying -"if they were ready and organised to come, we would make them welcome."

For several months it was a little like training for the marathon, warm up runs getting the bones of organisation in place, culminating in one big push over several days with very little sleep.  But it was all worth it to hear our Slovene friends presenting such extraordinary music, and the ideals of international harmony being so abundantly manifest in our community.

What was most heartening was the enormous ammount of encouragement and support which came from Sedbergh, with many people ringing up to ask how they could help.

The choir wanted to be together rather than housed by the many kind offers of accommodation which flooded in, but all the usual venues for housing large groups were either fully booked or not available. And then Jo Sedgewick at Baliol school took an enormous risk in allowing us to use the school - the first time they had done this for anyone. The venue proved to be perfect. Not only was it affordable to this choir of mostly student-aged singers, but it allowed them the kind of freedom they needed for disciplined practice at one end of the day - and abandoned celebration at the other!

After the choir had gone, Jo rang me up to say she was delighted to find the building so immaculate after the choir had left. On the last night, after an extraordinary sell-out concert in the church, the Town Band had invited the choir to join them in the Bull... and after leaving them the choir had partied at the school until 3am, when they all set about packing, tidying and cleaning the building. After they had got the bus to the airport at 5am, I went round the school and, apart from gifts left for the staff and the memory of their delightful voices, you would never have known that anyone had been there.

The cleaning staff - Hazel and Brenda - said that work had become an absolute delight. They came into the school to hear beautiful singing echoing down the corridors, and smiling, well mannered youngsters who they befriended.

John Metcalf drove us to all our venues with his usual precision and charm, and gave us a very good price - as well as giving many interesting anecdotes on our trip about the countryside we were passing through.....plus a very personal homily in praise of his favourite carriageway: “The Great North Road."

Singing Walk

As you may know, the choir had the opportunity to see some of our local beauty spots on a singing walk with the Cautley Carollers. We followed the river to Millthrop, sang under the bridge and outside Margaret Millburn's house with her exuberant display of blooms.  Then it was over the fell, where they were particularly interested to meet the sheep, and via Rash Bridge to Catholes and the Elyssian Shades, finishing outside Dorcas and Richard Thomas' house at Birks where they provided refreshments....for 50!

On the way the Slovene singers and the Cautley Carollers sang in Dent Foot chapel - possibly one of the smallest churches in England - and the following day, John drove us to opposite extreme: the enormous splendours of Durham Cathedral, where they did a concert havng been welcomed in Slovene by Canon Rosalind Brown. (The Rosalind bit was of particular interest to the Slovenes who are only used to male priests.) Anne Heyward, the Chapter steward, was particilarly helpful when I visited the Cathedral the week before the concert and furnished us with maps and other necessary information.

George Handley, who both preaches at Dent Foot Chapel and was a student at Durham University, came with us on both occasions and illustrated the tour with personal anecdotes about the chapel and his life as a student in the city. His gandson Dan also showed himself to be well suited to his chosen career in the RAF by the very organised way he drove the support vehicle, heroically picking up the walkers who had had enough, and arriving at our meeting points exactly on time.

I provided name badges on the Singing Walk - Pevski Sprehod -  and maps with Slovene phrases so we could chat in each other's languages. The title on Dan's badge suited him perfectly: “Our Friendly Driver."

Arranging the Programme

The programme arose from a good deal of  consultation with the choir, including a visit to meet their secretary in Zrece, about what they wanted to do, and what was possible. A mirror of the excellent programme Dave Smith had put together for the school visit, and which the choir had heard about from the Zrece children, wasn't possible in such a short time.

But they did say they wanted to see something of the local countryside, wanted to meet other musicians, wanted to see an English city, were interested in an exchange of dances and songs - and of course, with Samo's friendship with Alan Lewis and the recent Band visit to Zrece, they wanted to perform with the Town Band.

Alan was very helpful when I approached him about the concert when we first started putting the programme together, recommending that we have the party in the pub after the concert, and when I asked how much the Band would need from the ticket sales kindly said: “Nowt!” He had been unable to organise the event himself, but was still able to provide an effusion of insight.

Dent Ceilidh

The ceilidh in Dent was a triumph of creative improvisation. Having been assured many times by the choir secretary that the only instruments we needed to provide for the Slovene dances were an electric piano (kindly donated by community musician Jilly Jarman), drums (from Dorcas Thomas) and guitars (from Judith Bush and myself) it was a surprise to be told by Samo that to do Slovene dances what was really needed was an accordian: “Without it you can't even get close!”

But still, the choir sang, everyone danced the polka and the waltz, and then we were asked to teach some of our dances.

I sang the Dashing White Seargent to Samo a few times and in five minutes he was ready to play it - with harmonies on the other piano and guitar accompaniment. I called out the steps, and Susan Garnett helped by demonstrating. I have seen this dance fall apart in many ceilidhs - but on Saturday night it was as if everyone had danced it all their lives. Strip the Willow later in the evening was a little more chaotic, mostly thanks to the effects of John Smith & Co.

Special thanks go to Kate Roberts who very kindly made and put up posters in Dent which helped to attract a good crowd from the bank holiday visitors, and also managed the door and refreshments for everyone.

Workshop Learning Slovene Songs

The Monday workshop learning Slovene songs was well attended both by people from Sedbergh and from elsewhere (even Alan Lewis joined us for the voice warm-up outside the People's Hall) though many of them were involved in the Dent Gala so couldn't stay for the afternoon. I had joined in a few of Samo's warm-ups with the choir at the school (each day they would do these body and voice exercises at 7am) and was surprised to see they are the same ones done by choirs here - stretching, relaxing, engaging the diaphragm, extending the vocal range.

There is no doubt Samo is a master of his craft, and versatile both in the aural and classical traditions of music. When I was last in Zrece, Borstian from the choir had given me a lift up to Skomarje and had told me how patient and encouraging Samo was with the singers. Many of those who came on Monday agreed.

Food, Glorious Food

In order to keep costs down, the choir had brought their own cook - which served the extra advantage of allowing them to eat the kind of food they most enjoy eating. I had bought a lot of food for their breakfast with discounts and advice from Garth Steadman about which meat was best for them. But the ten large loaves of bread I got in for their breakfast were apparently barely sufficient for a dozen people (for one meal) - so at 1am on Saturday morning I drove Zdenka to Asda for some late night shopping, much to her astonishment. (The Sedbergh bakers, Aston's, which would have been a better choice, was unfortunately closed at this hour.)

As the day of their arrival approached several people rang to say they would like to offer some hospitality in their homes by providing a meal for them.

Ros from Millthrop, one of Sedbergh's finest free jazz players, met some like-minded Slovene musicians from the choir and had them over to eat, talk and play jazz. Sarah Lewis, Sandra Cottrell, Jean Steadman, Sue Wallace-Woodruft, Susan Garnett, Sue Richardson and Liz Close all provided elaborate quantities of food and kindness in their homes for the singers - who were of course enormously grateful for these magnificent displays of hospitality. Many apologies to others who wanted choir members to visit them but were disappointed - we just didn't have enough singers to go round.

On the previous day, Garth provided a barbecue for all 29 Slovenes and what looked like half the population of Sedbergh in his home, the meat in his hamburgers receiving much praise from the singers. Dorothy Pratt also made a mountain of mouth watering cakes which made Triglav look like a mere drumlin.

There were many other displays of generosity: the singers in the Cautley Carollers insisted on paying for their tickets on the singing walk - even though they were co-performers! Many people, hearing that all the proceeds were going towards the choir's expenses, chose not to take the concessionary rate for their ticket even though they were eligible. Dave Collier, who wasn't even here but on holiday at the time in Italy, donated £40 to the costs from money which was owed to him for petrol for driving the last Slovene visitors to and from the airport. Lakeland Voice donated £200 towards set up costs and welcome. And the Town Band paid for drinks for the Zrece singers in the Bull.

Sedbergh Festival

The choir visit was part of the Sedbergh Festival of Literature and Drama, and Carole Nelson and her staff were magnificent in selling tickets, arranging the venues, helping with advertising and answering questions from people interested in coming. From the ticket sales we were able to give the choir £1,000 towards their expenses - and although this is a fraction of what these hard working musicians should have been paid (why does everyone expect musicians to work for free?) it was encouraging that as a community we were able to show something of our appreciation for such fine singing.

For the choir visit there was no funding available in the short time we had to get it prepared, and there were many who felt that without funding it wasn't possible - or at least impetuous. Personally, I think we rely too much on grants, expecting handouts in the same way that children expect everything to be paid for by their parents. By doing it this way, everyone who came to an event and who bought a ticket was a responsible participant in our exchange.

Those who have been to Zrece and experienced the enormous generosity and hospitality of the Slovenes, can rest assured that here is Sedbergh we provided something which matched that, something we can be proud of.

It's a Small World

One thing I did find extraordinarily useful - and which Zdenka often comments on - is how modern technology makes the world a lot smaller, brings us all closer.

A local call used to mean ringing someone who lives a few doors away in the same town. Now it means someone on the same planet. I can collect all the messages to my landline via my mobile, so being away on a couple of occasions was no problem at all.

At one point, nearing the summit of Triglav, Slovenia's highest mountain, I found myself able to receive mobile signals and ended up giving information to a woman who wanted to come to the concert in Sedbergh but didn't know where to get a ticket. In a similar way, I could reply to all my emails from various offices around Slovenia, and was able to send photos of the choir to newspapers in England from Rogla, as well as finalising arrangements for interviews and the playing of the choir's music on the radio.

For myself I would like to thank all the people who offered support, help and encouragement along the way, most of them without needing to be asked - this enormous display of positivity makes me feel proud to have lived in Sedbergh for almost half my life.