EOA Extended visit to South Wales

EOA President Emma Gibbins has organised an excellent three-day Extended Visit to play organs in South Wales. The programme of visits (to eight venues) is as follows:
Tuesday 27th October
St Mary’s, Usk (2pm – 4pm)
3 manuals, 33 stops Gray & Davison 1861. Ex-Llandaff Cathedral
St German’s, Splott, Cardiff (5pm – 6.30pm)
3 manuals, 37 stops, Hill, 1885
Wednesday 28th October
Llandaff Cathedral (9am – 11am)
4 manuals, 77 stops, Nicholson 2008
Brangwyn Hall, Swansea (12.30pm – 2.30pm)
4 manuals, 34 stops, Willis 1920, built for the Elite Cinema in Nottingham
Swansea Minster (from 3pm)
3 manuals, 48 stop, Hill Norman and Beard 1959
Invited to give a recital as background music to their Luke Jerram installation of
Gaia. Composite recital 4pm? Followed by open console? (timings TBC)
Thursday 29th October
St John the Baptist, Cardiff (9am – 10.30am)
3 manuals, 38 stops, Willis 1894
Organist Philip Thomas will meet us and talk to us about the organ
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff (11.30am – 1pm)
2 manuals, 19 stops, Snetzler 1774
Robert Court (Cardiff University Organist and curator of the museum organ) will
meet us and talk to us about the organ
St Peter’s Roath (2.30 – 4.30pm)
3 manuals, 38 stops, Späth, 2006
Organist Peter Clark will meet us and talk to us about the organ
Further details will be provided in due course to those who have expressed an interest in participating in the visit. Non-members are welcome if invited by an EOA member who is attending.

Participants in this extended visit are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements. We recommend staying at the Premier Inn Cardiff City Centre (Stadium), Custom House Street, Cardiff, CF10 1AP, which is located right next to Cardiff Central railway station. There isn’t any on-site parking at the Premier Inn, but there is a 24-hour NCP car park nearby on Pellett Street (CF10 4FD). We know from previous extended visits that being in the same hotel as other participants enhances the enjoyment of the visit, as well as making it easier to sort out lifts, etc. Some people will be arriving on the Monday and staying until the Friday, but others may prefer to stay Tuesday to Thursday.
The easiest way to get around the venues will be by car. Some people have already said that they plan to drive and can offer people lifts between venues (in return for some petrol money). At this stage, it would be really helpful to know:
a) If you are interested in participating in the Extended Visit to South Wales
b) If you are planning to go by car or by train (it may be possible, by negotiation, to hitch a lift to/from Wales from one of the car drivers)
c) If you are likely to need lifts between venues in Wales (if necessary, places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis)
d) If you can offer lifts between venues in Wales (and how many people you could transport)
If you plan to travel to Wales by train, we recommend buying a return ticket to Newport. On Tuesday 27th October, there is an 1148 from Paddington, getting into Newport 1324. Newport station is much easier to negotiate than Cardiff station and Newport is the right side of Cardiff for getting to Usk, which is our first venue and is about a 30-minute drive from Newport. Then you’ll just need to buy a single from Cardiff to Newport on the last day, to get back to Newport to get the Paddington train. There are lots of trains from Cardiff to Newport, so you can easily just turn up at the station and buy a ticket when you arrive (tickets are currently only £6.30).
As we wish to offer the venues, who are generously hosting us, a donation, we need to charge participants the following to help us cover these costs: £15 per day for players and £7.50 per day for non-players.
Please send expressions of interest to Emma Gibbins, using emmagibbins1978@gmail.com.