Easter at Ampleforth

Instead of a traditional Easter with the family, I spent Triduum (Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday) with a group of singers I've been singing with since February, an order of Benedictine Monks and 600 or so strangers! The Arcadian Singers travel to Ampleforth, on the Yorkshire Moors annually to sing for all the services held in that four day period. I had envisioned a four day holiday in the seclusion of a monistary since I had been lead to believe we would have lots of free time... Needless to say that was not the case! We were singing from 9am until 10pm most days except at the Easter Vigal where we were singing until 1:30am.
Our accommodations where the dorm rooms that the resident students live in, which were wonderfully warm and bright, but we didn't end up spending much time in them! I certainly have to be thankful that I never had to suffer through boarding school food!!
On Saturday we had organized a long walk to a ruined abbey. We had had both rain and snow the day before which caused a little hesitation on account of the steep muddy inclines we would be walking up, but we ventured out regardless.
Since the walk was on higher hills, the snow that we had seen the day before had stayed unmelted and was screaming to become snow people! This was the larger of the two Alex, our conductor made. It was probably in the region of four feet tall.
After the making our snowman and having a snowball fight, we were all feeling relatively elated! Our next mission then became to fool all the sheep in the nearby field that we had food for them... It was SO funny to watch them running a baaing at us. The poor things!!The last part of our walk was to get a guided tour of Revaulx Abbey by one of our host Monks.It was awe inspiring! Especially when it began to snow huge chunky flakes of snow.
This is the choir, including myself after a two and a half hour adventure in the snowy, cold, Yorkshire wilderness!