Blunder Bust!

Wow, that was tiring! Who’d have thunk that teaching 50 people a bunch of H&S songs in 4 hours across two buses, a stately home and a church then doing a gig at the finish line of the Tour de Yorkshire would prove so tiring? [grins]

Well, it was. But it was sooooo worth it. The smiles of everyone at The Hepworth and on the buses buoyed our spirits through the rain. We traversed the route and dabbled in rehearsals at the wonderful Harewood House. We were even welcomed by David Lascelles, the 8th Earl of Harewood!!! (I kid you not!) who attended rehearsals, and showed us to the Norman-era All Saints Church where both bus-loads learned The Big Wide, official song of Yorkshire Festival.

We re-boarded our buses, and came in the last few miles along the Tour de Yorkshire route atop our mightly steel steeds to arrive for our Roundhay Park set. The sun shone. It was glorious!

And y’know what, I think we did ok. [grins]. In fact, I think we all did great. The assembled crowd (one very angry woman aside – “I’m here to see a bike race not some chuffing band I’ve never heard of!!”) cheered all 50 of us on in our quest to entertain ’em… there were even some tears of joy on-stage. Anyway… if a picture tells a thousand words, then thanks as ever to the amazing Shot By Sodium for this documentary of the day:

We had a ball with our Blunder-Bus project for this years Yorkshire Festival. All that remains is to say a huge thanks to Welcome to Yorkshire for having us along for [coughs] “the ride”, to Yorkshire Coastliner for ensuring our safe travels, and to Shot By Sodium for making us look cooler than we really are.

Finally, we’d like to hand you over to the wonderful, real-life people of the internetz – the people who made the BlunderBus the awesome day it was – to tell you exactly what kind of day they had.

Peace out brothers and sisters!

It may be raining… @HepworthGallery @hopeandsocial @QEGSYorkshire @WGHSYorkshire Let the fun commence! pic.twitter.com/TH51PjRZcT

— WGSF (@WGSFYorkshire) May 3, 2015

#hsblunderbus pic.twitter.com/D245kGycdQ

— John Allsopp (@JAScarb) May 4, 2015

I just played my flute in a group of instruments for the first time since 1997 – loved it! @hopeandsocial #HSBlunderbus #TdY

— Lucinda Yeadon (@Lucinday) May 3, 2015

@TJamesHamilton big Thank you to you from the Trumpet and Cornet sisters on the #hsblunderbus . I think their music teacher feels jealous !

— Mary Chadwick (@MARYCHADWICK40) May 6, 2015

Ever wondered how you rehearse on a bus? #hsblunderbus Blu tac & watch your teeth! @hopeandsocial Bonkers Fun! pic.twitter.com/4nuClYk9ps

— WGSF (@WGSFYorkshire) May 3, 2015

.@MARYCHADWICK40 @TJamesHamilton I'll bet! Who would have even thought something like this was possible #hsblunderbus pic.twitter.com/poV7UivKd4

— Claire Thompson (@scaryclaire) May 6, 2015

MT: @larryandpaul The #hsblunderbus is in #Harewood grounds. Now that's an arrival… @hopeandsocial #BBCTDY pic.twitter.com/SFGcLwy7NT

— BBC Radio Leeds (@BBCLeeds) May 3, 2015

#Harewood cuddles at lunchtime break for #hsblunderbus @hopeandsocial @BBCLeeds #BBCTdY @garystewartband pic.twitter.com/1laRUuxmKS

— Larry and Paul (@larryandpaul) May 3, 2015

Sounding good! @larryandpaul "Amazing scenes. Musicians from @hopeandsocial blunderbus practice in Harewood Chapel. pic.twitter.com/9gGcLT1XX8"

— BBC Radio Leeds (@BBCLeeds) May 3, 2015

Selfing down the aisle at Harewood House. #hsblunderbus pic.twitter.com/xeOilq6Ruw

— Richard Harrison (@mr_spoon) May 3, 2015

Officially ready to see @hopeandsocial @tourdeyorkshire #hsblunderbus ☀️

A photo posted by Lisasew (@lisasew) on May 3, 2015 at 6:51am PDT

RT @larryandpaul Proud to have followed these folk today. Great band. #hsblunderbus #BBCTDY @letouryorkshire pic.twitter.com/iAux0L81kk

— BBC Radio Leeds (@BBCLeeds) May 3, 2015

Roundhay Park for @letouryorkshire & @hopeandsocial the sun came out⛅️ pic.twitter.com/YOwFKReaJY

— Lynn (@ellec157) May 3, 2015

My groupies #hsblunderbus pic.twitter.com/SP2gSSZp7j

— Siobhan Harrison (@ShivHarrison) May 3, 2015

The moment @ShivHarrison and I felt like rock gods. THANK YOU @hopeandsocial xx pic.twitter.com/igJbx9OSP8

— Richard Harrison (@mr_spoon) May 3, 2015

Thank you @hopeandsocial for the most fab day on #hsblunderbus #BBCTdY @YorkshireFest. We've all had a ball! pic.twitter.com/uTts6rS4gm

— WGSF (@WGSFYorkshire) May 3, 2015

Huge thanks to #HopeandSocial for making #hsblunderbus happen. P Great music, great cake, great day @YorkshireFest! pic.twitter.com/yiurQM9BTi

— Pat Brown (@PatAlexTea) May 3, 2015

Aw. Isn’t that lovely!
[smiles]