Ledbury and Herefordshire's day in the Dome started for most at 6am by the Market House on a cold May Monday.

By 6.30am all six coaches had arrived and 300 people were on their way to a day they would never forget.

But getting there took longer than expected, thanks to a jam on the M4 and heavy Central London traffic.

By the time our coach pulled up on the car park by the national showpiece arena it was 12.30pm, and there were some mutterings about not having enough time to see it all.

From a distance the Dome looks smaller than one might expect. Its massive pole supports, rising so high above the white arching canvas, give it the appearance of a semi-erected circus tent.

Inside, the illusion is dispelled. Make no mistake, the Dome is massive. The Millennium Central Show, the one featuring the acrobats, is massive too.

Members of the Ledbury party watched this spectacular while waiting for the Ledbury Community Choir to take the stage in the grand arena.

The acrobats seemed to inhabit a Mad Max world, of fights on scaffolding, sudden flares and fireworks and unexpected but deliberate tumbles, all on safety ropes of course. The music consisted in the main of percussion and sirens, or seemed to. It was deafening.

When the Community Choir took the stage, under the baton of Steve Tommey, the line-up looked nervous but was immaculately turned out.

Choir member Coun Spencer Lane, chairman of the Ledbury 2000 Working Party, said that he could not hear how well the choir was singing, because the vastness of the arena seemed to swallow the sound.

But not a note was missed, and the audience was treated to powerful renditions of church, gospel and Disney favourites.

To the left of the choir, for those milling in the distant corners of the dome, a massive video screen provided overhead shots of the choir in action.

Then it was on to Ledbury Lives in the McDonald's 500-seat theatre. The second show of the day was packed.

The Domes's PR organiser, Mary Sweeting estimated that well over 1,000 people would see the show by the end of the day.

Schoolchildren from the John Masefield High School, Ledbury Primary School and the Herefordshire Youth Orchestra did the county proud. Again, a faultless performance was given against a video backdrop by dancers and musicians.

The music, best described as modern classical, was by Stephen Gowland, a lay clerk of Herefordshire Cathedral. The words were Philip Sharpe, who works for the NSPCC in Hereford.

The children tackled the complex turns of the show against a blown-up video showing Ledbury lives. The contrast on this was a little too dark, and some of the themes tackled pulled no punches.

The video was well acted, thanks to members of the Ledbury Amateur Dramatic Society, who took part. Philippa Lucas played a would-be writer, while her sister Katherine played a lady farmer facing ruin. Patrick Stanier played a young man seeking both love and a career, while younger brother Hugh just wanted a rocket-powered skateboard. Other LADS members could be seen in bus queues or playing the part of ghostly peasants from a bygone age.

There is little of bygone ages in the Dome itself. The vision is modern and the scale is huge.

Nobody from Ledbury was able to see every attraction in the four hours we had there. By the time it came to leave, there were still complaints that time had defeated us, but most people were grateful to put their feet up on the coach for the smooth journey home.