A–Z of All Links | Notes on Editorial Policy Links

'The aim of the current restoration is to return the organ to largely its 1929 state - from which the legendary EMI recordings and sound samples date and when it was heralded as "The Finest Concert Organ in Europe", reversing the extensive damage caused during World War II and the great fire of 1980. For more details see a brief summary of the instrument's chequered history, and also a more detailed account in Ivan Barwell's famed book, available here to view online for the first time.'

'Berwick Parish Church has particularly good acoustics and has been the venue for many excellent concerts and recitals over the years. Local choirs and travelling chamber music groups regularly perform in the church with soloists of international standing. Audiences are drawn widely from North Northumberland, the Scottish Borders and further afield. The lack of a fine pipe organ on these occasions restricts the range of musical options ...'

'The Organ Fund – is growing, thanks to YOUR generosity ... in these trying financial times, with £110.250.37p already raised we are still £49.749.63p! short of our target... Work begins early 2010, perhaps even earlier – indeed the main cables are already being prepared!

'It will be readily appreciated that this stage could not have been reached without the generosity and goodwill of so many people in the parish raising a lot of money ... In March 2007, the parish was thrilled to discover that the HLF had awarded a grant of up to £261,000 to the parish to restore the organ. By doing so, the HLF recognised the historic and musical qualities of the instrument as well as the parish’s foresight and commitment in acquiring it ... With their award (and, if I might say so, their wisdom in recognising our enthusiasm for this project) we will be able to bring this historic organ back to life and make it an asset for the whole community.'

'Our organ, built in 1986, is a flexible instrument that can play music across the whole repertoire - from the earliest to the most modern. It is fully mechanical, which means that the player is in direct contact with the pipes through the keyboards and a system of levers. As such it is an excellent instrument for us and future generations.

'Now work is needed – not just any old maintenance, but £40,000 worth of it. Those of you attending church or concerts recently will have noticed strange noises - from full squawks to a quietly piercing and annoying ringing-in-the-ears sound. These 'aviary' moments are the occasions when the organist has failed to overcome the problems, or is suddenly confronted with a new one. It is like having a washing machine that malfunctions on several cycles. It is not always easy to avoid the problem. Although in its design, the organ is a fine instrument, the way it was built has meant that the infrastructure has deteriorated - rather earlier than should have happened. The result is unreliability ...'

'So far we have raised £32,000 out of £40,000' [22 August 2008]

'In 1895 further rebuilding and enlarging were carried out by Henry Willis, a master of his craft who designed and built organs in cathedrals from Truro to Aberdeen, as well as for the Royal Albert Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral. His work on the Westbury organ at this time included a new pneumatic action, new pedal board, and manuals. It is not known how much new pipework was added at this stage. In the dismantling of the organ in 1965, some details of the work carried out by Willis were found pencilled on a part of the timber frame, as follows: "This organ was made tubular by W. Stiles and R. Simpson and finished by A. Deeks, August, 1895".

'In 1933 the organ was under the care of Griffin and Stroud of Bath, who installed electric blowing apparatus. Tuning and maintenance were subsequently taken over by Rushworth and Dreaper, who cleaned and overhauled it in 1948.

'The last renovation took place in 1965 ...'

'It was sold because a benefactor - Mr Richard Lemeing of Geaves House, Lancaster - had given a new 'Grand Organ' to be built on the West Gallery. Unfortunately Mr Leeming lived only a few months after the new instrument was installed. The organ was blessed and opened on 6th January 1889.

'This was to be the greatest achievement of and finest instrument built by Henry Ainscough of Preston. The case is divided over the two sides of the West Window: to the North side; the Choir and the Great divisions, to the South the Swell. The Pedal organ is divided between the two sides. The bellows were originally blown by an hydraulic engine, which was replaced in 1905 by an electric motor. Ainscough's did some work to the instrument in the 1950s, although there is no record of the nature of the restoration. The only evidence of this work comes from a programme of an organ recital given by Sir William Harris on Wednesday 3rd October 1956; the recital was described as 'the re-opening of the restored organ.' The specification appears the same as it was in 1889. In 1975 Pendlebury of Cleveleys electrified the action and built a new console. No tonal alterations were made.

'Extensive restoration work is currently being carried out by Henry Willis and Sons (Liverpool). The work involves the cleaning of all 1886 pipes, the restoration of the soundboards, replacement of the bellows, a new console and some tonal improvements.'

2007-2008 Restoration Work pictures and updates available on the Site; the Cathedral Blog carries a number of postings about the restoration work; more pictures can be found on the Willis and Sons website.

'Alas, the Chapter adopted a negative approach and settled instead for the introduction of a solid-state action and a repair of the wind supply, thereby perpetuating a basically poor instrument for a few more decades ...

'If a new organ was provided at Llandaff, this would be the first wholly new British built Cathedral organ to be built since the opening of Coventry Cathedral. To date the appeal, yet to be officially launched, has got off to a good start with a legacy of £5,000 and a donation of £10,000 ...'

'The project is to clean, overhaul and renovate the organ. After nearly 40 years of constant use, the pipework is very dirty and this has considerably affected the speech of the flute and reed stops. The performance of the actions is inadequate due to the normal process of ageing. The present wind system has deteriorated to the extent that it now constitutes a major defect which is unsatisfactory, troublesome and costly to maintain. During the 1968 rebuild the Pedal Bombarde 16 ft stop was voiced to allow for the later addition of the 12 notes of a 32ft bottom octave. The addition of this 32 ft Pedal Contre Bombarde, together with the installation of a traditional wind system will complete the specification as conceived by Ralph Downes.'

'The Cavaillé-Coll organ has been in the Parr Hall since the 1920's and it is an important, mostly unaltered instrument, one of the few outside of France, and one of the only Cavaillé-Coll concert organs anywhere. Its removal from the Parr Hall to create more space is a mistake which future generations will regret: it will devalue the Parr Hall as a concert venue. It is an important part of Warrington's cultural heritage.'