Nick Warner

Hi I'm new to this forum. Hope someone can support. I was quite shocked to learn recently of the 'sudden'(?) demise of the Gloucester instrument. Whilst I've not been fortunate enough to ever hear it live, I've heard it many times on recordings, most memorably of David Briggs's opening recital on the rebuilt instrument - 1999 I think? I realise that as far as English cathedral instruments go, it's always attracted controversy in terms of its function as a recital instrument v its use to accompany the Anglican choral services. Personally, in the hands of someone like David Briggs, I always found it a thrilling listen when it was handling repertoire - both Baroque and romantic. Now, I appreciate 1999 is 24 years ago however, it got me thinking and pondering the question as to how long an instrument of significance - such as Gloucester, would be expected to last and why the life of the current instrument appears to have ended relatively suddenly? I appreciate it's far from simple as rebuilds can often use parts of previous instrument but I'm curious to know.. Kind regards Nick W