Tony Newnham

A few minutes on the NPOR web site (www.bios.org.uk/npor), looking for organs with a Historic Organs Certificate (HOC) will find a number of contenders. Most of the major instruments in Cathedrals, etc. have been changed so much over the years that they can't really be called "historic". Every Blessing Tony

Yes - the sound of the one in Shoreham was quite good - but the action response coupled with pipes at one end of the church and the console at the other wasn't so clever. I've also come across a single manual plus pedal 2-rank extension job by them - in SOuthwick Community Church (details on NPOR). I don't know what the current state of it is, as they've just built a new building. The plan was to re-instate the organ, but I don't know if that's actually happened. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Still with Osmonds - but to change the topic slightly - I learned to play mainly on a 2 manual extension job of theirs in St. Giles, Kingston Buci, Sussex (I remember it being installed). It made some reasonable sounds - considering the amount of extension - but it put me off detahced consoles and non-tracker action for life! I was just wondering how many similar instruments they made (there are a couple of 1 m extension organs elsewhere in Sussex), and how they compare to the Walker positifs of the same era. (1960's) Every Blessing Tony

Hi HN&B ceased trading in 1999. Many of the local tuners bought out the goodwill in their areas. I'm not sure what happened to the name - and if whoever bought it is using it as a trading name. Every Blessing Tony

Well done Dave - a search under "Builder" on NPOR shows 218 surveys of organs known to have been built/rebuilt/worked on by this firm. You would have to look a bit closer to see which are still in exisyence, but in my work on the register, Sweetland has cropped up several times. (Sorry for the late reply) Every Blessing Tony

Hi As someone who plays a number of different organs, this is an interesting issue. I find in practice that, as long as the pedalboard is somewhere near "correct" (i.e.D under D) in position, then there are few problems. Different pedal compass, and flat pedal boards, especially if not centred, make life interesting. I personally prefer the Victorian straight, concave style of pedalboard to the RCO/AGO design; and I also like manuals relatively close together to facilitate thumbing, etc. - and drawstops rather than tabs any day! Every Blessing Tony