OmegaConsort

Well David! You've let the cat out of the bag! So Plymouth is the one I was thinking of (3 manual Hele - unplayable(?), with a 3 manual tabstop Eminent in front of it. I cannot think where the other 2 or 3 are..........and I thought I was a real organ buff (both pipe and digital!)..... Best wishes

".....................and then there is one other RC Cathedral with a pipeless instrument!".................said SL indeed, and like the one which cannot be named, a pipe organ is still there too (a Hele, though unplayable)!

I know precisely where this is, and the information is in the public domain, but I hesitate to post as I am not completely clued up with why others might be hesitant! It's a very large building, Roman Catholic, and the pipe organ is in the South Transept - a very small two-manual with a limited specification and certainly not capable of leading a full congregation. Toaster replacement has been there a number of years.........two manual stop tab console situated on the North side of the Choir and I would assume an external speaker system somewhere upstairs. Better not say anymore had I!!!!

I'm sure I have seen that video too.............it's not on NPOR as it was a temporary organ I think....It looked very much like that colourful organ which appears in Organists' Review - the one that travels around and teaches kids about the organ. It has a funny name - something like Woof or Hoof??

Does anyone know what actually happened to the Downes organ? Did it all really end up in a skip??

This is from the Church website................"Sadly, the instrument is not maintained due to impending major work and roughly 50% of the instrument is now unusable either in part of totally. There are many leaks, the action is slow, a lot of the couplers do not work, many stops are inoperable and the tuning is interesting......"

Hi Jonathan Hope you are well... Congratulations so far... However....a Nave division? Wasn't one there before? Best wishes Richard

"Mass of the Cocktail Hour" David...................We have it in repertoire, but never thought of calling it that! Thanks!

Ooops! Sorry AJJ - spoiler alert!

I just finished reading it too Vox..........stunned was I too, and also amazed how he managed to stay in post for all those years, given the negativity and apparent lack of interest shown not just to him, but also to the choral services which took place in the Cathedral during his tenure.

Thanks for that Martin...........the most extraordinary last verse arrangement of O Come, O come...in Rachel's video! I wonder who it is by?

Not wishing in any way to defend the new SoP programme, but in response to Colin, the organ of Salisbury appeared tonight, and mention of an organ in Torquay (I think), and I only watched 5 minutes of it!

Just thought of another.............and much more recent..........the old Positiv organ entombed in the parabola of Llandaff remains, though unplayable on the new instrument. Apparently it would have cost loads to set up scaffolding to remove the pipes.

Re. the old mobile Liverpool console Tony, it is going to be refurbished and used in the Lady Chapel at ground floor level for the 2M Willis...

Isn't the old Lincoln Willis console somewhere in the building still? I think one of the old St Paul's Cathedral Console still lurks too. Finally, I have a recollection that a console from a previous instrument in Malmesbury Abbey (Wiltshire) was kept in the room above the South Porch.

I saw something recently (on Facebook I think) which featured a little on the organ of Nuneaton Abbey (I didn't even know there was an Abbey in Nuneaton!). It appears to be a four-manual with a very ugly console and "case" at the West End. I can't find anything on NPOR. Does anyone have any information about this instrument? Best wishes Richard

Whilst I feel sad that any cathedral might consider reducing its music resource, if, as Vox says, Llandaff will now have 6 men rather than 12 then surely that isn't as bad as it might be? Salisbury have survived perfectly well with one voice per part per side for at least the last 70 years. I would echo Vox's worries about the assistant going...that to me sounds far more damaging

Thanks RAC.....Just to avoid any possible confusion, ours are the one worn by the boy in the red cassock. They stand up very nicely, don't sag and look very good. They are laundered regularly (with a little spray starch), and the trebles don't complain about them! Richard

Hi we have just replaced a load of tatty old ruffs for our trebles, and like you, had to research first. RAC (a member also) did the research and came up with really good ruffs (with buttons) that look really good. Sorry for delay, but we have just come back from St Asaph Cathedral - singing for a week - RAC will see this post and will, I hope, send you details of what we got and from where we got them, Best wishes Richard

I remember the Worcester thread........simply amazing how it went on, and fascinating too to read such diverse opinions and comments. I found it very rewarding to follow, and remember some of the highlights well (not least the photos from the DoM showing every stage of the installation). Who knows how long this thread might be, but it would be a shame if we heeded Nigel Allcoat and Barry Oakley's advice and stopped talking about it. What a dreary forum this would become.

Thanks pcnd! All I did was ask what the old console was at 3'17"....I genuinely didn't know....wasn't expecting the response I got from that (not including Spondrel who answered my question).

Fascinating video! At around 3'17" in the background is a wonderful old console.......which one is it?

John Sayer on this forum is the most likely to provide an answer to this one, and no doubt will in due course. However, in the meantime I could be wrong but Ripon had a costly electronic with a good console and the stop list etc I think was exactly the same as the H&H pipe organ console. When the electronic got past its sell by date I think the Nave console was refurbished by H&H and connected up to the main organ, so that would account for their name on it. I wait to be corrected! I dont think this is the case. The electronic was a compton makin and the console was huge. The new console looks "new" and is certainly not in the style of the 80''s Makin consoles. It is quite low profile from what I can remember last year. I am also sure that I read somewhere that the Makin was sold intact.

The nave console has a Harrisons plate on it, so I assume they built it?

Strange...the link above seems to go to a 2 manual Kingsgate Davidson which was broken up sometime ago!