Having been the founder the organists association in the Chester and North East Wales area I have greatly enjoyed this thread, particularly with reference to the Chester organ which is certainly everything other posters to this site say it is. I gather that the incumbant organist would greatly like to see it rebuilt in the not too distant future. Having played it on a couple of occasions, it is pretty thrilling and the 32 reed positioned to the rear of the case is the musical equivalent of a pneumatic drill. All great fun nevertheless!
Since the theme of this thread is The Worst Organ in the World, I was wondering whether or not to nominate the organ in Prestatyn Parish Church for the award of worst organ. On reading the message by Lee Blick, I take courage and nominate the organ by Leonard Reeves as being the worst organ I have ever encountered in my life!
It was a fairly respectable moderate sized two manual by Abbott and Smith of Leeds which was greatly enlarged with a "new" three manual console, which is the most hideous thing you have ever seen. For a new console (I am sure a "rebuild" of a Compton console - though why on earth they had to interfere with the console at all, I will never know!) It has flat front keys for the positive manual which to my eye looks very odd on a modern console. Further it has a bunch of thumb pistons, all of which are un-marked as to what they are for. The whole thing looks dreadful.
But consoles essentially are not what makes the noise, and just across the chancel is where a bonfire needs be lit - perhaps with the console as kindling. When the organ was enlarged to its present 40 stops, no increase was made to the wind trunk, so there is the most enormous wobble. This occurs on flutes and reeds alike across the organ.
As a curious aside, the Vicar at the time that this organic abortion occurred was famous for his Guinness Record book attempts, and at the time of the opening recital, the church hall contained a swimming pool with the largest jelly ever made. To wander into the church hall was something of a surreal experience to see bunches of fridges with their doors open attempting to set the jelly. (The things we do for Jesus!) I guess that just as the jelly wobbled so doth the wind wobble in Prestatyn.
The so-called positive organ is a selection of second hand pipework of all varieties and due to the wobbly wind is almost impossible to tune. The bellows have been screwed down to solve a windleak problem - and right now all the old pneumatic drawstop machines are bursting, and the sound boards knackered. Even the organ tuner who now maintains this hideous monstrosity says that there is nothing that can be done to improve it! Oh and in a spec of 40 voices there are but two reeds - a trumpet unit on the great and a cornopeon on the swell ... (vox humana, clarinet, oboe strings and celestes???? What are they????)
Essentially the organ is in such a state that I can only see replacement as a reasonable possibility. With a diocesan quota of £65,000 to pay and a rapidly reducing congregation, it is certain that the next organ will not have pipes - if there is ever a next organ.
Do you suppose that BIOS has a certificate for the world's worst heap of junk?