Hello Everyone,
Several years ago I bought a small unit extension pipe organ. For the last two or three years it has had to be moved around a couple of times and stored, but finally I have started to get it built at my home. Its not in bad condition, built around about 1960, and now I am getting to work on the organ more often I am trying to find a bit more about it. It was built by Peter Conacher and was removed from a disused Methodist church in Nuneaton. The detached console has a serial number 1879 and the organ has two manuals (61 Notes), Pedals (32 Notes) and three extension ranks, 8' Diapason (85 notes), 8' Dulciana (85 notes) and 16' Bourdon/ Stopped Flute (85 notes). The whole organ was designed to be housed in its own pipe chamber, with swell shutters connecting it to the church, and hidden behind a screen of false pipes.
One of my questions is, a number of other organ builders had similar sized 'off the peg' organs that were intended for budget installations, such as the Compton 'Augmentum' organ. Was this organ a similar venture for Conacher's? and dit it have similar trade name? or would it still have been built specificly for its location? It looks like a standard design, as a number of the pipes had been rearranged on the offnote chests and mitred to fit the contours of the chamber roof, but the toe holes in the chests were clearly laid out for the pipes to be in chromatic order.
Another striking thing I have noticed, although it was clearly built by, or for, Conachers, it is almost identical in detail to some Compton organs I have seen. I know it was built for Conachers because the keyboards, currently in a poor state, were actually made by Herrburger Brooks Ltd, but still have attached their job number tags, "Ser no. 69128 and 69129, 13/4/60, Conacher Organ 1, Size 1+2, C to C.B.F" thats the only piece of dating evidence I have for the organ. But other details like the main cable terminating board are absolutly identical to ones pictured in the back of a Compton Electrone, built around the same time.
Another clue to the organs origins could be the pipes, Each lowest 'C' pipe in metal in each rank is named and serial numbered, 'C' Rohr Flute No. 576 B Hirst, 'C' Open Diapason No. 577 and Dulciana No. 579 B Hirst. Not being expert in the history of these makers, I presume B Hirst was the voicer, but did he work for Conacher's, or is this a clue that the organ could have been bought in or parts made by Compton? The matrix relay in the console is almost identical to one pictured on the Cinema organ society's website, and is labeled ther as compton as well.
I hope you can help shed light on some of my questions,
Ian