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Paul_H

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  1. Found this on Youtube. I'd like to think these people know what they're doing, but somehow the bit at 5'39" suggests otherwise. Paul H
  2. Whilst perusing NPOR I came across this oddity: https://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=P00147 The Pedal features a 16' Bourdon and 16' Soft Bass; the notes say that the Soft Bass uses "same pipes as the Bourdon, but different wind pressure applied, supplied from a small auxiliary set of bellows" Usually, reducing the wind pressure like this would affect the tuning so presumably they found a way to overcome it. Anyone got experience of this? Or come across it elsewhere?
  3. Robert Hope-Jones featured briefly in another recent book, Colin; "The Foghorn's Lament" by Jennifer Lucy Allen is a history of foghorns and coastal people. I'm only part-way into it but it's fascinating and mentions RH-J in passing. Maybe that's where a few of your views came from? I do regularly dip into your website, the recent Wesley article was really interesting!
  4. A brief history of Pattman's organ by H&H is indeed described in Elvin's book, together with specification and photographs. As the book is decades out of print, hopefully it's allowable to attach a couple of scans here - if not, please let me know.
  5. A fascinating specification and from this listener's point of view, the finished instrument will be something to look forward to. Seeing as we're very much in "nuts & bolts" territory here, a question: Stop 23 (Pedal Clarion 4') is apparently to be crafted from the former Schalmei 4'. That's quite a change given the wildly different forms of pipe. Is it a "melt and recast" or, as implied, is something very clever going to happen in the metal shop? If there's any chance of situating a timelapse camera somewhere, that would be a wonderful record of this reconstruction.
  6. Received the sad news last night that John Hughes, Assistant Organist at Bridlington Priory for over forty years, passed away yesterday (17 April) following a stroke. A fine musician with an equally fine sense of humour. Hopefully there will be a fitting memorial service, once restrictions are lifted.
  7. OK, no idea what's going on. I'll just post it here as raw text. The formatting's a bit off but you'll get the idea. Really sorry for the problems - clearly a bit of a newbie when it comes to posting attachments! I don't think I've ever seen this published before - it's the 1965 proposed specification for a 5-manual rebuild of the Bridlington Priory organ. Raymond Sunderland was my choirmaster at Bridlington Priory as well as piano teacher and music teacher at my secondary school. I'd always been keen on the "nuts and bolts" of the organ and spent many a chilly hour holding notes whilst he tuned. He gave me this copy of the specification at school one day - it was a typical school glossy photostat of the original carbon-copy, so it's not the best quality. I tried scanning but it's not at all easy to read, so as I've got time on my hands at the moment (furloughed!!) I've typed it up for posterity. (I didn't type the back six pages which detail the physical work, but if anyone's interested I've another three weeks of this to fill so just say the word!) There are a couple of obvious typos in the original which I've kept but made a note of. Hope you find it interesting. Paul BRIDLINGTON PRIORY DETAILED SPECIFICATION FOR REBUILDING THE PRESENT ORGAN INTO FIVE MANUALS WITH PEDALS, AS RECOMMENDED IN SCHEME II. LAYCOCK & BANNISTER 29 APRIL 1965 113 Speaking Stops; 26 Couplers; 4 Tremulants MANUAL COMPASS: CC to C PEDAL COMPASS: CCC to G 6628 Pipes New Electro-Pneumatic Action throughout with New All Electric Detached Console Cost: £18,000 approximately ECHO ORGAN. Fifth Manual (Top) Enclosed. 1. Contra Dulciana 16ft 2. Gemshorn 8ft Ex Anneessens Choir 3. Viola 8ft Ex Anneessens Choir 4. Flauto Traverso 8ft 5. Dulciana 8ft 6. Flauto Traverso 4ft 7. Dulcet 4ft 8. Nazard 2 2/3ft 9. Dulcet Twelfth 2 2/3ft 10. Flautino 2ft 11. Dulcet Fifteenth 2ft 12. Tierce 1 2/3ft * 13. Octavin 1ft 14. Mixture 22:26:29 3 ranks. 183 pipes 5,7,9,11: extension of No.1 6,8,10,13: extension of No.4 i. Tremulant ii. Echo Octave 6 Thumb Pistons: Double Touch, Echo – Pedal 1 Reversible Thumb Piston, Echo – Pedal Analysis and Origin Disposition: In substantial box situated above the present Swell Box on new platform Origin: Present enclosed Choir Additions: No.2 & No.3 Ex unenclosed Choir No.12 Ex unenclosed Choir No.13 Extension of Flautino 2ft (Traverso unit) No.14 Mixture (New) 183 pipes, scale to No.4 Tremulant. New-slow beat Octave Coupler. New *Transcription note: No.12 is as per manuscript but is probably a typo (likely intended to be 1 3/5ft) SOLO ORGAN. Fourth Manual Enclosed Division (in Substantial Box above Swell) 1. Viola 16ft New (Tenor C) 49 pipes 2. Hohl Flute 8ft (Ex Anneessens Choir) 61 pipes 3. Gedact 8ft (Ex Anneesseens Choir) 61 pipes 4. Viole da Gamba 8ft (Ex Willis Choir–heavy scale) 61 pipes 5. Celeste 8ft (Ex Willis Swell) 49 pipes 6. Viol 4ft (New. Scaled to No.4) 61 pipes 7. Gedact Flute 4ft (Ex Anneessens Choir) 61 pipes 8. Mixture 12:17 2rks (New, scaled to 2/3/7) 122 pipes 9. Flageolet 2ft (Ex Willis Swell) 61 pipes 10. Clarinette 16ft (Ex Anneessens Choir) 61 pipes 11. Clarinet 8ft (Ex Willis Choir) 61 pipes 12. Vox Humaine 8ft (Ex Anneessens Swell) 61 pipes 13. English Horn 8ft (New) 61 pipes Tremulant (Slow deep beat) Unenclosed Division (in Triforium Arch above main case) 14. Tuba Mirabilis 8ft (Ex Anneessen / Compton Choir, 61 pipes extended to complete bottom octave at same scale) 15. Tuba Minor 8ft (Ex Anneessen / Compton Choir. 61 pipes extension of Pedal Tuba Unit) 16. Cornet IVrks (from Anneessens Great 244 pipes extended to CCC) COUPLERS Solo Octave Solo Sub Octave Solo Unison Off Echo to Solo 10 Thumb Pistons to Solo 1 Reversible Thumb Piston [Solo] to Pedal SWELL ORGAN. Third Manual 1. Lieblich Bourdon 16ft (Situate 32 pipes on separate chest to facilitate duplication of 32 notes to Pedal Organ) 61 pipes 2. Stopped Diapason 8ft 61 pipes 3. Geigen Diapason 8ft 61 pipes 4. Vox Angelica 8ft 49 pipes 5. Viole de Gambe 8ft 61 pipes 6. Flute 4ft 61 pipes 7. Geigen Principal 4ft 61 pipes 8. Fifteenth 2ft 61 pipes 9. Quartane 12:15 2rks 122 pipes 10. Mixture 15:19:22:26 4rks (new on separate chest) 244 pipes 11. Contra Bassoon 16ft 61 pipes 12. Oboe 8ft 61 pipes 13. Bassoon 8ft (from No.11) 14. Trompette 8ft 61 pipes 15. Clarion 4ft (new – scale to no.14) 61 pipes Tremulant COUPLERS Swell Octave Swell Sub Octave Swell Unison Off (acting on all stops) Solo to Swell Echo to Swell 10 Thumb Pistons – double touch, Swell – Pedal 5 Toe Pistons – double touch, Swell – Pedal 1 Reversible Thumb Piston – Swell to Pedal Box – on present site, but to be restored and possibly deepened. Doors and interior to be lined to give better Diminuendo And Crescendo effect. GREAT ORGAN – Second Manual DIVISION I (Original Anneessens – situated on the Original Soundboard) 1. Double Diapason 16ft Bottom ofctave from Pedal 16ft Gross, remaining pipes from Compton Diapason II 2. Bourdon 16ft 61 pipes 3. Open Diapason 8ft 61 pipes 4. Violon 8ft 61 pipes 5. Flute Harmonique 8ft 61 pipes 6. Principal 4ft 61 pipes 7. Ocarina 4ft 61 pipes 8. Twelfth 2 2/3ft 61 pipes 9. Fifteenth 2ft 61 pipes 10. Twenty Second 1ft New, 61 pipes 11. Cornet IV ranks On separate chest along with Trompette & Clarion – New pipes to extend the Cornet down to CCC. 244 pipes 12. Bombarde 16ft Resituate on one chest, elevated on North Wall, 61 pipes 13. Trompette 8ft Resituate on chest above Anneessens Great, 61 pipes 14. Clarion 4ft As Trompette above, 61 pipes DIVISION II (English Chorus, situated behind Sanctuary Organ Case) 1. Double Open Diapason 16ft Ex Willis Great, 61 pipes 2. Open Diapason 8ft Ex Willis Great, 61 pipes 3. Claribel Flute 8ft Ex Willis Great, 61 pipes 4. Principal 4ft Ex Willis Great, 61 pipes 5. Twelfth 2 2/3ft Ex Willis Great, 61 pipes 6. Fifteenth 2ft Ex Willis Great, 61 pipes 7. Mixture 15:19:22 3rks Ex Willis Great, 183 pipes 8. Tromba 8ft Ex Willis Great, 61 pipes COUPLERS Echo to Great Solo to Great Swell to Great Positive to Great Bombarde to Great 8 Split Thumb Pistons (square in two colours) – double touch, Division I and Division II – Great – Pedal 1 Reversible Thumb Piston for Solo to Great 1 Reversible Thumb Piston for Swell to Great 1 Reversible Thumb Piston for Bombarde to Great 1 Rocker Tablet in end of Great Key-Slip: Divi I, Both, Divi II POSITIVE ORGAN – first manual (Pipe work situated on the spare sliders of the Anneessens chest – with necessary additional chests – voiced to give a bright powerful Positive, with a homogenous build into a chorus) 1. Quintaton 16ft New, 61 pipes 2. Open Diapason 8ft Ex Anneessens Choir, 61 pipes 3. Stopped Diapason 8ft New, 61 pipes 4. Spitz Flote 4ft New (conical). 61 pipes 5. Principal 4ft New, 61 pipes 6. Nazard 2 2/3ft New, 61 pipes 7. Fifteenth 2ft New, 61 pipes 8. Block Flote 2ft New, Opulent & Large Scale, 61 pipes 9. Tierce 1 3/5ft New, 61 pipes 10. Larigot 1 1/3ft New, 61 pipes 11. Sifflote 1ft New, 61 pipes 12. Harmonics 15:19:22 3rks New, 183 pipes * 13. Krummhorn 8ft New, 61 pipes Tremulant BOMBARDE ORGAN – played from the Positive Manual (Flue pipework situated in the Sanctuary Triforium Arch) 1. Double Open Diapason 16ft New (12 from Pedal Open Metal) 61 pipes 2. Open Diapason 8ft Ex Compton Great No. I, 61 pipes 3. Octave Diapason 4ft New, 61 pipes 4. Fourniture 12:15:19:22 4rks New, 244 pipes 5. Grand Plein Jeux 22:26:29:33:36 5rks New, scaled to integrate and complement the full Great Organ, 305 pipes 6. Bombarde 16ft Duplication of Anneessens Great 7. Trompette 8ft Duplication of Anneessens Great 8. Clarion 4ft Duplication of Anneessens Great COUPLERS Swell to Positive Solo to Positive Octave to Reeds – nos. 6, 7, 8 – Bombarde Organ Sub Octave to Reeds – nos. 6, 7, 8 – Bombarde Organ Six Thumb Pistons – Double Touch – Positive and Pedal One Reversible Thumb Piston – Positive to Pedal Three Toe Pistons – Positive to Pedal ** Four Thumb Pistons – Bombarde to Pedal ** Two Toe Pistons – Pedal – Bombarde ** Transcription notes: * - Positive No 12 as typed. Crossed out in RGS’s hand and “Cymbal – 29:33:36” inserted ** - these are as typed but likely typo’s. PEDAL ORGAN 1. Double Diapason 32ft Ex Willis Pedal Organ – 32 Pedal Diapason heavy scale 16ft pipes stopped to give 32ft pitch. 32 pipes 2. Sub Soubasse 32ft From No. 5 with Polyphone Bass 3. Open Metal 16ft Redispose to fit in with English Bombarde Chorus in Triforium Arch. 32 notes from No. 1 Bombarde Organ 4. Grosse Flute 16ft 32 pipes 5. Soubasse 16ft 32 pipes 6. Lieblich Bourdon 16ft Duplication – 32 notes from Swell 7. Dulciana 16ft Duplication – 32 notes from Echo – 5 bottom pipes in Sanctuary Case 8. Quinte 10 2/3ft Derived from No. 5 9. Flute Bass 8ft Extension of No. 5 10. Flute Principal 8ft Extension of No. 4 11. Open Diapason 8ft New Metal – scale to No. 4. 32 pipes 12. Quinte 5 1/3ft Derived from No. 5 13. Flute 4ft Extension of No. 9 14. Principal 4ft New Metal – scale to No.11. 32 pipes 15. Twenty Second 2ft New Metal – scale to No.14. 32 pipes 16. Fourniture 19:22:26:29 4rks New Metal – scale and merge with No.4,11,14 & 15 – the above Chorus to be situated as high as possible on the North Wall. 128 pipes REEDS 17. Contra Tuba 32ft To be lowered as near the ground as possible and supported on separate frame. 32 pipes 18. Tubasson 16ft Extension of 17 19. Bombarde 16ft Resituated – see Great Organ (32 notes from Great) 20. Bassoon 16ft 32 notes from Swell 21. Tuba 8ft Extension of 18 22. Tuba Clarion 4ft (From Tuba Minor – Solo Organ) 32 notes from Solo 23. Clarion 4ft 32 notes from Swell Bassoon COUPLERS Echo to Pedal Solo to Pedal Solo Octave to Pedal Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal Positive to Pedal 10 Toe Pistons – Double Touch – Pedal & Great, incorporating Divisions I & II in conjunction with the manual rocking tablet 2 Toe Pistons – Double Touch – Pedal & Bombarde GENERAL Detached Five Manual & Pedal All Electic Console Fifth Manual (Top) Echo Organ )) Keyboards rising at Fourth Manual Solo Organ )) an angle Third Manual Swell Organ )) Second Manual Great Organ Keyboard horizontal First Manual Positive & Bombarde Keyboard slight angle drop Ivory head Drowstops arranged in jambs as shown in the layout of the Charts, 45°. All stop heads to be lettered in Black except the Couplers and Tremulants which will be in Red. Ivory nameplates to each department, above the Stop Knobs Ivory nameplate on end of each key slip of Manual Thumb Pistons to be lettered and numbered Toe Pistons to have labels Manual action ¼” depression before speaking Pedal Board: 32 note radiating & concave Crescendo Pedals for Echo; Swell; Solo, nameplate above each pedal. Variable and adjustable all electric contacts behind each pedal, with adjustable friction cylinders for foot pressure. These pedals will control 3 new specially designed Electro-Pneumatic 10 station Swell Engines. Reversible Toe Pistons for Individual Stops: Tuba Mirabilis (Solo) Contra 32ft Tuba (Pedal) Extreme Right Soubasse 32ft (Pedal) Hand side. General Cancel Piston, all stops cancelling. Signal light with two panels built into console case near music desk, frosted glass fronts and named “Rector’s Vestry” and “Choir Vestry” Suitable light for Music Desk Organ Stool cut out slightly at front edge for leg shape New “Discus” quiet running Blower, with approx 5h.p. three phase squirrel cage motor fitted with ring oilers and sleeve bearings and specially designed for quietness in operation, also long life. This blower will be installed by the “Discus” firm of Watkins & Watson Ltd and will carry their full Guarantee. A new “Discus” Transformer / Rectifier Unit will be supplied to replace the present motor/generator plant which shows a considerable voltage drop when load is applied. This rectifier will be 3 Phase Input with a 50 ampere 18 volts D.C. output for the action current. Very robust in design which embodies full smoothing and good regulation with minimum voltage drop even when playing full organ. A volt meter will be fitted on the console. The present BOBCO booster blower supplying the 15” wind pressure to the Tuba Mirabilis is in first class condition and will be retained. A New On & Off Push Button Switch will be fitted on the Console, this will control a fully automatic star-delta starter sited inside the organ, the two blowers and rectifier will thus come under the control of one switch, an indicator light will be fitted on the console.
  8. I've re-uploaded as a standard Word file in case it was the PDF it didn't like - if that doesn't work I'll have to think of something else. You wouldn't believe I worked in IT, would you!
  9. I don't think I've ever seen this published before - it's the 1965 proposed specification for a 5-manual rebuild of the Bridlington Priory organ. Raymond Sunderland was my choirmaster at Bridlington Priory as well as piano teacher and music teacher at my secondary school. I'd always been keen on the "nuts and bolts" of the organ and spent many a chilly hour holding notes whilst he tuned. He gave me this copy of the specification at school one day - it was a typical school glossy photostat of the original carbon-copy, so it's not the best quality. I tried scanning but it's not at all easy to read, so as I've got time on my hands at the moment (furloughed!!) I've typed it up for posterity. (I didn't type the back six pages which detail the physical work, but if anyone's interested I've another three weeks of this to fill so just say the word!) There are a couple of obvious typos in the original which I've kept but made a note of. Hope you find it interesting. Paul EDIT - for some reason the attached PDF wouldn't load, trying again with a standard Word document instead EDIT 2 - that didn't work either, posted in-line below. Sorry 😞
  10. Well I shall make my way over to the new forum. I'm not "in the business" like many of you, but thanks Raymond Sunderland, an inspirational choirmaster to 7-yr old me back in 1972, I have a lifelong love of the organ (particularly its innards) and organ music. We can't all be fine performers and I might not have ever played all that well, but it's something that's given me pleasure for nearly half a century. And I'm a good listener! I shall add my voice to that of so many others and say a fond farewell to Manders - and thanks to them for setting up this forum, on which I've wasted many a happy hour reading everyone's opinions. I've learned a lot. See you over the other side...
  11. Reading Headcase's account of Bath brought back some fun memories. Years ago I had the dubious pleasure of having to occasionally trim the odd note of Bridlington's very fine Compton tuba into tune. It's located in the triforium and getting to it (pre-rebuild) was not the easiest. The first ladder to the pedal reed chest level was fixed; then a moveable ladder took you to the next floor. Once you'd got there - main windchest level - you had to pull up the ladder you'd just climbed, trying not to forget about the gap you'd pulled it through, and prop it as best you could against the mounted chests above the main Great/Positive windchest. A dodgy climb up there and you were face-to-face with the Compton Great Open 1. A bit of a side-wards shuffle then a scary open ladder took you up to the tuba platform. Once you were up there, the view certainly focussed the mind; nothing but an open void choirwards one way, or several thousand spiky bits of expensive metal the other. I was a lot braver back then than I am now! The Tuba was always well balanced in the church but ear-splittingly loud up there, even though it wasn't at the time getting anything like its proper 15" wind which dulled it somewhat. I never saw any of the "real" tuners wearing ear protection but bits of screwed-up tissue did help me. No way could we tune it against any of the usual references but the Open 1 was rock solid and not that far away, so that's what it got. After the Nicholson's rebuild, it's back to its full complement of wind and very fine it sounds too. The Brid organ was quite a maze back in the day. One of these days (if I can work out how to do 3D cad as opposed to 2D) I'll draw it up for posterity - certainly quite an example of how a much-rebuilt organ can grow out of all recognition.
  12. Some fascinating questions and answers here. With a nod to one of Stanley's original questions, and hoping that YouTube links work on this board, here's an interesting trip inside the Boardwalk Hall organ in Atlantic City, following the 64ft Dulzian CCCCC pipe as it travels upwards through various levels of the organ and seeing what happens when the "sound" comes out of the blunt end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAj0mMWHzxc Chris Nagorka's channel on YouTube has a lot of fascinating "insides" videos of this organ, well worth checking out. Enjoy!
  13. I don't think it was intended to be anything approaching a polyphone, but George Pattman's travelling organ (H&H 1916) featured a 32ft Bombarde which, according to the specification, had "one pipe only, common to lowest 12 keys of pedal board".
  14. Audsley mentions in his book "The Art of Organ-Building" (1905) that he had some difficulty fitting all of the Pedal 16ft Principal pipes in his music-room organ so devised a pneumatic valve which effectively opened an aperture in the pipe, allowing it to speak one of two notes a semitone apart.
  15. Just back from Ian Tracey's superb recital at Bridlington Priory. It was announced at the beginning of the performance that Michael Smith, organist and master of the choristers, is retiring at Christmas after 32 years in the post. A sad loss to the Priory but hopefully his soon-to-be-announced successor will carry on the fantastic work he's been doing. At least he/she will be inheriting a superb organ in very fine voice indeed.
  16. Listening to Steve Lamacq's show on BBC6Music today, an interesting story about a stolen pipe from York Minster's organ. It's made it onto the BBC News website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-49495317 You'd have thought they would have missed it! --Paul H
  17. I can possibly shed a little light on some of this. Back in 1989, Michael Smith and I spent some time crawling around the innards of the Priory organ as part of its 100th anniversary commemoration - a lot of photographs and a back-of-church display ensued. The Soubasse 32ft was definitely a Compton polyphone, at the time it was laid horizontally on the ground floor beneath the reservoirs. The Double Grosse Flote 32ft was in fact large scale stopped 16ft wood pipes. I think they were second hand; they were (and possibly still are) located immediately behind the display pipes in the Sanctuary. Incidentally some of the middle flat of Sanctuary display pipes were the bottom octave of the Solo Contra Dulciana 16ft. The big Anneessens windchest was indeed a traditional slider windchest. It was split, with action motors at both ends and two sets of underaction. The 1967 Great upperwork was on unit chests between the main windchest and the front display pipes in the Choir, which themselves formed parts of Open II / III and Double Open 16. I think (although it's before my time!) that a lot of the Compton extension-work was on unit chests above the main chest; in 1989, Open I and the solo Tromba were mounted on platforms above. The Anneessens 32ft CT was on a strange chest near the north wall (the large Pedal flues were behind). It was basically the bottom octave of 32ft, 16ft and 8ft reeds, C and C# sides (C was to the west), and went in the order 32, 16, 8... and then bizarrely the bottom octave of the 4ft flute (stopped metal pipes). Quite odd to see these little pipes sharing space with the monsters! To say the organ was a maze inside was an understatement. Wherever you looked, something was stuffed somewhere. It was amazing that it worked as well as it did for so long. I've attached a pic of the east end of part of the main Anneessens chest - somewhere I've got my notes on which rank is which. And for those interested further, there's a selection of other pics on my Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtual_pkh/albums/72157594250160915 - I've more if anyone's interested! Paul H
  18. I studied at what was then Holy Trinity back in the 1980's with Desmond Swinburne. The organ was something of a nightmare even then; the Compton luminous touches were temperamental, some refusing to light up (although the stops were active), others glowing dimly to start with and gradually brightening after a few minutes. It was a charming instrument but a nightmare to learn on. After a while Desmond acquired the old extension organ from (IIRC) Hymers College and had it installed in the front room of his house on Lairgate in Beverley where lessons continued, aided no end by supplies of warmth and coffee. Sadly I never did make it as an organist but between Trinity and Bridlington (where I had keys to practice) I had a lot of fun and gained a tremendous interest in the internal "gubbins" which continues today. Hull Minster is quite different inside now, it's hosted the Hull Beer Festival for the past few years and is a very popular venue for that particular event! I doubt if Sundays will ever be as well attended though. Hope the organ gets the funds it deserves, deep down it's a fine instrument.
  19. Google Translate, for all its faults, has a pretty good stab at it, or at least the beginning; it makes heavy work of the second sentence though: "Should be played with romantic registration, please voix celeste el. like. The solo summit can be advantageously oktavered."
  20. That's a shame if true, as you say free reeds are quite rare these days. Bridlington's a fascinating organ, although (and I say this without disparaging Nicholson's in any way) for this listener it seems to have lost something in the rebuild. Although the 1967 Great upperwork was a bit inappropriate (screaming away just behind the front pipes in the choir) the overall balance of the rest of the organ was superb. In particular, the way the main chest ran east-west for most of the length of the organ gave the Great & Positive a wonderful sense of "spaciousness" which seems to be missing now. I haven't seen the innards since the rebuild but I'm guessing the new soundboards are nothing like the same size. Completely off topic (sort of) but if anyone's interested, a young man by the name of Antoine Anneessens has a Youtube channel - he's a budding organist and is the great-great-grandson of Charles Anneessens the organ builder. Thank you for the replies. Paul H
  21. Hi all, First post on this fascinating board. Just wondering if anyone who's well-up on the organ at Bridlington Priory can help with a quick technical question? The original Anneessens specification (1889) notes that there was a "Clarinet Onches Libres" on (if I recall) the Choir. Is the current Solo Clarinet the same free-reed Anneessens clarinet, or did it disappear in one of the pre-Nicholson rebuilds? Some years ago Michael Smith (organist) and I spent ages surveying the pipework and photographing the innards for the organ's 100th birthday, but neither of us dared ascend to the Solo box - the access was via a home-made ladder propped up against the pillar adjacent to the front of the Swell box, clambering on top of the box and then up another ladder to the Solo in the triforium. Getting on top of the Swell box looked bad, getting back down again would have been hair-raising. So, we never answered the question back then. On a later occasion I lent my camera to the Nicholson's tuner who kindly took some photos but for some reason the film jammed (this is pre-digital) and they're all on the same frame :-( If anyone's interested in some of the pics I took, they're on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtual_pkh/albums/72157594250160915 - pretty sure it doesn't look like that inside now! Thanks Paul H
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