Philip J Wells

Back in the 1970's there was a 2M+P redundant organ (Bevington?) with electric action in a church in west London (Brondesbury?). I can't remember if the detached console/ electric action was home made by the Minister but the Swell featured a 5 1/3 coupler. Horrible noise when using the reeds. PJW

Or the large Greyfriars job in Edinburgh (with the 32ft Rumble), Oakham school chapel or St Oswald's Durham? PJW

I, like you, think that Gloucester is equal temperament. However, I was once told that it is not an easy organ to tune and there have been several tuners since Nicholson's took it over. If they have been of the old school, used their ears, and set the 12 notes up without reference to one of those digital tuner things then I expect they have all tuned in a variation on equal temperament. Would this account for what is now perceived to be an un-equal temperament? That aside I was also told the sun has an effect as moves round from East to West and shines on the case and (even with the roof now unfortunately removed) can throw out the tuning. Before the recent rebuild domestic venetian blinds had been fitted on the East front behind the historic Harris front pipes (I kid you not) but whether they were re-instated by Nicholson at the time Downes scheme was amended I do not know. When I last heard, a year or so ago, the organ's tuner was a Lay Clerk at the Cathedral. PJW

At the risk of being out on a limb here I wonder if members are aware of the note on pitch that William McVicker wrote to accompany the 2 CD set Grand Chorus made by students of the RAM on important organs South of the Thames. Please see http://www.ram.ac.uk/sslso/pitch.htm . It may answer some of the questions raised. PJW

Adrian Many thanks for the reply. I was present at the IBO day at Cheltenham Ladies College recently when Mr Tickell remarked that their acoustic space absorbed sound and needed big scales for his new organ there. He then went on to say the same pipes at Worcester would have been much too loud. Lets hope you get what you are expecting in this exciting project. Philip

Mr Lucas Thanks for taking and sharing the pictures with us. I'm not experienced in looking at Cathedral roof spaces and others have already commented that there is a lack of space which we can perhaps now appreciate for ourselves. If the Boxes and pipework are to be so far back under the roof are you at all worried that all the sound is going to stay up at that level and not get out properly for the choir (and organist) to hear many feet down below? PJW

Which organ is that: the New college Oxford with the glass swell shutters or the new and exciting Mathew Copley organ? PJW

I have never found a website for Nicholson's which might have contained the information we thirst for in terms of spec, retained casework, action etc. In the absence of this does anyone know who the consultant might be (if there is one of course) and what the timescale is for completion. I imagine that they will use Welsh lottery money again for this as most Welsh Cathedrals seem to have benefitted from this source of funding (unlike the English - remember the St Pauls London snub). PJW

Sorry to be on a tangent on the Llandaff thread. I'm not sure I would agree the description of Gloucester as aggressive. I would prefer to call it very exciting. PJW

At Berkeley in Gloucestershire the carol Gabriel's Message got printed in the pew sheet as gabriel's Massage!

Try the NPOR entry for Northumberland (Tyne and Wear), Newcastle upon Tyne--Fenham, St. James and St. Basil [R01095] which has a 3 man Walker stop key console and org in nearly original condition.

I may be wrong here, but I thought that when HNB disolved all the organbuilders went their own way and most set up on their own in one way or another. Rook Hall Farm just outside Finchingfield, Essex is home to The Village Workshop (which on my visit was displaying the HNB Royal Warrant), the pipemaker Kevin Rutterford and Keith Bance. PJ Wells

Sitting 90ft away at the console I was helpless to indicate the presence of clergy! You need to agree a code with the tuner. When people enter the church I was told to flick to the octave several times. This gave the tuner time to put his tobacco pipe into his pocket!! I always used to think as a small lad that it was amusing the tuner wore a hearing aid.

I had thought that England's largest parish Church was at Newark. Any more contenders?

I read the above with interest. Does this mean that the talked about plans to add a 4th manual have been dismissed? This seems another case of the organist as cab driver; always wanting another stop. Ralph Downes was a brilliant designer and if we are not careful we will end up with no organs by him in the UK left in their original state. We have already seen the enlargement of the Gloucester organ and its spilling out of the organ case again into the pit of the screen. And goodness knows what we will end up with in the RFH (if anything?). Why can we not regard organs by Downes as historic and worthy of preservation. The time has come to call a halt to all this.

Does anyone know the maker of the attractive box organ used in the early music prom tonight please?