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Fairfield Halls Croydon Rumours - The Harrison Organ


Guest Hector5

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Guest Hector5

I have just heard from a reliable source that the Fairfield Halls in Croydon is to close - the land being sold for housing. In surfing I see that Croydon Council was committed to keeping the place open in reports from September. If the rumours are true, this is an alarming state of affairs as a major concert hall bites the dust. More so as it has the Downes designed Harrison which may need a new home. I'm aware that this organ is not everyone's cup of tea, but I went to many concerts as a teenager there and it was part of the inspiration for me wanting to become an organist.

 

Does anyone know anything about this state of affairs at all? I am painfully aware of the problems created by members of this list circulating rumours - I'm just looking for confirmation.

 

Hector

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I have just heard from a reliable source that the Fairfield Halls in Croydon is to close - the land being sold for housing. In surfing I see that Croydon Council was committed to keeping the place open in reports from September. If the rumours are true, this is an alarming state of affairs as a major concert hall bites the dust. More so as it has the Downes designed Harrison which may need a new home. I'm aware that this organ is not everyone's cup of tea, but I went to many concerts as a teenager there and it was part of the inspiration for me wanting to become an organist.

 

Does anyone know anything about this state of affairs at all? I am painfully aware of the problems created by members of this list circulating rumours - I'm just looking for confirmation.

 

Hector

 

I too went to many concerts there, Hector; in fact my school speech day took place there (as well as at other times Croydon Parish Church); I wonder if we may have been contemporaries?

 

Peter

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Well it's hard to understand why one concert hall is closing, yet a new one at Kings Cross - the Kings Place concert hall - has just opened - aren't there enough concert venues already in central London?

Aren't concerts well attended enough in Croydon to make it viable?

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Guest Hector5
I too went to many concerts there, Hector; in fact my school speech day took place there (as well as at other times Croydon Parish Church); I wonder if we may have been contemporaries?

 

Peter

 

I was born in 1959, educated at Hayes school where I learnt the organ, and tended to get dragged there by my father to hear the likes of Nicholas Danby, Kynaston, Downes, and various Arthur Davison concerts, one of which included Downes doing a hysterically funny demonstration of the organ. I used to play it regularly for a yearly concert in aid of cancer research, which was a big deal for a 17 year old from West Wickham (I played at St John's Church). I liked the HH at the Fairfield Halls, although it appeared to lack clout - it just cried out for a better acoustic.

 

Hector

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Guest Hector5
I too went to many concerts there, Hector; in fact my school speech day took place there (as well as at other times Croydon Parish Church); I wonder if we may have been contemporaries?

 

Peter

 

 

Email me and we'll compare notes - it sounds very like were around at the same time.

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I have just heard from a reliable source that the Fairfield Halls in Croydon is to close - the land being sold for housing. In surfing I see that Croydon Council was committed to keeping the place open in reports from September. If the rumours are true, this is an alarming state of affairs as a major concert hall bites the dust. More so as it has the Downes designed Harrison which may need a new home. I'm aware that this organ is not everyone's cup of tea, but I went to many concerts as a teenager there and it was part of the inspiration for me wanting to become an organist.

 

Does anyone know anything about this state of affairs at all? I am painfully aware of the problems created by members of this list circulating rumours - I'm just looking for confirmation.

 

Hector

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I have often visited Fairfields Hall for my annual Co-op meetings, probably because it is easily accessible and is cheaper to hire.

The centre is also used on a monthly basis for other Co-op meetings, and I think they will be disappointed if the venue does close

In the concert hall you can see some pipework, but not the console, and in fact I have never heard the organ, so I am not aware as to whether it is worth saving.

I await further comments with interest.

Colin Richell.

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