Bath, St Mary’s R.C. Church
Bevington Organ, 2 manual. Cleaned and partial overhaul after fire in church.
Jul-Aug 2016
 site assembly |
 Pedal section assembly |
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 new case |
 new case construction |
 fitting new case posts on site |
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Jun 2016
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 front pipes stripped ready for respray |
 old stencils |
 front pipes to strip down and respray |
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 soundboard |
 front pipes with stencil |
 front pipes with stencil |
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Peterborough Cathedral
Hill & Son 1894: 4 manuals 89 stops. Pitch change.
Work was done in stages, starting with the Great and triforium Pedal sections
Great & Pedal sections
The Great and triforium Pedal pipes were dismantled and brought back to workshop.
Work started July 2015
(newest images at top)
 John Oliver & Geoff Pollard extending 32ft Open Wood in Cathedral |  John Oliver & Geoff Pollard extending 32ft Open Wood in Cathedral |  Lee Gibson reattaching 32ft Open Wood | |
 Pedal Cello |  Great Clarion |  Great Reeds | |
 Pedal 8ft Reed |  Great Reeds – Pedal Dulciana |  Great pipework completed | |
 Pedal pipework completed |  Pedal Trombone |  32ft Open Wood | |
 32ft Open Wood chest |  repitching 32ft Open Wood |  Kelvin Kent working on front pipes | |
 Kelvin Kent working on front pipes |  Kelvin Kent working on front pipes |  working on front pipes | |
 David Beeby sealing 32ft Open Wood Bass pipes |  Pedal 16ft Open Wood |  regulating the Great pipework with portable tuning keyboard | |
 Men at work |  Pedal Reeds |  Completed Great pipework | |
 Pitch stage 1 completed |  left to right (Andrew Scott, Head Voicer, Ian Bruce, Team Leader | | |
4th January 2016
We are presently on site reinstating the first section of the organ and removing the Swell pipework to begin Stage 2.
 pipes being delivered to Cathedral |  Lifting Open Woods into the triforium |  Kelvin extending the front pipes | |
 front pipes before lengthening |  front pipes after lengthening |  Great Reeds back in position | |
 Front pipe windows |  Complete front pipe windows |  Great 8ft Stopped Diapason and 16ft Bourdon | |
 Pedal 16ft Trombone bottom octave on the voicing machine |  unit chests |  unit chests | |
 chests |  pallets |  Great Open II | |
 Great stopped Diapason |  Great Double Open |  Great Open II | |
 Great Stopped Diapason |  Great Open II |  Great Open II | |
 Great Double Open |  unit chest |  unit chest | |
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Pictured is the Pedal 8ft Violoncello on the voicing machine.
The method of extending the slotted pipework is to cut the original pipe top off at the bottom of the old tuning slot and each note is extended to be half a note longer to lower the pitch to 440hz. This method not only saves the metalshop a difficult task of having to fill in the old slots before extending the pipes, but more importantly it preserves clear evidence of the original pitch.
The slot dimensions are then replicated on the new extension. The dimensions on this stop are 1/2 diameter down, 1/4 diameter wide, 2 diameters long.
Should there ever be a return to sharp pitch, the new extension could be cut off at the joint between the main pipe body – which is hidden under the tuning slide – and the original end could be reattached.
 Pedal 8ft Violoncello |  Pedal 8ft Violoncello |  Pedal 8ft Violoncello | |
 metal cut ready for forming into Great Cornet 1st rank |  Great Cornet 1st Rank |  Great cornet 2nd rank | |
 Great Cornet 3rd rank |  Great cornet 4th rank |  Great Cornet 4th rank | |
 Great Cornet 4th rank |  Great Open Diapason No III |  Great Posaune 8ft | |
 Great Spitz Flöte 8ft |  Great Spitz Flöte 8ft |  Great Principal | |
 Pedal Violencello 8ft |  Great Fifteenth |  Great Clarion | |
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 32ft Pedal Trombone |  32ft Pedal Trombone |  32ft Pedal Trombone | |
 Great Hohl Flute |  Great Stopped Diapason |  Great Stopped Diapason | |
 Great Stopped Diapason |  Great Stopped Diapason |  Great Stopped Diapason | |
 Great Geigen Principal 4ft |  Great Geigen Principal 4ft |  Great Geigen Principal 4ft | |
 Pedal Dulciana – Soldering new extension |  Great Open Diapason No 1 |  Kelvin working on the Pedal Dulciana | |
 Great Open Diapason No 1 |  Great Open Diapason No 1 | Great Open Diapason | |
 Great Open Diapason No 1 |  Great Open Diapason No 1 |  Great Open Diapason No 1 | |
 Great cornet |  Nigel rounding out extensions for the Great Cornet |  32ft Pedal Trombone (6) | |
 32ft Trombone |  32ft Trombone |  32ft Trombone | |
 32ft Trombone |  Great Clarion |  Great Clarion | |
 Great Clarion |  Great Clarion |  Great Cornet 1st rank | |
 Great Cornet 2nd rank |  Great Geigen Principal 4ft |  Great Principal | |
 Great Open Diapason |  Great Posaune 8ft |  Great Clarion | |
 Great Principal |  Pedal Violoncello 8ft |  Pedal Violoncello 8ft | |
 32ft Pedal Trombone |  32ft Pedal Trombone |  32ft Pedal Trombone | |
 Pedal Trombone |  Nigel preparing Pedal Trombone for soldering |  Pedal Trombone cut, formed and ready for preparation for soldering | |
 Great Open Diapason No1. – Kelvin preparing for soldering |  Great Open Diapason No1. – Kelvin preparing for soldering |  Great Open Diapason No1. – Kelvin preparing for soldering | |
 Great Open Diapason No1. – Kelvin soldering |  Great Open Diapason No1. – Kelvin soldering |  Great Open Diapason No1. – soldering | |
 Great Clarion |  Les working on the Great Clarion |  Les working on the Great Clarion | |
 Wooden pipes | | | |
 working on the Open Wood pipes |  working on the Open Wood pipes |  working on the Open Wood pipes | |
 working on the Open Wood pipes |  working on the Open Wood pipes | 32ft Pedal Trombone | |
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 16ft Pedal Open Wood |  16 ft Pedal Open Wood |  16ft Pedal Open Wood | |
 Great Contra Posaune |  Great Contra Posaune |  Great Contra Posaune 16ft | |
 Great Contra Posaune 16ft |  Great Contra Posaune 16ft |  Great Contra Posaune 16ft | |
 Great Contra Posaune 16ft |  Great Contra Posaune |  Great Posaune 8ft | |
 Great Posaune 8ft |  Great Posaune 8ft |  Great Posaune 8ft | |
 Apprentice Karl working on the 16ft Open Pedal Wood |  Apprentice Karl working on the 16ft Pedal Open Wood |  Pedal Open Wood 16ft | |
 Pedal Dulciana |  Pedal Trombone 16ft |  Great Contra Posaune 16ft | |
 Pedal Fifteenth |  Pedal Fifteenth |  Pedal Fifteenth | |
 Great Posaune |
 Pedal 32ft Open Wood |  Pedal 16ft Open Wood |  Pedal 16ft Open Wood | |
 Pedal 16ft Open Wood |  Pedal 16ft Open Wood |  Pedal 16ft Open Wood | |
 Pedal 16ft Open Wood |  soldering |  Les working on the Great Posaune | |
 metal cut ready for forming |  Great Contra Posaune |  Great Contra Posaune | |
 Great Posaune 8ft |  Christopher and Aine, Trainee Tuners |  Charlotte and Rafael, trainee Tuners | |
 Pipes being dismantled and lowered to the ground |  lowered pipework |  pipework being packaged in crates ready for transport | |
 truck loaded ready for transport to Durham | | | |
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Swell
Dismantle January 2016. Reassemble in May 2016.
 Swell Bourdon dismantled and ready to be packed for transport to workshop | | | |
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Choir
Dismantle May 2016. Reassemble August 2016.
Solo
Dismantle August 2016. Reassemble early November 2016
 Solo |  Solo Tuba Mirabilis |  Solo Tuba Mirabilis | |
 Solo Tuba Mirabilis |  Solo Quintaton |  Solo Quintaton | |
 Solo Quintaton |  Solo Quintaton |  Tuba Mirabilis | |
 Tuba Mirabilis on the voicing machine |  Tuba Mirabilis on the voicing machine |  Tuba Mirabilis on the voicing machine | |
 Andy Scott voicing the Tuba Mirabilis |  Andy Scott voicing the Tuba Mirabilis |  Andy Scott voicing the Tuba Mirabilis | |
 Andy Scott voicing the Tuba Mirabilis |  Andy Scott voicing the Tuba Mirabilis |  Andy Scott voicing the Tuba Mirabilis | |
 Tuba Mirabilis |  Tuba Mirabilis |  Tuba Mirabilis | |
 Tuba Mirabilis |  Tuba Mirabilis |  Tuba Mirabilis | |
 New tuning slides for the bottom Octave of Solo Viole |  Solo Tuba Mirabilis | | |
 Les working on the Unda Maris pipes |  Les working on the Unda Maris pipes |  Unda Maris | |
 Andrew Fiddes voicing the Solo Viole |  lengthening slots on the Solo Viole |  lengthening slots on the Solo Viole | |
 Les working on the Solo Tuba |  Solo Tuba |  Solo Tuba | |
 Solo Tuba |  Solo Tuba |  Solo Tuba | |
 Solo Tuba Mirabilis |  Solo Tuba |  Solo Tuba | |
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 Tuba action
under construction |  Tuba action under construction |  Tuba action under construction | |
 Tuba action under construction |  Tuba action under construction |  Tuba soundboard under construction | |
 Tuba soundboard under construction | | | |
 Solo Tuba action |  Solo Tuba action | | |
Twickenham, St Mary’sTwickenham, St Mary’s
Twickenham, St Mary’s
H&H 1996 2 manuals 20 stops. Restoration of reservoirs following water damage.
October 2016 – November 2016
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Wellington College
H&H 1921, 3 manuals 40 stops.
The mechanism has been overhauled with special attention to the sound boards.
The organ has been put in good order without tonal change. The manual soundboards have been reconstructed to make them resistant to low levels of humidity, and the actions have been re-leathered and restored. The wind system has been restored. Completed October 2016
Pipework
The flue pipes were cleaned and repaired in the Chapel. The leather facings on the Great and Swell Open Diapasons were renewed, and deteriorating cork stoppers replaced.
The reed stops will be returned to our workshop for cleaning and repair. These pipes to be reassembled by a voicer who will secure the tongues, re-fix the loads and check their speech.
With the organ reassembled the speech and balance of the pipework was checked, and the organ tuned.
Aug 2016
 fifteenth pipes |  fifteenth pipes |  fifteenth | |
Jul 2016
 Clarinet pipes on one of the voicing machines |  Pedal Ophicleide on the other voicing machine |  bottom octave of the Pedal Ophicleide | |
 Metal repairs at the top end of the pipes |  Re-weighted tongues to even out the sound – here for the Choir Orchestral Bassoon. |  Comparing the reeds and shallots of the Orchestral Bassoon (right) and Pedal Ophicleide (left) | |
 Orchestral Bassoon pipes cleaned and ready for transportation. The scale of the pipes matches that of the shallots. |  More reed and flue pipes ready for bringing back to Wellington, and Duncan Matthews, Harrison’s works manager, on the right. |  Selection of pipes | |
Wk Com 20th Jun
 Nasard |  Swell Oboe |  Swell Oboe |  Swell Oboe |
 Swell Open Diapason |  Swell Open Diapason |  reeds |  Swell Oboe |
Wk Com 2nd May
Soundboards
The manual soundboards will be removed from the organ and returned to our workshop. The soundboards will be reconstructed. The original mahogany table-tops which are damaged, will be removed and new table-tops and palletboards, sliders and bearers, will be fitted in their place.
The Great soundboard will be enlarged by one stop to incorporate the treble of the Double Geigen 16ft, which was moved off the soundboard in 1981.
The pallets will be recovered in new felt and leather. The upperboards will be planed true to re-establish the correct clearance for the sliders.
The soundboards will be reassembled and put on test.
The Pedal slider chest will be opened up and cleaned. The Pedal unit chests will be similarly treated.
Actions
The Great and Choir key actions will be overhauled and releathered, and new magnets will be fitted. Additional sound-proofing material will be installed to reduce action noise. Two new actions will be provided for the Swell in place of the present single action and mechanical link. The new actions will be to the same design as the original, but will be installed within the soundboard to minimise noise and simplify maintenance.
The electro-pneumatic drawstop actions will be removed and electric slider solenoids installed in their place. This will reduce noise.
The Pedal actions will be opened up, cleaned and adjusted.
Wk Com 4th July 2016
 back Swell motors |  leathering back Swell motors |  leathering front Swell motors | |
 Back Swell motors |  front Swell action |  front Swell soundboard | |
 back Swell solenoids |  back Swell solenoids |  back Swell solenoids | |
 Choir main soundboard |  Choir main soundboard |  front Swell motors | |
 Choir main soundboard |  front Swell action |  Choir main soundboard | |
 Choir main soundboard |  he action being reassembled on the underneath of one of the swell soundboards. |  The old wooden sliders are now being replaced by perspex ones, which will not be affected by changes in temperature and humidity to the same degree. | |
 New electromagnets to drive the action of the swell organ. | | | |
Wk Com 20th Jun
 working on an action |  soundboard and pallets |  Great action | |
 Great Swell and Choir pallets |  Great soundboard |  Great soundboard | |
 Great soundboard |  Great soundboard |  Great soundboard | |
Wk Com 13th Jun
Wk Com 6th Jun
 Great Main Action |  Rob Newton working on the Great main action |  Great Main Action | |
 Andrew Fiddes voicing the Swell Trumpet |  David Robinson working on the Great Reeds soundboard |  Great Reeds soundboard | |
 reservoirs |  reservoirs |  reservoirs | |
Wk Com 16th May
Wk Com 9th May
Wk Com 2nd May
Wind System
Three double-rise reservoirs, where the leather dates from 1921, will be releathered. Three remaining reservoirs, which were releathered in 1981, will be checked for soundness and repaired. Six reservoir control valves will be overhauled and fitted with new leather blinds. The tremulants and associated cut-outs will be releathered and overhauled. The wind stabilising concussions will be checked for soundness and repaired, and their operation will be adjusted to achieve the best possible result. The wind trunking will be checked for soundness and repaired.
Sept 2016
 Ian working on the Great concussion |  Ian working on the Great concussion | | |
Wk Com 4th Jul
 Pedal reservoir |  Pedal reservoir |  Pedal reservoir | |
Wk Com 20th Jun
 Swell reservoir |  back Swell reservoir |  back Swell reservoir | |
 back Swell reservoir |  back Swell reservoir |  reservoir | |
 Reservoirs |  leathering reservoir |  reservoirs | |
Wk Com 13th Jun
Wk Com 16th May
Wk Com 9th May
Wk Com 2nd May
Swell Boxes & Structure
The location of the Choir off-notes will be revised to provide space for slider solenoids to be installed. Displaced pipes will be re-conveyed in the style of the original.
The swell shutter fronts will be remade to improve their seal, and the mechanism will be overhauled to take up wear.
Woodworm treatment will be applied to affected areas, and damaged sections made good.
The floor beneath the organ will be checked and additional support will be provided in the south-west corner, where a point load is causing the floor to deform.
Handrails will be installed adjacent to the Great reeds. Handrails, walkways and access ladders throughout the organ will be checked and made safe and secure.
Wk Com 16th May
Wk Com 9th May
Console and Music Desk
The operation of the console will be checked and adjusted. The music desk will be remade and the CCTV monitor removed. A small flat-screen CCTV monitor will be installed.
July 2016
 music desk backboard |  music desk backboard | | |
Wk Com 16th May
Bevington Organ, 2 manual. Cleaned and partial overhaul after fire in church.
H&H 1921, 3 manuals 40 stops.
