Over the six months or so that the organ has been out of action, I’ve been periodically adding shots to the set of pictures, showing how things have changed.
This weekend marked the return to service of the original organ, although the restoration is not quite finished. The original trumpet rank was beyond repair, so a new one was ordered, however when it arrived at the organ workshop it was found to have been damaged in transit. As a result the last rank, and another rank of pipes that has to be put into the organ casing after the trumpet rank are yet to be installed.
Today I have added one last picture to the set which shows one of a number of special guests at the service on Sunday morning. The gentleman at the console is a former Director of Music at St James. Now in his nineties, he can remember the Compton organ when it was originally put in the Church back in the 1930’s, and also the hand pumped organ that it replaced.
