Me at the organ of Ombersley Road Methodist Church in Barbourne, Worcester where I was organist at during 2004 and 2005 before moving to Manchester. Im playing the hymn
St John's Methodist Church in Bloxwich, West Midlands was the result of Wesley, Pinfold and New Street Methodist Churches merging in the mid 1960s. The organ was built and installed here by Nelson & Co of Durham. The bulk of the pipework is from the old Pinfold Methodist Church instrument and a couple of the pedal stops from the Wesley church. The pipework is on a plinth at the rear of the church and the console at the front left of the communion area. Parts of the console is from a Compton theatre organ and was originally stopkeys in horseshoe layout. In 1975 the organ was overhauled by Henry Groves of Nottingham. In 2003, it was rebuilt by John Lloyd of Bilston and some tonal alterations were made including the addition of a powerful "Tuba en Chamade" stop on the choir division. The console was also rebuilt and drawstops fitted in place of the stopkeys. In this video I am playing Handels "March from Scipio" which gives the general idea of what the organ sounds like.
Me at the organ at Short Heath Methodist Church in Willenhall, West Midlands. The organ is a 2 manual (keyboard) instrument that was originally built by Nicholson & Lord of Walsall for Walsall Street Methodist Church, Willenhall. It was removed from there when that church closed in 1964 and reinstalled here. Im playing the wartime ballad "That lovely weekend" as originally sung by one of my favourite all time singers - Dame Vera Lynn!
Me at Centenary Methodist Church in Newlyn, near Penzance, Cornwall playing the hymn "Just as I am". The present church was built in 1928 and the organ was built by Hele & Co.
Giving the Cornopean stop of the organ at Glazebrook Methodist Church just outside Salford, Cheshire a workout with "Nellie the elephant"! The organ was originally built by "Pendlebury Organ Company". It is interesting in the fact that there is an enclosed choir division consisting of 3 stops playable on the Great.
Me playing the 2 manual Peter Conacher & Co pipe organ at Richmond Methodist Church in Penzance, Cornwall. Im playing the hymn "City of God" to the aptly named tune "Richmond". The organ features a beautiful Trumpet stop which I use in the 3rd verse.
Me playing the tune "Do you know the way to San Jose" on the 3 manual organ at Chapel Street Methodist Church in Penzance, Cornwall. This instrument is the result of combining the small previous organ here with that originally installed at nearby St John's Hall in the 1950s. The organ is the largest in Cornwall and one of the largest to be found in a British Methodist Church.
Me playing the beautiful 3 manual Binns, Fitton and Haley organ at Queen Street Methodist Central Hall in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Unusual for a church instrument, the organ features a percussion stop called a "Celesta" and so I chose the old childrens song "Oranges and lemons" to demonstrate this.
Me playing the Sixsmith organ at Wesley Methodist Church in Cadishead. The tune is Elvis Costello's "Mighty like a rose" - not the sort of thing normally played on a single manual instrument of just 5 speaking stops but I did this to prove that even the smallest of organs can be effective. I end the tune using the very delicate and beautiful Dulciana stop.
Penzance has some beautiful chapels and one of these is High Street Methodist Church. Here I am playing the hymn "Christ is alive, let christians sing" to the tune "Truro" on the 2 manual Norman & Beard pipe organ - very apt being in Cornwall!
A brief description of the Compton electrone organ and includes me playing the hymn "Christ be our light" on the Compton electrone organ model 363 at Portobello Methodist Church in Willenhall, West Midlands.
The organ is located in an alcove at the front of the church on the right facing and the "rotofon" speaker is housed in a chamber behind an ornamental grille directly above the console.
