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COMPLETE AT LAST

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  COMPLETE AT LAST   Today - 1 April 2022 - I can tell you my dear friends that I am complete.  At last   No, although as I write this I see it is the 1 st April, it is not a joke; it has really happened   110 years ago, Mr William’s clever design for your friend Hillie was partially completed.  Some more work followed one year later, then more in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, but it still left me without the really bold trumpety sounds, and the really deep firm sounds Mr William had always intended.  After all, I sit in very large space in a very large building, which I was designed to fill with glorious sound, but until now that was not possible   Mr Gary started his work 2 years ago, and as well as cleaning everything, sorting out wind leaks, lifting my blowers and reservoirs and restoring my lovely keyboards, he added a lot of my missing pipes   However, one set of 30 pedal pipes was still missing - until today.  In 1945, horn pipes were donated in memory of one of my form
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MR GARY’S FITNESS REGIME

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  MR GARY’S FITNESS REGIME   If you look at old pictures of the choir, and particularly at the pictures of my young friends the choirboys, you can see how strong they look   Why?   Here’s the secret For the first 10 years of my life, Mr Percy (sic) (Pilcher) could only play the organ if choirboys were on hand - literally - for they supplied the muscle or arm power to fill my reservoirs with air   I seem to remember it took two choirboys to pump my bellows - and a third was always on hand in case Mr Percy decided to pull out all the stops, in which case they’d have to pump even faster and harder   So for 10 year this was part of the choirboys job - taking time away from singing hymns, canticles and anthems to keep me going   Then in 1921 it all changed.  I became electric.  Well not extensively, just in the blowing department.  A huge monstrously large electric blower in a brick box was placed in my basement area and the hand blowing equipment disconnected, though left in
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I take the Biscuit!

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I take the Biscuit! Crumbs, really? Yes, really.  I am such a modern old lady, with my own blog as you know, that I’m now available to see on a “podcast” My friends tell me that Shrewsbury biscuits are iconic and famous.  And they help put this lovely town on tourist trails The Shrewsbury Biscuit podcasts are also iconic and famous, and also help put this lovely town on tourist trails, but they are to listen to rather than to eat One day last year I was visited by nice Mr Alex, complete with camera, headphones and microphone, and he spent time climbing around my platforms, talking to some of my Abbey friends, and listening to my wonderful sounds He was amazed - of course.   I’m not sure he had realised just what a complicated old lady I am, or how many pipes of all different shapes and sizes I have, or indeed that you can climb up a ladder to view all my innermost workings So yes, he was astonished and loved seeing and hearing me.  He took lots of photos - and a nice vid
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Saturday concerts

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Saturday concerts After Mr Gary’s wonderful work, there are now lots of opportunities to hear my sounds You can come to hear me every Sunday, at weddings and funerals, at special services and when one of my organist friends is practising (as you know practice is essential, especially as there are no longer any excuses for wrong notes as all my keys and pedal notes work perfectly) There are also some sound clips available if you know where to look!  So, if you want to imagine getting married in this wonderful building, and would like to process out to the well-known wedding march, listen to some of it on the Abbey’s www page  -   I’m told www is world wide web, but I guess all my switched on, modern friends know that Now, on alternate Saturdays throughout the year, there is a concert at noon.  Most of these feature your friend Hillie, but to add some variety and interest, some of the concerts are by singers or other instrumentalists There are musicians coming from all over the
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What a bargain!

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What a bargain! Fame! This grand old lady is now a national TV star! You might have heard of a TV programme called Bargain Hunt, in which people dressed in blue or red go hunting for bargains, and then sell them at auction for more (or less) than they have paid No, Hillie didn’t take part in the hunting/auctioning part of the show, and I didn’t have to dress in either blue or red, but instead I starred in the middle section of the programme Have a look!  You can see some of my lovely pipes, see how proudly I sit in this beautiful ancient building and hear how impressive I can sound when playing some of Bach’s organ music Give the programme a go A nd of course I am a real bargain - and such good value for money.  In 1911 I cost the sum of £1,100 (and OK it cost just a bit more than that to complete me 110 years later) but I’ve no idea what price an auctioneer would get for me now! Editor:  Bargain Hunt series 61, Shrewsbury 9, first broadcast Friday 4 March 2022 Click
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All Shapes and Sizes

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  All Shapes and Sizes   I know you find this difficult to believe, but when Mr Gary has finished all his work I will have over 2400 pipes, about 500 more than I’ve had since 1945   So as promised here’s some useful information about all my lovely pipes.   They come in all shapes and sizes, literally   Now I’m just a grand old lady, not a scientist, so I don’t quite follow all the science of pipe making, e.g. where the sounds come from, what makes a difference to the quality of sound, what materials are best and so on.   This is just my non-psychist understanding of it all!   The longest pipe is one of those ones that look like water works pipes, from our London friends, at about 26’.   The smallest pipes are just a few cms inches long.   The longer the pipe, the deeper the sound.   But as I’ve already told you my deepest pitch 16 hz is going to be from the lowest note on my new contra trombone   -   the lovely new wooden resonator is about 16’ high;   the 26’ high huge
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Special delivery

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  Special delivery   Here’s a test for you   What is 16 feet high, made of beautiful poplar wood, gradually tapered top to bottom, and has to sit on a heavy wooden boot   Why, of course, it’s a CCCC resonator, one of 12 lovely new pipes to make my new contra trombone stop   Just recently there was a special delivery by van, all the way from York (where I’m told there is an even more famous organ, believe it or not).   Inside the van were some lovely new trombone resonators, some older ones resonators made by one of my friends 100 years ago, and 42 boots - one for each of these lovely pipes   These trombone pipes needed special attention, so a handpicked team of friends (handpicked as such care was needed in the task ahead) unloaded the van, then managed to order them by size (that is also a skilled job) before posing them for photos, and then moving them to the north aisle of my Abbey.   Their final move will be to the very top of my new platform where will they sta
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