Welcome to Shrewsbury Abbey’s 1911 Hill organ blog


Welcome to Shrewsbury Abbey’s 1911 Hill organ blog

The grand old lady has decided to tell her own story, using modern social media which she has mastered with a little help from her friends

In the pages of this blog, the Organ will tell her own story, reveal some of her best kept secrets, explain why she now needs restoration and completion, and comment on some of the events during the Abbey’s appeal for funds to enable the work to take place



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Dear friends

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Dear friends The long overdue work on me has now begun, and I am being dismantled - yes, dismantled!  And no, this is not at all painful For more years than you can imagine, my pneumatics have been drying out and failing, and I have become more and more unreliable I would love always to fill this beautiful building with my rich tones, and usually that is just what I do, but not always. My many pneumatic motors are a patchwork of sticking plasters, my lovely pipes are covered with 60 years' worth of dust, and woodworm are munching their way into my timbers The day work began is a day I will always remember.  Hundreds of lead tubes were removed (for recycling), my keyboards extracted, the pedalboards removed revealing countless lost pencils and piles of dirt, my stop heads removed and the the lovely console removed But I am still here, waiting eagerly for all the work to get done so we can have that epic celebration promised by this building. I am going to look sad for...
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Another spectacular recital

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Another spectacular recital I’ve already told you about the wonderful organists coming to play me, your friend Hillie, each month.   These are international recitalists!   They are used to playing the top organs in Great Britain and abroad.   Yet here they come, to help put me on the map, and to help raise money for my renovation and completion. The second of these organists played just recently.   This was Miss Catherine (Ennis) and she played music all about angels including one piece by my most favourite of all composers, Sir Edward Her playing was just marvellous.   She made me sound as if I was young again, and brought out all sorts of sounds I hadn’t heard in many a year And so many people had come to hear me, and hear her play.   My friends counted more than 120 people, and I’m sure there were other folk lurking in corners All that is amazing.   Also amazing is that I’m told Miss Catherine played in her winter coat.   ...
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Let’s talk trunks

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Let’s talk trunks   Trunks and wind might not sound particularly exciting, but when your double risers and electric blowers are all moved around, this becomes a most important subject   In 1911, Mr William connected my blowing mechanism to 3 double risers and those were then connected to my windchests.   A whole series of zinc trunks made those connections   But with the passage of time, my trunks became rather the worse for wear.   Their bends began to leak (you can imagine straight trunks are a very good idea, but in practice bends are essential) but old newspaper stuffed in saved the day.   Joins too become a bit brittle, but drawing pin fixes have proved invaluable in keeping me going   After all these years, and now with my lower regions completely reshaped, my trunks too have therefore had to be given attention by Mr Gary   He told me that in these modern times, u-bends and black plastic pipes can be very effective. ...
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