Hillie2412

My 108 th Birthday Many happy returns I told myself.   No-one else seemed to notice and even my lovely choir friends forgot to sing “Happy Birthday” to me My very first service was on 17 th September 1911.   If you buy the Book about Me (I’ve already told you about that) you can see what the Shrewsbury Chronicle said about the service dedicating me to service in this lovely Abbey building.   Apparently I have “beautiful soft tone”.   Definitely!   And that is still the case And on that day I was only partially complete - and of course that is still the case, and has been so for all my 108 years The newspaper also spotted that £700 had already been raised towards the expected cost of £850.   And do you know it is still the case that a lot of money has already been raised towards the cost of sorting out my wheezing pneumatics, but still more is needed.   Mind, I’m not sure how far that £700 would go these days But yes, I’m now officially in my 109 th year.   And

Brick day Now what is Hillie on about I hear you say Well the other day we had a whole hoast of young people here, with piles of bricks (the multi-coloured ones with lots of knobbles), building models of me And there was a brick building expert, Dr Ashley, who was helping things along, but also used some tubes and a sound making machine to demonstrate how the physics of my pipes works.   This was fascinating, but I have to say that his plastic tubes didn’t convince me that his pipes would ever sound better than mine, and certainly would not be up to filling my missing spaces The young people played on with their knobbly bricks, and built some convincing models - probably more like castles and cars than an organ console - before deciding they’d like to play the real thing.   So we had young feet on my pedals, levers pressed, my buttons pushed, discordant sounds from my keys (I thought more musical than some of that French music my friends here delight in trying to pla

I’m going international Now here’s some really exciting news Next year, before Mr Gary starts his work on me, there are going to be 4 celebrity recitals on me.   Yes, my fame is now really spreading for these very famous people to want to come and play me.   I am sooooo excited The first of these recitals is by one of the most promising young organists in the country who in a year’s time will be the organ scholar at Kings College.   Then there will be 3 recitals by top organ players used to playing some of the most magnificent organs in the world.   There will also be a final recital on Easter Monday at the end of which Mr Nigel is going to switch me off for the last time before Mr Gary and his team arrive to take me apart I think lots of people will come to Shrewsbury for these fantastic concerts.   There could be queues all the way to the River Severn!   And they will all be free - not even an old or new penny needed to get in; but of course we will be asking everyo

A book about me! Yes, I’m going to be even more famous than I already am, because there is soon going to be a book about me! Because of all the work that there’s going to be next year, Mr Nigel has looked into dusty files and envelopes to see what he can find out about Mr William’s plans and the changes that have been made since I was installed in 1911 He’s even found out a little more about the old organ that was in this lovely building for the 105 years before me.   Now here’s a secret, and I’m not telling (yet!).   As you know, Mr William called me 2412.   That’s my official Job Number, and I know that because it’s stamped on to my timbers in various places.   Mr William said that he would re-use some pipes from the older organ when he made me.   I’m the only one that knows whether or not he was able to do that, but next year, my secret will be revealed But other secrets are no longer quite so secret.   In a vault in the nearby Cadbury library (I thought Cadbury ju