Hillie2412

Robin One of my recent posts was about my friends here in the Abbey.   Now I’ve news of someone else who’s been visiting me, who has heard the fame of my lovely sounds Yes, a lovely red breasted Robin has been visiting the Abbey just to say hello to me, and provide me with some company His friendliness has nothing to do with the biscuit crumbs Mr Gary has been leaving him, or the drops of water in the sink in the kitchen area.   No, he’s had a lovely time flying around in this vast space, with sun streaming in and, of course all creature (i.e. bird) comforts to hand But here’s a mystery.   Where is he coming in and going out?   I know he has his own entrance for he’s twice been enticed back into the fresh air at the west door and each time has re-appeared, chirping happily.   And he disappears for long periods and, unless he’s got a secret roosting spot somewhere, I think he goes back to his family to share news of his expeditions into this gre...

Its spring again Dear friends What a wonderful time of the year it is, and just in case you’re wondering, it’s my 109 th spring.   And there’s renewed spring in my pedals because I know that all my wingeing and complaining and moaning has clearly worked, and Mr Gary’s work has sprung (sic!) into action What does spring mean to me?   Well, although I am here in this wonderful building, I can see the beautiful sun streaming in through Mr John’s clerestory windows, I can hear (and occasionally see!) birds singing and in previous years, I know all my friends have had an extra spring in their step as summer is definitely on its way.   This year I know it’s different, but I’m hopeful we will start to get back to normal before long Spring is also a good time musically.   This lovely building shakes off the winter’s cold and as it’s ancient stonework warms up, so the acoustics change and I begin to sound even better in the more resonant, warmer atmosphere....

Locked down It’s very boring not having any visitors, and not having anyone here to sing, play or make music There have been many major events over my 108 years, but nothing quite like this has ever happened before So what am I doing, all on my own, here in this beautiful empty building Well, I dream.   I dream about life as a complete, fully working organ, fully realising my huge potential and the vision that Mr William had all those years ago    (Ah, Hillie, that’s so sweet   -   Ed) And when I’ve stopped dreaming, I count.   There is so much here that can be counted I can count the number of trains screeching past on the nearby railway bend, or the cars whizzing past my building.   You might like to count sheep (I’m told that’s a regular pastime for people) but as I can’t see or hear any, then I have to count something else Or I can count the number of lead tubes fitted by Mr William, all of which are due to be discarde...

Secrets revealed Dear friends, my innermost secrets are starting to be revealed Already Mr Gary has realised that in 1911 there was not one hand blowing mechanism, but two!  Each of the two huge reservoirs were handblown, until the electric blower took on the job in 1921, so it always took at least two choristers to keep up the blowing work and make sure I sounded at my best And in 1921, when electric power was brought in, the mechanisms were disconnected, but not removed  -  a bit of a mistake as only a few years ago, with their leather hinges fraying and then splitting, they collapsed onto one of the reservoirs bringing everything to an abrupt halt.  And the controlling piece of string (very high tech!), linking the reservoir to the shutters which open/shut to let more wind in, was snapped and a new piece of string had to be installed But fortunately one of the huge, wooden pumping levers was not discarded, and has been found languishing in 60 years of dust...

What to do? I’ve already told you that I have a new friend, nice Mr Colin who is going to work on my console It might surprise you, dear follower, that anything much needs to be done - and especially if you saw Miss Catherine's or Mr Thomas's nimble fingers whizzing up and down my keys - so let me try and explain. I have 61 keys on three keyboards.   Inevitably after 108 years use, many of these keys have slightly changed colour (interesting that this is most noticeable in the middle octaves of the middle keyboard where I guess most of my organ playing friends tend to play!).   That is all part of my character, so I hope will not change, but one key does need to be patched up.   At the same time all the keys have been disconnected from my lead tubes, and will be re-connected to electric switches; how that is done is beyond my technical knowledge! Then the lovely wood faces of my console, to the sides of the keyboards and in front of the player, all ...

Wind Dear friends, I thought I should give you some thoughts on wind But what sort of "wind" I hear you ask?  No, not the stormy sort of wind that has recently dislodged so many tiles from my lovely home.  Nor the sort of wind that is not talked about in polite circles.  Nor indeed is it the verb that involves turning a key and clock mechanisms Yes, I'm talking about puff!  The sort of "puff" you need to make a recorder sound a note  -  deep breath, puff, music! But on a bigger scale obviously.  The sort of puff that's needed to make all my wonderful pipes make lovely music, and the sort of puff that creates pressurised air to whizz around my tubes and make me work Deep down, near my feet, there are two enormous reservoirs.  Higher up, in my midriff area, there are two more, but smaller reservoirs. Wind (puff!) is created by my blower, then stored until needed in these reservoirs It sounds simple, and it is.  Bu...

Another new friend! I thought, dear follower, that you'd like to hear news of an unexpected visitor to my ancient building. Despite the Abbey sadly now being closed to visitors or worshippers, a feathered friend has found his (or her) way in and has been flying around the building, evading all attempts to show him (or her) the exit.  The pigeon is in great shape, and seems to be enjoying the sun streaming through the upper windows of the lovely Abbey. Now this is not the first time we've had wild visitors.  Birds do occasionally fly in, but I can also remember bees nesting in one of the upper windows, Mr Gary's charming dog friends and for all I know, there might at one time have been bats in the belfry. There are also occasional squeaks as I've already mentioned.  Sometimes they seem to be coming from the nearby railway line (I told there is quite a bend in the track), sometimes it has been the Abbey's PA system hyperventilating, and at other times there ...