The Great Chest as it was for so many years, shown here
in-service
A closer view as renovation is starting
The Great Chest with Dan starting to remove pipes.
The pipes are now gone. Fear not; they will reappear.
The chest itself is now gone. Note the colors of paint, starting
with the old circa 1950s green, then beige and finally ivory. We
can also see the angle irons used to mount the assembly.
The angle irons were sawed off and here Lewis is grinding down
the stumps left over from that operation.
After the hole had been covered and area painting retouched.
Dan and Dennis are starting to remove pipes on the left side.
The left side after front pipes and some shutters have been
removed.
Dennis handing Miriam a shutter.
Some of the pipes dwarf Dennis. These will remain intact.
Dan handing a pipe to Parish Nurse Meg.
Right side after front pipes and some shutters have been
removed.
Dan handing down some chimes
Sumner handing a pipe to Miriam
Miriam loading one of those trays
This is where most of the pipes are being kept. What isn't here
is in room 100.
After the area had been stripped it was cleaned and then
painted.
Some of the old valves refused to work properly. Here we see the
solution: a piece of paper blocking the airflow so that the pipe
wouldn't sound continuously. The paper is in fact the Bulletin
for May 5th, 1991. Six pipes had been disabled in this manner.
This is a view of one of the chambers with the pipes and the
supporting surface removed. In the area beneath we can see some
of the valves which control airflow to each pipe.
This is a closup of that area showing the valves in some detail.
They are made using leather to confine the air and are over 80
years old.
This is the now-removed chime action which tapped the chimes.
This unit operated by a solenoidal valve controlling airflow to
chambers which operated the hammers. The new mechanism, much
simpler, will have electrically-driven hammers with no air at
all.
Once treasure, now junk.
Dan cutting the main cable to the console. It will be replaced
by a fiberoptic link.
The organ console with old music holder.
The console sans insides
The sturdy protective platform covering the entrance to the
basement and easing extraction of debris (and reinstallation of
new and refurbished items).
The old motor and associated blower are now history. Just prior
to photographing we had another serious rain; the residual water
can be seen. The new blower is upstairs in the organ chamber.
This is possible because it is much quieter than this old one.
Locating it upstairs also simplifies the airflow "plumbing."
As it was - prior to the start of the renovation
Renovation in process
|
