Portsmouth Music Scene


The Portsmouth Music Scene
The Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.

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The Wesley Central Hall

The Wesley Central Hall was built in 1928, and was damaged during World War II and afterwards restored and had further alterations in 1971.
The spatial interior of main chapel had pleasing proportions, and a full balcony along three sides. It was a fine example of inter-war public buildings.

SEASON Programme 1933 - 1934

PORTSMOUTH POPULAR CELEBRITY CONCERTS
1933 October 7th Mark Hambourg pianist, May Somerfield soprano, Allen Bromley baritone.
1933 October 14th Elena Danieli soprano, Booth Unwin baritone, George Sharp recitals, Constance Collier pianist.
1933 Octoiber 21st Melsa violinist, Edward R Broadhead recitalist, Nelvi opera singr.
1933 October 28th Robert Easton bass, Elfrida Burgess soprano, Sonia Moldawsky violinist, Mary Helliwell pianist.
1933 November 4th London Comedy Opera Players, "The Bohemian Girl".
1933 November 11th Clara Serena contralto, Ronald Murgatroyd tenor, Mary Kendall pianist.
1933 November 18th Rosina Verne contralto, Robert Silvester Violinist, Herbert Leeming entertainer.
1933 November 25th Bratza violinist, Dushko Yovanovitch pianist, Kethleen Bennett soprano.
1933 December 2nd Garda Hall soprano, Hebry Cummings baritone, Margot Macgibbon violinist, Frederic Jackson pianist.
1933 December 9th Harold Williams baritone, Vera Burton soprano, Paul Belinfante violinist.

1934 January 27th Roosters Concert Party

1944

April 26th At the Wesley Central Hall, Salute the Soldier Rally and variety entertainment with the band of the Royal Marines.
November 11th, Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall the British Legion hold a festival of remembrance.
November 15th Portsmouth City Police Choir sing at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.

1945

July 25th At the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road The Portsmouth Choral Society give a 'brilliant' performance.
October 6th, Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall "Grand Saturday Serenade Concert" by the St Simon's Orchestra and the Airspeed Choir.
November 14th The Portsmouth Glee Club perform "Elijah" at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road, "a perfection"!.

1946 Nil

1947

January 11th Saturday, The International Staff band of the Salvation Army play at the Wesley Central hall in Fratton Road.
February 22nd Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall, Cyril Rice's Band, an Accordion Showband and 19 other artistes entertain.
July 5th Saturday, Grand Celebrity Concert at the Wesley Central Hall.
October 15th At the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road, Cyril Rice and his National Savings Accordion Band appear.

1948

September 25th Portsmouth Glee Club Concert Rawicz & Landauer Valetta Iacopi
November 10th Mendelsson’s ‘Elijah’ Ena Mitchell Mary Jarred Harold Williams
December 15th Handel’s ‘Messiah’ Ada Alsop Robert Easton conductor Harold Hall

1949

October 8th Portsmouth Glee Club Concert, Faust, The Bartered Bride, Margery Field, William Herbert, George James.
November 30th , HM Royal Marines Orchestra cond Major F Vivian Dunn, Florence Brice, Reg Wassell.
December 10th Messiah, Portsmouth Glee Club, Bettine Young, Nancy Thomas, Lloyd Stauss-Smith, Scott Joint.

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13-12-1950

1950

March 18th Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall, the original Don Cossack Chorus and Dancers perforrm traditional folk songs.
March 30th World famous soprano Joan Hammond sings at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road.
May 2nd The Airspeed Singers give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall for the Portsmouth Voluntary Association for the Blind.
May 13th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee club staged a miscellaneous programme with well known popular radio personalities, Gwen Catley, Tom Jenkins and Jack Byfield, at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road.
September 16th Portsmouth Annual Open Brass Band Festival, held at the Wesley Central Hall.
October 7th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee Club give an Operatic Concert at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton.
October 17th The Pompey Revellers perform to more than 250 blind folk, for the Voluntary Association for the Blind at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road.
December 9th Saturday, Portsmouth's Glee Club Christmas Concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road with full orchestra and chorus.
December 14th The Portsmouth Players give an old time variety show the Portsmouth Volunteer Association for the Blind at the Wesley Central Hall.

1951

January 31st The Portsmouth Police Choir present "a program of Music" at the Wesley Central Hall.
March 7th The Milton Glee Club give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall for the Portsmouth Voluntary Association for the Blind.
March 17th Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall a concert of Teenage Talent, featuring Colin Courtney(Clarinet) and the Portsmouth Young People's String Orchestra.
April 21st Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee Club present a concert with Max Jaffa, Reginald Kilbey, Jack Byfield and Helen Hill, plus full chorus, at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road.
July 28th Saturday, Accordion Day at the Wesley Central Hall competing for the Southern Area Championship, followed by an evening concert by world famous accordionist Toralf Tollofsen.
September 22nd Saturday, A Festival Of Britian Autumn Concert at the Wesley Central Hall by the Portsmouth Philharmonic Society features a program of popular classics.
October 6th Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall, The Portsmouth Glee Club, for their 21st birthday, perform Merrie England.
November 14th The Black and White Quintet entertained an audience of blind people at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
December 8th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee Club, with guest artistes Gwen Catley and Wilfred Parry give a Christmas Concert at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road.

1952

January 17th LABOUR PARTY MEMBERS ONLY Admittance by Credential Card RT. HON. Herbert Morrison C.H., P.C., M.P. Wesley Central Hall FRATTON ROAD, TUESDAY, JANUARY 22nd, 7.30.
February 23rd Saturday, The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society perform the "Dream of Gerontius" at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
March 25th 200 blind people were entertained by the Irvin Millen Light Orchestra at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
April 26th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee Club perform a Spring Concert of popular classics at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
May 1st A monthly concert for the City's blind was given at the Wesley Central Hall, by the Salvation Army.
May 17th Saturday, The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society present a Beethoven Concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
May 28th The Orpheus Singers give a concert to the blind at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
August 9th Saturday, The London Philharmonic Orchestra give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
September 29th The Peter Stuart Quartet play at the Portsmouth Music Lover's Club meeting at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
October 6th The Milton Glee Club give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall in aid of the Portsmouth Postwar Brotherhood Old Folk Christmas Party.
October 11th Saturday, The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society perform Mendelsshon's 'Elijah' at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
October 18th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee Club perform Edward German's 'Tom Jones' at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
November 12th Paulsgrove Ladies Choir sing at the Music Lovers Club at the Wesley Central Hall.
December 8th The Portsmouth Players give a concert for the local blind at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.

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1953

February 11th At the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road, the Portsmouth Music Lovers Society, heard a ' miniature promenade concert ' on records played by PC Woollven(secretary of the City Police Recorded Music Society).
March 2nd Nearly 250 members from City clubs and from Le Court at Greatham were entertained at the Wesley Central Hall with a concert given by the 'Gasworks Wonders' plus Norman Conquest and Don Parnell.
May 30th Saturday, The London Philharmonic Orchestra play at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
June 20th Saturday, The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society present Vaughn Williams' A Sea Symphony at the Wesley Central Hall.
October 17th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee Club perform 'Carmen' and 'Hiawatha's Wedding Feast' at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
October 21st The St Cecelia Singers were guests who entertained the Portsmouth Music Lovers Club at the Wesley Central Hall, and included Joan Reynolds, Florence Price, Dorothy Wassell, Reginald Wassell, John Ellison, and Joan Price.
November 14th Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall, the Portsmouth Bach Society present a Choral and Orchestral Concert.
November 19th the Portsmouth Players entertained more than 300 blind people and their guides at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
December 12th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee club give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road featuring Max Jaffa, and Jack Byfield.

1954

February 3rd The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society present Handel's Messiah at the Wesley Central Hall.
February 20th Saturday, At the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road, a concert by the International Staff Band of the Salvation Army.
March 20th Saturday, The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society hold a Choral and Orchestra Concert at the Wesley Central Hall.
March 24th The Music Society of the Southern Grammar School for Boys give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall.
March 27th Saturday, Rawicz and Landauer appear at the Wesley Central Hall.
March 27th Saturday, The Southsea Silver band play at the Wesley Central Hall for the Portsmouth Blind.
October 9th Saturday, The Milton Glee Club sing at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
November 6th Saturday, The Portsmouth Glee club present a Grand Operatic Concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
December 11th Saturday, the Portsmouth Glee Club present a Christmas concert with Max Jaffa, Gwen Catley, Reginald Kilbey and Jack Byfield at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.

1955

February 12th Saturday, the Portsmouth Philharmonic Society present 'Hiawatha' at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
February 26th Saturday, The Portsmouth Choral Union conducted by Bertram Bradshaw, present 'Grand Opera' at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
April 8th The Portsmouth Choral Union present Handel's Messiah at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
May 14th Saturday, The Portsmouth Young Peoples String Orchestra give a concert of varied classical pieces at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
October 8th Saturday, An Autumn Concert by the Milton Glee Club at the Wesley Central Hall, features BBC guest artist John Hanson.
October 22nd Saturday, The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society present the music of Tchaikovsky at the Wesley Central Hall, soloists include Reginald Wassell.
November 5th Saturday, the Portsmouth Choral Union perform Mendelsshon's Elijah at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
November 11th st John's College school pavilion fund concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road features soloists Bruce Trent and Helen Dyer.
December 10th Saturday, Max Jaffa, Reginald Kilbey and Jack Byfield appear with the Portsmouth Glee Club in a Christmas Concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.

1956

February 25th The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society give a classical concert at the Wesley Central Hall.
March 30th The Portsmouth Choral Union present Handel's Messiah at the Wesley Central Hall.
April 21st The Creation by Haydn is performed by the Portsmouth Philharmonic Society at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
May 5th Verdi's Nabucco is performed by the Portsmouth Choral Union at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
October 6th the Milton Glee Club give their Autumn Concert version of 'Merrie England' at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road.
October 27th The Portsmouth Glee Club give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall in aid of the British Empire Cancer campaign. Soloists include George Pinhorn from the Portsmouth Grand Opera Company.
November 3rd 'Merrie England' is performed at the Wesley Central Hall, by Helen Dyer, Ronald Chandler, Jean Evans, Robert Comlay and 80 boys of St John's College Choir.
November 17th Saturday, The Portsmouth Choral Union, leader Ernest Barr, Conductor Bertram Bradshaw, and Reginald Wassell as one of the soloists, perform Berlioz's 'Childhood of Christ' at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
December 1st Saturday, The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society and the City of Portsmouth Police Choir perform a concert of Ballet Music at the Wesley Central Hall.
December 8th The Portsmouth Grand Opera company sang 'Music from the Operas' at the Wesley Central Hall.
December 15th The Portsmouth Glee club present Jean Grayston, Max Jaffa, Reginald Kilbey, Jack Byfield, with Stanley Matthews at the organ, and the full chorus of the Portsmouth Glee Club, at the Wesley Central Hall.
December 22nd The Portsmouth Coral Union give a concert of Carols and Christmas Music, and soloist John Hanson, at the Wesley Central Hall.

1957

January 1st The Crackerjacks, led by Les Blackmore, give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road, for 120 old folk.
February 16th The Portsmouth Young People's String Orchestra give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall.
March 2nd The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society present a Mendelssohn Concert at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road. Orchestra lead by Ernest Barr.
April 13th The Portsmouth Choral Union, conducted by Bertram Bradshaw, perform Handel's Messiah at the Wesley Central Hall.
April 19th Isobel Bailie Reginald Wasell bass, Stanley Matthews organ, and the full chorus of the Milton Glee Club, give a concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
May 28th Portsmouth Grammar School Choral Society perform "Elijah" at the Wesley Central Hall.
June 1st The Portsmouth Schools Music Festival starts at the Wesley Central Hall.
October 5th The Milton Glee Club perform Edward German's 'Tom Jones' at the Wesley Central Hall. Reginald Wassell is one of the soloists.
October 19th The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society perform Mendelssohn's "Elijah" at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road orchestra leader Ernest Barr.
October 26th The Portsmouth Glee Club perform "The Rebel Maid" at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
November 9th Vaughn Williams' "A Sea Symphony" is performed by the Portsmouth Choral Union at the Wesley Central Hall Fratton Road, orchestra leader Ernest Barr, conducted by Bertram Bradshaw.
December 6th The Portsmouth Players present "Christmas Pie" at the Wesley Central hall, Fratton Road.
December 7th The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society present an Orchestral Concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
December 14th Portsmouth Glee Club Christmas Concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road with soloists Max Jaffa, Jack Byfield and Reginald Kilby with Stanley Mathews organist.
December 21st The Portsmouth Choral Union give a Carols and Christmas Music Concert at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.

1958

February 15th Brahms Requiem is perform by the Portsmouth Philharmonic Society, orchestra leader Ernest Barr, soloists Sheila McShee and Reginald Wassell, at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
March 22nd The Portsmouth Choral Union, with orchestra leader Ernest Barr and conductor Bertram Bradshaw, one of the soloists is Reginald Wassell, perform Handel's Messiah, it's 64th year of this work, at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.
April 4th Good Friday The Portsmouth Glee Club perform a concert at the Wesley Central Hall, with soloists Isobel Baillie soprano, Reginald Wassell baritone and Stanley Mathews organ.
May 19th The Schools Music Festival takes place at the Wesley Central Hall for 5 days.
October 18th Choral and Orchestral concert at the Wesley Central Hall with leader Ernest Barr.
November 8th The Portsmouth Choral Union, leader Ernest Barr, Conductor Bertram Bradshaw, perform "The Dream of Gerontius" at the Wesley Central Hall.
December 3rd The Portsmouth Ladies Choir conducted by Miss Florence Greaves sing at the Wesley Central Hall in aide of the League of Friends at the Royal Portsmouth Hospital.
December 5th The Portsmouth Players present "Christmas Pie" at the Wesley Central Hall.
December 13th The Portsmouth Philharmonic Society give a Beethoven concert at the Wesley Central Hall. December 17th The Portsmouth Glee Club give a Christmas concert at the Wesley Central Hall with Max Jaffa violin, Reginald Kilbey cello, Jack Byfield piano, and the Glee Club Choir conducted by Harold Hall.
December 20th The Portsmouth Choral Union sing Carols and Christmas music at the Wesley Central Hall for the 19th year.
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1959

December 18th The Portsmouth Players perform "Christmas Pie" at the Wesley Central Hall, Fratton Road.

1974

The Who and Ken Russell were filming Tommy in and around Portsmouth. One location was the Wesley Central Hall in Fratton (the rally where Sally Simpson gets kicked in the head).
November 16th Portsmouth Philharmonic Society, Requiem Verdi, Elizabeth Simon, Barbara Robotham, Stuart Kale, Antony Ransome.

1983

September 9th, Aid Attack

1988

September 9th Acid Attack, The Mysterons appear.

Known Broadcasts from The Wesley Hall

Light Programme Sunday 16 July 1961 11.30 PEOPLE'S SERVICE from Wesley Central Hall. Portsmouth Living Your Own Life Conducted by The Rev. Leslie Timmins 8: My Life and God Organist, John W. Stephens

Light Programme Sunday 2 July 1961 11.30 PEOPLE'S SERVICE from Wesley Central Hall, Portsmouth Living Your own Life Conducted by the Rev. Leslie Timmins 1: My Life to Live Organist. John W. Stephens

Light Programme Sunday 23 July 1961 11.30 PEOPLE'S SERVICE from Wesley Central Hall, Portsmouth 'Living Your Own Life' Conducted by The Rev. Leslde Timmins 4: My Life and My Neighbour Organist, John W. Stephens

Light Programme Friday 31 March 1961 12.00 PEOPLE'S SERVICE from Wesley Central Hall, Portsmouth, conducted by the Rev. Leslie Timmins * How could I be there on Good Friday? ' Organist. John W. Stephens

BBC Radio 4 FM Sunday 15 April 1984 9.30 Morning Service for Palm Sunday from the Wesley Central Hall of the Methodist Church in Portsmouth conducted by THE REV ERIC BLENNERHASSETT Hymns: Ride on, ride on in majesty; Christ is the world's light; My song is love unknown; Lord thy church on earth is seeking; God is love Readings (rsv): Isaiah 52, v 13 to 53, v 6; Matthew 21, w 1-13 BBC Bristol

From The Portsmouth NEWS date unknown.
One of the most notable landmarks in Portsmouth, the Wesley Central Hall at Fratton, is closing its doors at the end of this month and will be demolished to make way for a fl. 75m. community scheme that will include a new 200-water church.

ALAN MONTGOMERY has been to look round the Methodist stronghold and recalls some of its great days. LABOUR Prime Minister Harold Wilson received a standing ovation when he spoke there in the 1970s. Enoch Powell had to be led out by the back door in the days he was making controversial speeches about immigration.

Michael Foot and Anthony Wedgwood Benn have also spoken there. That fine tenor Heddle Nash sung there, the broadcasting organist Sandy Macpherson played there, the striking Portsmouth postal workers of the 1970s held their major rallies there, people have donated blood there, and even classes for the Chinese language have been held there. But, above all, the welcoming church and community centre, including a popular, drop-in coffee bar, at Wesley Central Hall in Portsmouth has been a great bastion of Methodism for more than six decades. In fact, there was a Wesleyan church, albeit made of iron, on the corner of Fratton and Penhale roads as long ago as 1888, and another in 1900, where Ernest New was the superintendent and choirmaster and his wife, Ado, worked next-door in the soup kitchen dispensing broth to the poverty-stricken. But it is the hall built in 1928, when Portsmouth had nearly 300.000 people. which holds most memories for those worshippers and workers of the past who are still around today. Ernest Hobbs, one of many craftsmen employed in the construction, remembers laying the woodblock floor which still has the scars of second world war bomb damage: "Four of us - a Mr. Williams. a Mr. Horness, a Mr. Albertani and myself, had to work 13 hours a day on seven days a week to complete the job for the Portsmouth firm of Marchetti."

The doors to the new £35,000 hall, hailed as being "a fine example of the Renaissance style treated freely," were opened with a gold key for the first time one October afternoon in 1928. It was "a great scheme in the Empire's premier port," and, for some, it seemed as big as the Royal Albert Hall in London looked. Two-thousand people came to the service of dedication that was conducted by the Rev. Dinsdale Young, from that acknowledged "cathedral of Methodism," the Westminster Central Hall, and he said that there had never been an age when people thought more of pleasure than they did then. Later that day, the celebrations got under way with a "public tea" at 1shilling a head, followed by community singing led by Wembley football Cup Final conductor Mr. T.P. Radcliffe. Then there was a public thanksgiving meeting chaired by Joseph Rank, one of the biggest millers in the world who donated £20.000, anonymously at first, to the total £44,000 needed to build and furnish the hall and pay for the organ.
The man charged with leading the Methodists into a new era in Portsmouth was the Rev. William Lee, a quite ordinary but highly regarded minister who took the time and trouble to visit sick children in the fever hospital and report to their own minister or parents on the lines of. "I've seen your little Tommy and he's getting on very well." Mr. Lee's concept of Methodism was that the new hall should be ever open, like the publichouses. the clubs, and the cinemas. So the new Wesleyan centre was open all hours, too, not only for religious purposes but also for social life and recreation.
"Methodism," Mr. Lee declared, "has never had a greater opportunity. The whole city knows of the new hall. Everyone passing on tram and bus seemed to watch its progress. Its splendid position is such that everyone passing over the newly constructed Fratton bridge will be faced with this glorious structure in cream, terra cotta, and red brick.

"Its tower and electric sign, night and day, will proclaim our witness for Christ. It will indeed be a city set upon a hill which cannot be hid. This new hail is to be a home for everybody and not a hotel for a few. Our object is not only to get men ready to go to Heaven, but First of all to establish the kingdom of Heaven in our own city."
Iris Clempson, whose family has been associated with the church for more than 70 years, remembers that Mr. Lee could fill all 1,700 "free" tip-up chairs in the hall in those early days. "My father used to leave our Copnor home at five o'clock on Sunday afternoons to walk to the hall for the 6.30 p.m. service. People used to be queuing up early to get in, and if you did not get there- early you did not get a seat.
The hall was something of a community centre even in those early times. It could take 1,000 Sunday School scholars from the age of four upwards, offer a memorial hall "in memory of our brave boys who made the supreme sacrifice," a sisterhood for working women, and club rooms and sporting activities for young men, Scouts, Guides, and the Wesley Guild. A "Young Ladies Club." in particular, grew steadily "not only in grace and beauty, hut also in numbers" to about 50 and they tried to be like one large family in their "cosy parlour," spending some of their time running a "Christmas chocolate fund" to raise money for a bazaar. Eva Edwards was among the brides of the Central Hall: "I was married there one cold Sunday just before Christmas 1934 by special licence as my husband was being drafted overseas. There was once a Japanese fair held there, and my mother, Maud Edwards, bought one of the bricks before the hall was built to raise money for the stone-laying:"

Much of the hall's later musical success of the 1940s and 1950s was due to John Grayson, the organist and choirmaster, who was also in charge of music in Portsmouth schools. Alan Hutchings sang parts of Handel's "Messiah" at the hall in 1950 with John Grayson at the organ, and, in 1957, Portsmouth Grammar School Choral Society and Portsmouth Philharmonic Society performed "Elijah," with the baritone soloist Reginald Wassell.
"My greatest personal memory," says Alan. " was conducting the Drayton Choral Society there during the Portsmouth Festival of 1973. The works were Schubert's Mass No. 6 and Bach's cantata `Hold in affection Jesus Christ."'
For some people, though, the impending destruction of the old hall fills their eyes with tears, but, for the present minister, the Rev. Alan Grist, the future, and taking the Methodists towards the next century, offers a great challenge, eventually in a brand new church.
"The old building is now in a shocking condition," he confesses.

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The Organ

Organ Builders 1929 Henry Willis & Co
rebuilt organ; opened by Guy Weitz on 22nd Jan. 1930; (One report says that it incorporated earlier organ by Lewis, but another says that it was a major enlargement of a Hunter organ.); see D08557 for earlier organ;
1949 Henry Willis & Co
repaired, following water damage, during WW2 fire bombing; re-opened by Philip Dore on 10th Jan. 1950; (there were more problems later through warping of the soundboards due to lack of humidity (DFry)); (on going subsequent repairs - organ was never the same (AGP));
Department and Stop list

Pedal
Key action TP Stop action TP Compass-low C Compass-high f1 Keys 30

1Open Bass16
2Open Diapason16from Great
3Bourdon16
4Octave8
5Flute8
6Octave Flute4
7Trombone16

Choir

Key action TP Stop action TP Compass-low C Compass-high c4 Keys 61
8Violoncello8
9Flute Triangulaire8
10Dulciana8
11Flute Couverte4
12Nazard2 2/3
13Piccolo2
14Tierce1 3/5
15Clarinet8

Great

Key action TP Stop action TP Compass-low C Compass-high c4 Keys 61
16Double Open Diapason16
17Open Diapason I8
18Open Diapason II8
19Hohl Flute8
20Stopped Diapason8
21Principal4
22Wald Flute4
23Twelfth2 2/3
24Fifteenth2
25MixtureIII17 19 22
26Tromba8
27Clarion4

Swell

Key action TP Stop action TP Compass-low C Compass-high c4 Keys 61 Enclosed
28Lieblich Bourdon16
29Open Diapason8
30Stopped Diapason8
31Aeoline8
32Voix Celeste8
33Octave4
34Super Octave2
35MixtureIII19 22 26
36Double Horn16
37Trumpet8
38Oboe8
39Clarion4

Blowing Electric Organ destroyed or broken up Demolished 1990(c.) New church built

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St Lukes's School Prize Giving in 1963 showing the grand organ

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