Hull and East Riding Organ Group

From Our Archives – 2010

2010 HEROG’s first visit was to the organ in the Michael Phipps Concert Hall in the University of Huddersfield. Pictured (L) Philip Wood, Organ Builder of Huddersfield; (R) Michael Phipps, the donor of the instrument.

This organ is now in St Wilfred’s Church, Ripon, North Yorkshire.

2010 Visit to the University of Huddersfield; Dr. Alan Spedding (Organist Emeritus, Beverley Minster) during his recital on the Walker organ.

2010 The case of the Walker organ in the Michael Phipps Concert Hall, University of Huddersfield during an informal moment.

2010 During our first year we were visited by the Newcastle and District Organists’ Association (photograph taken at Wolds Village, Bainton, North Yorkshire)

During the Inaugural Meeting in 2010, Dr Alan Spedding (recently retired) spoke about his life and work as Director of Music at Beverley Minster. The meeting took place at Tower Hill Methodist Church, Hessle, East Riding of Yorkshire.

From Our Archives 2011 – Our Second Year

2011 At our first Annual Dinner, the President of HEROG, Dr Alan Spedding (Organist Emeritus, Beverley Minster) introduced Dr Francis Jackson (Organist Emeritus York Minster) as our Vice-President.

Dr Jackson took a keen interest in all the activities of HEROG and was an enthusiastic and benevolent supporter of the group. Dr Jackson maintained his interest right up to his passing in 2022.

2011 Celebration of the Centenary of the Hull City Hall Organ with a recital by Thomas Trotter (Birmingham City Organist) in the presence of The Lord Mayor of Hull and a large audience.

The opening recital had been given by Edwin Lemare on Thursday 30th March 1911 to a capacity audience

Hull City Hall Organ Console

Dr John Pemberton (Organ Curator 2002-2021) welcomes the audience.

At the cream tea after the recital with The Lord Mayor of Hull (first right) and Thomas Trotter (third from right)

2011 HEROG members visited Rudston, a village not too far distant from Bridlington. The parish church dates back to the 13th century and contains a three manual organ, built in 1888 by Wordsworth & Co., Leeds. This is an exterior view of the church. The organ was a gift of Sir Alexander MacDonald of the Isles, who himself was organist of the church for over forty years.

Interior view of Rudston Church, East Riding of Yorkshire. The organ has a fine case and occupies the entire west end of the church. The picture below shows the particularly fine details of the case.

The console of the organ at All Saints’, Rudston. The console is situated at the east end of the church, behind the Curate’s stall. The picture above shows some of our members enjoying the open console session.

2011 Visit to Bridlington Priory. The Priory occupies a site high up above the town. The organ was built in 1889 by Anneessens of Belgium. In 1949 the organ was restored and added to by The John Compton Organ Co Ltd, London, and again in 1968 by Laycock and Bannister of Cross Hills, near Keighley, who enlarged the instrument to incorporate a fourth manual. Extensive maintenance work was also carried out by this firm. In 2006, Nicholson’s of Malvern gave the organ its most extensive rebuild since 1889, when the organ layout and building frame and all slider soundboards were made new. Nicholson also incorporated tonal modifications at this time, which produced the very fine instrument that we know and love today.

2011 HEROG member Adrian Crawford demonstrated a Hauptwerk system to good effect. This lecture explained in detail the fascinating aspects of digital organ tone generation in this system. This was a most interesting session leading to a lively and valuable discussion which was enjoyed by all.

2012 A visit to St Martin-on-the-Hill, Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The 1890 Father Willis three manual organ was installed in the existing Bodley case of 1869. The Father Willis organ replaced the previous instrument. Extensive renovations were carried out by Principal Pipe Organs of York in 2000.

2012 Dr Gordon Stewart (Kirklees Borough Organist) addressing the HEROG annual dinner

2012 Annual Dinner

November 2012, HEROG celebrated the 90th birthday of longstanding organist and organ enthusiast, Wilf Jones, of Hull. A popular figure within the organ world and community in the City of Hull, Wilf had been a founder member of HEROG and supported every meeting.

2012 HEROG pay a visit to Booths, organ pipe makers and voicers of Leeds.

2012 HEROG visits Booths , organ pipe makers and voicers of Leeds.

2013 HEROG visits St. Columba’s United Reformed Church in the city of York. This organ was built by T C Lewis in 1907 and was restored in 2008 by Andrew Carter of Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

2013 Founder President of HEROG, Dr Alan Spedding ( Organist Emeritus, Beverley Minster ) hands over the baton to incoming President Dr John Scott-Whiteley ( Organist Emeritus, York Minster )

2013 Holy Trinity Church, York, at a HEROG visit.

2013 A house organ visited by HEROG in the Yorkshire Dales

2013 A house organ visited in the Yorkshire Dales showing the Great Organ pipework beneath the room in which the console is situated.

2013 A house organ in the Yorkshire Dales showing the Swell Organ pipework with the shutters opening over the Great Organ pipework.

2014 HEROG made a visit to the organ at Sledmere House, East Riding of Yorkshire. The organ is a three manual and was built by Binns, Fitton, and Haley originally for a ducal residence in Scotland, and in 1947 they installed it at Sledmere House. Pictured left is Dr Peter Chatfield, sometime General Secretary of the IAO (Incorporated Association of Organists), a member of The Newcastle and District Organists’ Association.

2014 Organ console at Sledmere House

2014 Sledmere House.

2014 A member of HEROG’s House Organ

2014 The 1926 three manual and pedal Harrison and Harrison organ at St Hilda’s, Parish Church, Whitby. HEROG Members visited and played the instrument

2014 St Hilda’s, Whitby, west facing case.

2014 HEROG visited the 1952 west end, three manual and pedal Walker organ at Grimsby Minster.

2014 The console of the 1952 Walker organ at Grimsby Minster

2014 The Swell organ pipework of the west end Walker organ at Grimsby Minster.

2014 Dr Simon Lindley (Leeds City Organist & Leeds Parish Church) addresses HEROG at the annual dinner.

2014 The Catholic Church of St Everilda, Everingham, Yorkshire, showing the 1839 Charles Allen organ – a rare survivor – as originally built. It has a low GG compass to F3 Great and a tenor F to high F3 (37 note) Swell. The Pedal organ has a low GG to high C compass of 17 notes.

2014 A visit to Beverley Minster to see and play the four manual Hill Organ which has some Snetzler pipework incorporated.

2014 Beverley Minster – showing the original Snetzler organ case.

2014 Brocklesby Parish Church. The organ in the church was moved at some stage from the dining room of Brocklesby Hall, fortuitously before a serious fire. The organ was built as a one manual and pedal instrument in 1777 by Knight with a Great Organ compass of GG to G3 and an octave of pedal pull-downs. A second manual, a Swell Organ, was added by Greenwood & Sons of Leeds in c1829

2014 Our annual HEROG recital was given at Cottingham Parish Church by Julian Savory on the fine three manual Forster & Andrews organ

2014 Julian Savory before his annual recital

2014 HEROG visit the Priory Church of St Hilda ( The Order of the Holy Paraclete), Whitby. The organ was built in 1983 by Church & Co. It is a two manual and pedal instrument with tracker action.

2014 The console of the organ in the Priory Church of St Hilda, Whitby.

2014 A HEROG visit to St Olaves Parish Church, York.

2014 St Olaves Parish Church, York.

2015 Dr Alan Thurlow ( Organist Emeritus Chichester Cathedral, and a Past President of the IAO ) is guest of honour at the annual HEROG dinner. Alan is also Honorary Vice-President of HEROG and is seen here receiving a gift from Dr John Pemberton ( then chairman of HEROG ) as a gesture of thanks for his encouragement when founding HEROG in 2010.

2015 HEROG visits Ampleforth Abbey to see, hear, and play the 101 stop, four manual and pedal J W Walker organ in the Abbey Church. The instrument was completed in 1961 and incorporates some Forster and Andrews pipework from the previous organ. The two manual and pedal antiphonal organ in the Apse, is designed to accompany the plainchant of the Monks’ Choir and is played from the main four manual console.

2015 The 1961 four manual J W Walker organ at Ampleforth Abbey

2015 The console of the Ampleforth organ

2015 The notable solo Trompetta Argentea 8ft stop above the chancel arch at Ampleforth Abbey

2016 HEROG visit St Augustines Parish Church, Hedon, East Hull, to see and play the 1926 three manual and pedal organ built by Nelson & Co of Durham.

2016 Hedon Parish Church organ console.

2016 On this occasion, HEROG was joined by the York and Leeds Organists’ Associations, to visit St George’s Hall, Liverpool, to hear and play the Father Willis 1855 four manual and pedal organ. It has been restored and re-built many times down the years, most recently in 2010 by David Wells. It is one of the largest organs in the UK. Members listened to a recital by Simon Lindley, after which they had an opportunity to play the organ for themselves.

2016 St George’s Hall, Liverpool. The Willis III console.

2016 The Father Willis 1855 organ at St George’s Hall, Liverpool, is one of the largest organs in the UK.

2016 The day included a visit to the Willis Organ Factory in Liverpool.

2016 HEROG President Dr John Scott-Whiteley (Organist Emeritus York Minster) on the right, hands over the baton to incoming President Dr Colin Wright (Organist Emeritus Beverley Minster) on the left.

2016 HEROG visited the pipe organ at St Mary’s Parish Church, Beverley. In 1908 Lewis & Co rebuilt the previous Forster and Andrews organ of three manuals with pneumatic action. In 1954 the local firm of Hall and Broadfield converted the action to electropneumatic and added the fourth manual.

2016 St Mary’s, Beverley, the organ console.

2016 Dr Philip Moore, Director of Music Emeritus York Minster, organist, choirmaster, and composer, was our honoured Guest and Speaker at the annual dinner.

Dr Philip Moore, our honoured guest, gives his after-dinner speech.

2016 Dr Francis Jackson contemplates his “Knickerbocker glory” with much anticipation, and enthusiasm, at the annual dinner

2016 HEROG visits the 1915 Lewis & Co organ at Holderness Road Methodist Church, Hull. In 1958 Hall and Broadfield rebuilt the instrument in the new church on the same site as its predecessor.

2016 HEROG visits Toll Gavel Methodist and United Reform Church in Beverley. The organ is an 1890 J J Binns with two manuals and pedal, in original condition, and is still playable.

2016 Toll Gavel 1890 J J Binns organ console.

2017 HEROG visits St Bartholomews, Armley. In 1869 Schulze, organ builder of Paulinzella, Germany, built a four manual and pedal organ for the music room at Meanwood Towers, Leeds. This was the home of Thomas Kennedy and his wife Clara, a gifted organist. In c1879 Clara died and the organ was removed and installed as a two manual and pedal instrument in the church of St Peter’s Harrogate. The Schulze forthright voicing proved too powerful for the dead acoustic at St Peter’s, so the organ was removed once more, and purchased for St Bartholomews, Armley. There it was re-installed as a four manual, with one or two additions, and a new case in the north transept as shown in the picture.

2017 HEROG visit St Giles, Lincoln. The organ case and much of the pipework are from the 1795 H C Lincoln organ formally at the church of St Peter at Arches in the centre of Lincoln. This church was demolised in 1930 and some of the building materials were incorporated in the new church, built on a new site in the suburbs. The organ was completely rebuilt with pneumatic action in 1936 for the present church by Cousans of Lincoln as a two manual and pedal. This instrument incorporated the H C Lincoln pipework as well as some Father Willis pipework in the Swell Organ. Some new ranks were also added

2017 HEROG visited Lincoln Cathedral where we were hosted by Dr Colin Walsh (Organist Laureate Lincoln Cathedral). Colin treated us to a very fine recital after which members enjoyed playing the instrument themselves. Father Willis built a new organ for the cathedral in 1898 based on his 1885 design using the existing E J Wilson case from the former 1826 William Allen organ which was already on the choir screen. The Wilson case was heightened to fit the new main organ, the Swell Organ and some pedal pipes were accommodated in the north choir triforium. The scheme was influenced by Dr G J Bennett (Cathedral Organist 1895-1930 who had studied under Josef Rheinberger) such that the chorus and other fluework were made more equal in power to encourage blend. This makes the Lincoln Father Willis organ somewhat atypical, but it is nevertheless a very fine and distinguished instrument. The difference is discernible when the Lincoln organ is compared with the more forthright voicing of the equally distinguished Father Willis instruments at Salisbury and Truro Cathedrals.

2017 A view of the Father Willis Lincoln Cathedral organ viewed from the nave.

2017 The Lincoln Cathedral organ console.

KINGSTON UPON HULL BECAME THE UK CITY OF CULTURE IN 2017

2017 Hull also hosted The UK National OrganFest on the 8th and 9th September. The OrganFest is organised jointly by The Royal College of Organists ( RCO), The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS), and The Incorporated Association of Organists’ (IAO) in association with the Hull and East Riding Organ Group (HEROG) and Hull City Council. The OrganFest was given generous financial support by the Liz & Terry Bramhall Foundation which was very gratefully received.

2017 The Foyer of Hull City Hall

2017 Organ Fest. On Friday 8th September at 8.15pm Dr Colin Walsh gave the OrganFest a masterly recital on the Hull City Hall organ, which included a complete performance of Vierne’s Organ Symphony No 3.

2017 The OrganFest continued at 10.30 am on Saturday 9th September with a recital by Darius Battiwalla (Leeds City Organist), followed at 11.15am by a talk by Dr John Pemberton (Hull Organ Curator) ” Made in Hull” featuring the artistic legacy of Forster and Andrews, the famous Hull firm of organ builders. At 12 noon Dr Andrew McCrea (RCO) gave an appreciation of “Dr Francis Jackson at 100” with Francis present in the audience. This explored his distinguished life and work. Some of Francis’ many compositions were then played on the City Hall organ. At 2pm Dr John Scott-Whiteley gave an up-date on the progress being made on “The project to complete Bach’s Orgelbuchlein”. 2.45pm Dr Alan Thurlow (Organist Emeritus Chichester Cathedral) chaired a “Young Organist’s Forum”. 3.45pm Dr Kevin Bowyer (Glasgow University Organist) gave the “Final Grand Recital” to much audience acclaim. The audiences on the Friday night and Saturday peaked at over 300, one of the best attended OrganFests to date.

Dr Francis Jackson at 100

2017. The OrganFest audience before the morning lectures.

2017 The OrganFest audience during the morning break.

2017 Geoffrey Coffin was our honoured guest at our annual dinner. Geoffrey was Organ Scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, (1965-1968), and former Assistant Organist to Francis Jackson at York Minster in the 1970’s. In 1983 he established his own organ building business “Principal Pipe Organs”, in York. His gifts as a talented organist influenced the high class instruments that his firm subsequently produced.

2018 HEROG visited Louth Parish Church. In 1911 Norman & Beard rebuilt the previous 1857 Gray & Davison organ and incorporated much of the Gray & Davison pipework. This accounts for the quality of the lovely great flue chorus.

2018 Louth Parish Church organ Console

2018 Louth Parish Church the west facing organ case

2018 Some HEROG members enjoy a break at Louth Parish Church.

2018 Leeds Town Hall – The organ console.

2018 Leeds Town Hall – The organ Console

2018 HEROG visited the organ at Leeds Minster. Harrison & Harrison of Durham built this organ in 1914 incorporating earlier pipework, including nine Schulze ranks from the previous 1859 instrument. They blended the earlier pipework with the new in a masterly fashion to produce an integrated tonal result. Other restoration work has been carried out from time to time since then. Andrew Carter carried out a major restoration in 1995-6 which included a vast amount of releathering, installation of solid state transmission, and renewal of worn out electric action components. The Great reeds were re-cast and tonal re-harmonisation was carried out.

2018 HEROG visited the 1862 Schulze five manual organ at Doncaster Minster. J W Walker carried out a restoration in 1935 when they replaced the 1910 Norman & Beard pneumatic action with electro-pneumatic. They also introduced the five manual stopkey console which served the organ until very recently when A J Carter replaced it with the existing five manual drawstop console ( see below). A J Carter also did other much needed restoration work to the organ at the same time. Today, tonally, the organ survives generally very much as Schulze left it in 1862.

2018 The Doncaster Minster console

2018 HEROG visits “The Lancastrian Peel Green Theatre Organ Heritage Centre”. The Centre has two cinema pipe organs; a three manual Compton, and a two manual Wurlitzer. Sadly the Centre closed it doors on the 5th July 2026

2018 HEROG at The Peel Green Theatre Organ Centre.

2018 A HEROG member plays the Compton theatre organ at The Peel Green Centre.

2018 Annual HEROG dinner. Professor David Saint was our honoured guest on this occasion. David is a past Principal (2010 – 2015) of The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and Organist and Director of Music at St Chad’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Birmingham.

2018 HEROG’s Annual Dinner.

2019 HEROG visited the Parish Church of Kirk Ella in west Hull. In 1966 Cousans of Lincoln built a three manual organ which incorporated pipework and materials from the previous Forster and Andrews instrument. The F&A pipework was reused on the Great, Swell, and Pedal divisons. A Positive manual, with new classically voiced Dutch pipework, was constructed facing down the north aisle. The instrument was designed by the organist of the church- Mr Ben Pawson – with Dr W L Sumner acting as consultant. Ben later became an enthusiastic member of HEROG when it was formed in 2010.

2019 The organ at Kirk Ella Parish Church

2019 HEROG visited Kirk Ella Parish Church.

2019 HEROG visited St Martin’s Parish Church, Burton Agnes, East Yorkshire.

2019 The two manual and pedal Father Willis organ at Burton Agnes Parish Church was originally built for a Liverpool school. It was installed here under the tower by Willis in 1929.

2019 The organ at St Andrew’s Parish Church, Bainton, East Yorkshire, was built by Forster and Andrews in 1907 as a two manual and pedal instrument for Netterton Primitive Methodist Church. This instrument incorporated material from and earlier one manual by Reiter. In 1967 this organ was removed and installed under the tower at Bainton Parish Church. In 2016 the organ was fully restored by Andrew Carter and moved to its present position at the west end of the north aisle.

2019 Annual General Meeting of HEROG

2019 HEROG’s outgoing President (2016-2019) – Dr Colin Wright ( on the right) -hands over the Baton ( a small Dulciana pipe) to the incoming President Dr John Pemberton (on the left). Colin then became Chairman of HEROG a post which John had held since the founding of HEROG in 2010.

2019 Tom Bell, our honoured guest, is seen here addressing the annual HEROG dinner. Tom is the Royal College of Organists “Director for the North of England”. Tom is considered to be one of the leading performers of his generation.

2019 Annual Dinner.

2019 HEROG visited and played a HEROG member’s residence organ.

2019 The console of the above organ.

2019 HEROG visits a residence “Hauptwerk” organ which was built by another member of our group.

2019 Members enjoy tea in the garden on the above visit.

2020 to 2023. HEROG activities were severely disrupted by the Covid pandemic.