Thursford photos 9/4/06
Hi all I've posted a few photos that I took yesterday at the annual Thursford Founder's day. Enjoy! David Dingwall

Thanks for the photos David! I certainly recognise the ‘Dad’s Army Organ’, that beautiful Wellershaus. The dance organ photo looks a very unusual Art Deco design. I can’t quite see the name on there - does anyone know the maker of this? That accordian section looks familiar, but I can’t think where I’ve seen it before! Warmest wishes, Jim

Hi Jim, The photo of the dance organ with accordian is an 112 key Mortier which was restored by Gymonpez Oscar. Ben

The Thursford 112 key Mortier is the sister to Michael List-Brains 112 Key Mortier which was recently restored by David Burville. However, the later is still awaiting its own art deco front which is awaiting a repaint. Regards Derek Brice

Many thanks for the information Ben, and that lovely photo Derek. I wonder how the Thursford Mortier would look inside with the Deco front removed? It does seem such a shame to be covering up all those pipes! I suppose this was probably to make the instrument look modern and cutting edge at the time of construction. Jim

Does the roundabout actually work now? I know according to somone who worked there, there was a bit of health & safety nonsense that barred its use a couple of years ago! The organ sounded quite sick then as well, Bob Ince hadn't got around to making it presentable, having only got electric for the blower working the day before! Robert Washington. :)

Hi everyone Glad you liked the photos Jim. Well Robert, you may be interested to know that the gallopers are indeed now working which were first used at last years gathering I think. The Gavioli in the centre has improved after some more work done on it by Bob Ince. Rides were on offer for anyone who wanted one and I took this opportunity straight away and well worth it too! I was very interested to see the photo of the 112 key Mortier at Prestons. Does anyone have a photo of the organ with it's facade on? It would be interesting to see whether this organ and the Thursford Mortier are similar in frontage as well as construction design and layout. David Dingwall.

Hello David Here's a link to Preston Services restoration page which includes not only a black and white picture of the organ with its front but also a short MP3 file of the organ playing since the restoration. http://www.prestonservices.co.uk/restoration.htm Regards Derek Brice

Hi Derek Thanks for that excellent link. The organ looks and sounds really impressive, a real credit to David Burville who carried out the restoration work on the organ. Even in black and white, it's facade looked quite spectacular. There was actually a reason for not getting a full view of the Thursford Mortier this year and that was because a large section where people used to stand to view the organ has been blocked off for the building work going on so at the moment, it's not possible to get a shot of the complete facade. Still, it does have a rather good facade typical of the late 1930's Mortier style of Art Deco design. Quite different from their art noveau counterparts which were made only a few years beforehand in terms of design, construction and pipe layout. Once again, many thanks. David

Awsome pictures, what organ is that seen the center of the Gondola(the last picture), Gavioli

The last picture is the ex Dorman Gallopers (carousel) with an 89 key Gavioli The Gondola switchback has the ex 110 key Asplands Gavioli, which was altered to 98key scale by Jimmy Verbeeck in 1926. One of my favourite Gavioli organs! Robert Washington :org: