What needed to be done and why

Peter Conacher & Co installed a pneumatic-action organ here at Castle Bromwich church in 1927 and it did a sterling job for almost 100 years.

There are now only three remaining Conacher pneumatic organs left untouched in the country of which ours is one. 

It was recently discovered that Conacher's had reused pipes from an earlier instrument and evidence of its position can be seen on the rear wall of the church gallery. This takes the history of our organ back a further 100 years. Knowing the information about the use of earlier pipework, it is clear that this instrument in its present state is unique.

However, although the organ has been regularly tuned and maintained, it is now in need of a thorough restoration. One specialist who examined the organ told us that we were 'living on borrowed time'. At some point the organ will fail.

We believed that it was important for the heritage of both our church and the wider Castle Bromwich community that this organ, having performed so well for so long, should be put back into a condition to guarantee its use and enjoyment for future generations while preserving as much of the old mechanism as possible.

The problem was that, after 70 years, the leather used throughout the installation has perished. It had gone hard and brittle and leaked air.

The bellows in the windchests were stiff and cracked and air could be heard hissing from the cracks. In addition, some of the wooden organ pipes were beginning to crack and no longer played a clear note. Our dedicated church organist made the best of this ageing instrument but there were times when a note refused to play or when a note refused to stop!

Below: our church organist Martin Bates demonstrates the problem.

When the organ was rebuilt here in 1927, the organ pump was placed up in the bell tower on a floor in between the bell ringing chamber and the belfry. This was so that the considerable noise of the pump would not be heard inside the church.

A large pipe took air down through the ringing room to the organ gallery. After almost 100 years, the pump was  in poor  condition and the bellows were worse. 

In 2016 the bellringers began a complete restoration of the bell installation. Unfortunately, the organ pump and its pipework stood in the way of the proposed drop of the bell ropes.

Fortunately, the ringers were able to attract funding to buy a new and silent pump for the organ. This was placed on the gallery directly behind the instrument. A happy solution all round.