The recent inspection to determine what has gone wrong with the Pipe Organ has given rise to a safety issue that means the instrument should not be used until such time as the underlying cause is resolved.

As you probably recall there were three items requiring disassembly and inspection, two aspects involving the blower, the other involving a cipher (continuous sounding of one or more pipes) on as yet indeterminate rank of pipes. So far the risk has been limited by ensuring that the isolating switch in the corridor has been turned off at the end of any use for Sunday Worship etc.. The mitigation for allowing limited use can no longer be relied upon owing to the nature of the observed fault - it would seem that we have an electrical fault in the selection of voices, or a permanent failure within the air supply.

A group of people having a range of suitable skills have been approached and they are willing to offer assistance in the disassembly of the organ casing so that the faults may be investigated. An action plan will then be drawn up that details the work and the likely time taken for carrying out these tasks. Since the group are volunteers we will have to be mindful of individual's availability, the nature of the work involves specific skill sets and a degree of on the job training will be needed in order that the correct techniques are followed, traditional materials used so that the repairs will last for many years. Costs are not expected to be high, but sourcing (say) the correct leather and glue is likely to add to the timescale. Assuming all materials are available and the work is within reasonable bounds we may be thinking of having the organ in playing order by the end of this summer. But as you might imagine, this is a best guess, until we have performed a full diagnostic inspection.

I have been in communication with John Housego, who has offered his valuable assistance, I shall be particularly interested in finding out the detail concerning activities at Aston Clinton (... I think it was Aston Clinton) and how their group is organised. I feel we have reached the point where we now have a "critical mass" of "helpers and volunteers" and will be able to form our first working party for the disassembly of the casing.