Religious musical moments

[Tom]

In my youth, I rang the bell in the belfry at our local church before Sunday morning and evening services; That was an exercise in staying on the beat!

Separately, I manually 'pumped' the bellows that fed the large pipe organ. I was squeezed alongside the pipes and, when the service arrived at a prayer or sermon, I had to stop pumping (too much noise) and the bellows deflated. A few seconds before the next hymn, the organist would rap his knuckles on the side of the organ, and I'd pump hard and fast so he had sufficient air to hit the first note.

Regrettably, All Saints Church was later demolished because the parish couldn't afford two churches.

The organist, a wonderful guy, was 66 years old. 66 happened to be a bingo number with the call "clickety click". In our youth, we used to refer to the organist as "clickety click". Not sure what they'd call me nowadays.

 

[Rene T]

What a beautiful church. I would have loved to see the inside

 

[Tom]

What a beautiful church. I would have loved to see the inside

Aye Rene, it never occurred to us (me) to take interior pics of the church. The outside pic came from my Dad, just before they demolished the structure.

 

[Tom]

Another view/perspective of the church with the surrounding village.

 

[Rene T]

Any idea when it was built and what year did they take it down

 

[Tom]

Any idea when it was built and what year did they take it down

Sorry Rene, I have no idea when it was built. I need to go through my print albums to figure out when it was demolished (my Dad took pics of the demolition).

 

[Rene T]

Sorry Rene, I have no idea when it was built. I need to go through my print albums to figure out when it was demolished (my Dad took pics of the demolition).

No that’s OK. I was just curious.

 

[UTTransplant]

I love pipe organs. There is nothing like them to fill a big space with glorious sound. They are so expensive to maintain that many churches are removing them and buying electric organs. Those are nice, but the sound of a real organ with ranks of pipes and reeds cannot be matched. In the last church I attended the organ pipes were behind the choir loft. I would sit on the last row with my back against the wall dividing us and feel the vibrations as our incredible organist played. He was worth the time! He had been one of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir organists until he left Mormonism, and their loss was a Presbyterian gain!

 

[Tom]

I love pipe organs. There is nothing like them to fill a big space with glorious sound. They are so expensive to maintain that many churches are removing them and buying electric organs. Those are nice, but the sound of a real organ with ranks of pipes and reeds cannot be matched. In the last church I attended the organ pipes were behind the choir loft. I would sit on the last row with my back against the wall dividing us and feel the vibrations as our incredible organist played. He was worth the time! He had been one of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir organists until he left Mormonism, and their loss was a Presbyterian gain!

My first introduction to a pipe organ was at a Baptist chapel in the olde country. I'm the little guy next to the organist, but my feet couldn't reach the pedals. Picture snapped by my Dad, who was a keen amateur photographer.