Pictures
Top right: The Marsden meeting in July drew a large crowd, including organ builder David Wood (left) and President Elect Malcolm Cruise (centre). Report on page 8.
Bottom left: Jonathan Leigh, Huddersfield University organ student, at the June Meeting. Report on page 3.

Association members are discussing the feasibility of broadcasting one of his lunchtime concerts live over the internet. Gordon is enthusiastic about the idea and a small technical committee is investigating how best to channel the sound of the Father Willis on to the World Wide Web.

One suggestion is that the sound from stereo microphones is sent from the Town Hall down a special high-efficiency digital line to a studio at Huddersfield University. Here the sound would be encoded onto the internet enabling anyone in the world with a PC and the appropriate software to listen to the recital as it takes place.

The idea was devised by member Simon Smith who, as reported in the last Clarion, is in the process of making the association's first CD containing tracks from several local instruments.

Simon is an electrical engineer at Huddersfield Town Hall and runs the sound studio in the main auditorium where the recital's long journey across an international network of computers would begin.

Exploratory talks have also taken place with a computer specialist in the town about broadcasting a recital in sound and vision over the internet.

Meanwhile the association's internet site, run by William Kay from Norway has attracted nearly 2000 visits since its inception.

The rebuilding of any parish church organ more than once in a lifetime would be fairly unusual. But at All Hallows' Almondbury, a decision in principle has been taken by the PCC to undertake a substantial restoration of the organ - the second in 27 years.

The reasons are complex but the decision has been made to take advantage of extending what would otherwise have been a straightforward clean and overhaul.

The 1890 3-manual Abbot and Smith was rebuilt and enlarged by Wood of Huddersfield in 1970 to designs suggested by the late Keith Rhodes and resulted in the caseless great and choir being placed on cantilevers outside the original organ space. The new plan, though not yet available in detail, is to eliminate the 1970 extended choir organ in favour of a small, straight division.

The 1970 detached console would be dispensed with and the great and choir reinstated within the original organ case in the south choir aisle (Beaumont Chapel).

Two new cases in oak would be provided, one in the chancel and one to face into the south aisle of the nave. A new console would fill the lower part of the chancel case.

Tonal changes include three more stops on the swell, remodelled mixtures and a pedal reed.