After our patriotic English supper near St Georges day last year, with Rev Richard having Welsh roots, this year it was decided to do a Welsh supper, held close to St Davids day.

So last night we all gathered up at the Parish Centre for a meal of Leek and Potato soup, followed by a Welsh stew, and then Bread and Butter pudding, with a mixed bag of entertainment including Rev Richard singing the Welsh National Anthem, John Dewhurst reading from Dylan Thomas, and as usual with a number of contributions from the choir.

It has to be said that there were some decidedly non-Welsh items on the running order – indeed some that we used at the English evening last year! However, the gentlemen of the choir contributed the finale, a male voice choir version of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross written by Emrys Jones. The first four verses are comparatively quiet, at least according to the music, however the final verse is marked double f, so with the full group of eight men in our choir is apparently pretty loud! Following on from that, the full choir did a new version of the well known Cwm Rhondda, with words to welcome John Edwards, our new assistant priest. When it was announced, Rev Richard started to look worried – as the past couple of concerts, he has been the subject of various items with new words – there was a definite look of relief when Andrew said that Rev Richard was being given a break this time, closely followed by “Hello John!â€?.

As before, the revised words for the item were written by Andrew Powell, one of the other basses, who spends a lot of time during the week on the road for work (not sure if that is a valid excuse…). However, he provided two items this time, the other involving Beth. Outside Beth, Julia, Andrew Powell and Andrew Bosely who played the piano, I think I was the only person who knew what was going on. Certainly Paul, Julia’s husband, based on his intro didn’t know what was going on, and apparently Andrew Powell had some awkward questions earlier in the day when his wife found a long black hair in their bathroom! Anyway, thanks to Andrew having brought his video camera along, you can enjoy Beth, Julia and Andrew performing a version of Three Little Maids from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. Dodgy camera-work by yours truly, comedy introduction by Paul…

If you’ve visited St James in recent months you are sure to have either spotted the Organ Pipe in the porch, or had a brochure shoved into your hand, all related to our appeal to have our organ restored. Well, as of yesterday, the workmen finally arrived to start the job, by taking the whole thing to bits, and moving it to a workshop in Kent, where it will all be rebuilt, repaired and in certain areas modernised. Of course then they’ll take it all to bits again, and put it back in St James, hopefully just in time for Easter!

There wasn’t much to see at the pipe end of things, but when I stopped by the Church for a look, work was beginning on taking the console apart. Now it has to be said that various organists have said various things about this console at times – some suggesting either a bonfire, or use of an axe, but apparently the console is going to be restored too! However the key difference will be in what is going to be modernised, the electrics.

The organ was put into the Church in 1936 (in fact the last person who referred to it as the ‘New Organ’ has only died within the past couple of years) to replace a small chamber organ in the north aisle, and was built by the Compton Organ Company – better known for their cinema organs, including the organ at the Odeon Leicester Square. You can read a history of the company here. As with the cinema organs, our Compton is what is termed an Extension Organ, where maximum use is made of the minimum number of pipes by reusing the same pipes for different stops on the organ console. This meant that St James could fit a reasonably versatile instrument into a pretty small church, and to be frank it is the only option for a real pipe organ in the building. In order to get all this pipe reuse working, the only option was electric action, so the bit that is getting modernised is the bit that has been causing the problems, the 1930’s original switches, circuits and wires. These are in such a state that when the initial survey of the organ was carried out prior to this work there was concern about moving the wires in case some of them broke. Looking into the back of the console as it was dismantled there is a warning in red pen written on a label inside, fairly obviously from later than the 1930’s warning of the danger of electric shocks from the wires in the back – something like this would never get past health and safety today!

What we’re looking forward to later in the year is that with the modern electronics, we’ll actually be able to get a mobile(ish) organ console. Whilst currently we were afraid to move anything, the new wiring will have two different points where we can plug the console into the organ, allowing the organist to be better located whether the choir is singing from the front for Matins, Evensong and the like, or the north aisle for services that need the altar rail.

Anyway, I’ll be sure to take another picture of the finished article in a few months time.