Newsletter No.82 June 2016

Dear Colleagues,

Meetings: We had hoped very much to visit the new Tickell organ at St John’s School, Leatherhead, during the

school’s Easter vacation, but this failed to materialise quite late in the day and I regret that we were unable to put an

alternative meeting together at short notice. The south-west London meeting and AGM took place on a sub-optimal

date, but it was good to see a decent number of folk there, for what turned out to be a very positive get-together. We

visited two organs, one in Wimbledon (Sacred Heart Church – J.W. Walker & Sons, restored by Mander Organs) and

the other in Merton (St Mary, Mander Organs, new mechanical). Both were preceded by engaging and insightful

introductions, by John Mander and Michael Blighton respectively, and it was a pleasure to listen to demonstrations

by David Gammie. Please do make an effort to come to Liverpool and/or Tewkesbury; both should be very

interesting. In early 2017 we are planning a Fenland trip to hear the results of the pitch change at Peterborough

Cathedral and see the restoration at King’s College, Cambridge.

OGM/AGM: It was time once again to say farewell to departing members of the Board and welcome new recruits.

Richard Young had made a particular contribution to the work of the Board, leading training events and representing

the Institute at the annual Diocesan Organ Advisers conferences. His dedication and quick wit will be much missed.

Tristan Moore has contributed in other ways, introducing the IBO to Facebook and a variety of other social media

contacts, as well as assisting with the work of the Board. We wish both of them well and look forward to seeing them

at future events. Our new recruits, Andrew Moyes and Michael Blighton are no strangers to the Board and I should

like to welcome Andrew to his third term and Michael to his second. I much look forward to working with them. It

was decided not to pursue a vote on the matter of census returns and removal from the register, as this would almost

certainly damage the Institute, but colleagues are urged to submit returns in a timely fashion.

Membership: A brief resumé of our current membership figures appears below on page 5 so I will not dwell on that

here. Suffice to say that numbers are steady, but we should all be encouraging colleagues and those who are not yet

members to join up. Much earlier in the year the Board discussed possibilities for Honorary Membership, and I am

delighted to confirm that David Frostick and Mark Venning have accepted this elevation. I hope that both of them

might be able to join us at Tewkesbury in the autumn when we can celebrate with them.

Training: Over the last few years we have provided a number of training opportunities around the country, including

pipe making, voicing, tuning, low-voltage electrics and pneumatics, and more are planned, including pricing,

soundboard restoration and more voicing and tuning, but we still need to have a greater understanding of what your

needs are. At forthcoming IBO events board members will have some brief questionnaires which I hope you might be

willing to complete and pass back to us in order to help inform future offerings. As far as our much-mooted general

apprenticeship scheme is concerned, whilst valuable progress has been made in recognising the craft and the granting

of a funding level, this was significantly lower than expected (see pp.5-6 below). In response to a number of members

who have raised concerns about where young tuners might come from, I am writing a paper for discussion at the next

Board meeting, and will keep you posted on progress.

By the time we packed up at Wimbledon to head for Merton most people were already on their way, so the

opportunity to thank Carol was lost. Without her enthusiasm and tenacity much of what we seek to do would be

much harder, if not impossible, so thank you, Carol!

Chris Batchelor (President)

This Newsletter is published quarterly by the

INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ORGAN BUILDING

and edited by Geoff McMahon

Letters, news and articles to:

Geoff McMahon 64 Holywell Hill

St Albans Herts. AL1 1BX

geoff@mcmahonfamily.co.uk

Opinions expressed by the editor and contributors are their own, and are not

necessarily those of the Institute

2

Administrator’s News

Organ Building Inspection Fees

I have recently received a call about this subject and

thought it worth including a reminder about this in

the Newsletter.

The IBO supports the principle that organ builders

should charge when carrying out inspection visits.

Not only does this lead to a ‘level playing field’

but also churches will respect organ building as a

professional industry where organ builders value the

time involved in carrying out inspections and

producing the resulting report.

Company News

The Penny’s Mill partnership reverted to limited

company status at the beginning of April 2016. Gary

Black became director and Rosemary Wakeford

became Company Secretary; business will continue as

usual.

Organ Building Volume Sixteen

If you are thinking of advertising in the next edition of

Organ Building, there is still time, the rates being:

1/8 page £71.00 (86 x 61mm)

1/4 page £130.00 (86 x 127mm)

1/2 page £200.00 (178 x 127mm)

Full Page

Black &White

£326.00 (178 x 260mm)

Full Page

Colour

£542.00 (178 x 260mm)

Cover £685.00 (178 x 260mm)

Plus, all Business and Supplier members benefit from a

20% discount too!

We are also able to offer help in the design of your

advertisement. Please contact me for more

information.

Summer Meeting in Liverpool

Included with this Newsletter is the publicity and

booking sheet for our meeting in Liverpool on

Saturday 23 July. We will convene in St George’s

Hall at 10.30 a.m. for a demonstration of the organ by

Ian Tracey, following which we will make our way to

the premises of Henry Willis & Sons for lunch. The

afternoon session will consist of an ‘open workshop’

including demonstrations of leatherwork and metal

pipe repairs. Please send your booking to the IBO

office as soon as possible.

Autumn Residential Meeting – Tewkesbury

The flier for our annual residential meeting (Friday

7th to Sunday 9th October) also accompanies this

Newsletter. Rooms have been reserved on a first-come

first-served basis at the Tewkesbury Park Hotel. Do

visit their website at www.tewkesburypark.co.uk for

more details on the facilities there.

The weekend will include Tewkesbury Abbey on the

Saturday morning for a talk and demonstration by

Nicholas Plumley and Carleton Etherington of the

Milton and Grove organs there. In the afternoon we

move on to Dean Close School, Cheltenham, for a

talk by staff from Nicholson & Company about their new organ (also featured in Organ Building Volume

Fifteen). Sunday morning will be given over to

training, including a talk given by two managing

directors, Andrew Moyes and John Mander, about

the methods they use in costing jobs, pitfalls to avoid etc..

For those able to be in the area by teatime Friday,

there is a visit arranged to St John’s Fladbury, home

to an 1838 Richard Nicholson organ which was

recently restored by Nicholson & Company. We have

it on good authority that there is a superb pub in the

same village too!

I look forward to receiving your booking for what

promises to be an enjoyable weekend.

End of Dispensations — Start of Tax Free Travel

Expenses

Many employers will have a dispensation notice,

exempting certain benefits and expenses, for example,

travel and subsistence costs, from income tax and

National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and thereby

removing the need to report these items of employer

expenditure to HMRC. Since 6 April 2016, employers

can now pay specified expenses to their employees,

tax and NIC free, without the requirement to obtain a

dispensation from HMRC.

If an employer had previously agreed a dispensation

with HMRC, it ceased to apply after 5 April 2016.

Almost all allowable expenses or benefits in kind that

were covered by a dispensation should be within the

new exemption and employers will no longer need to

report them to HMRC or include them on forms

P11D. The new exemption covers expenses paid or

reimbursed by an employer, or benefits treated as

3

earnings, where the employee would have been

entitled to an income tax deduction.

The new exemption also applies to an approved scale

rate payment (an agreed flat amount that must be no

more than a reasonable reimbursement of the expense

being incurred) in respect of allowable expenses

incurred by an employee. Although many employers

pay or reimburse actual expenses incurred by their

employees, where amounts incurred are broadly

similar in respect of the same expense, some

employers pay or reimburse ‘scale rates’.

Paying the Scale Rates

Expenses can be paid or reimbursed either in

accordance with secondary regulations, the

‘benchmark’ scale rate, or at a rate agreed under an

approval notice, the ‘bespoke’ scale rate where all

relevant qualifying conditions are met.

The benchmark rates for travel, where the employee is

absent from their normal place of work or home and

on a journey for a continuous period in excess of five

or ten hours, which must be in the performance of

their duties or to a temporary place of work, that is

not substantially ordinary commuting, have been set

as follows from 6 April 2016.

Minimum continuous Maximum amount of

journey time meal allowance

5 Hours £5.00

10 Hours £10.00

15 Hours £25.00

Where a meal allowance (combination of food and

drink incurred after starting the journey) of £5 or £10

is paid and the qualifying journey in respect of which

it is paid lasts beyond 8pm a supplementary rate of

£10 can be paid. These rates are the maximum tax

and NIC free amounts that can be paid by employers

who choose to operate the system.

Employers can pay less than the rates set in law. If

an employer pays less than the prescribed rates,

employees cannot claim tax relief on the difference,

but a deduction can be claimed based on the

difference between the amount actually spent on

the expense and the amount reimbursed by their

employer. If employers make a higher payment or

expense reimbursement the excess is liable subject

to tax and NICs.

The bespoke rate is normally an amount established

following an employer-undertaken sampling exercise.

Employers must demonstrate that the amount is a

reasonable estimate of the amount of expenses

actually incurred by employees, and that a tax

deduction would be allowed in respect of those

amounts. This evidence should ideally be in the form

of receipts, but other evidence, such as an employee’s

contemporaneous record of expenses incurred, will be

considered.

Where HMRC are satisfied that the amount applied

for is a reasonable estimate of the costs actually

incurred by employees, an approval notice, which will

remain in force for up to five years, sets out the rate at

which expenses may be paid or reimbursed, the date

from which the approval is granted, and the type of

expenses covered.

Employers wishing to pay or reimburse employees at

a rate that has been agreed with HMRC at an

industry-wide level, such as those outlined in the

IBO/GMB Working Rules Agreement, can apply to

HMRC for an approval notice.

A scale rate has not been set for overnight subsistence

or for staying with friends and family. Employers

wishing to agree a rate for overnight subsistence must

apply to HMRC using the ‘bespoke' rate process. The

travel rules still apply to actual subsistence costs

incurred while an employee is staying with friends

and family.

The Administration Process

Employers must still have a system in place for

checking that employees both incur and pay their

exempt expenses and that a matching tax deduction

would be allowed for those expenses. The extent of

checking undertaken by the employer depends upon

the scale of the business, experience of expense

management and any irregular working patterns. In

smaller organisations, the directors may know all

about the particular expenses incurred by employees,

and there may be no need for checking at all.

Employers must show that someone other than the

employee incurring the expense is responsible for

ensuring that the payment relates to qualifying travel

in the case of travel and subsistence expenses, does

not include disallowable items, and that the amount

claimed is not excessive.

While undertaking regular periodic checks, the

employer may find that employees have occasionally

been unable to obtain or retain receipts for qualifying

expenses incurred. The employer must monitor

omissions to ensure that there are valid reasons for the

lack of receipts, this is not a regular occurrence and

not prevalent throughout the workforce. Employers

should also be able to demonstrate any action that

they have taken to overcome problems of this nature

to HMRC.

Where an employer has agreed a rate other than that

set out in the ‘benchmark’ scale rate regulations in

respect of its employees since 6 April 2011,

transitional arrangements allow the employer to

continue to use that rate until the expiry of that

five-year period, subject to the employer having made

a simple application to HMRC.

4

Employers must use an online form to apply for

approval from HMRC to pay a ‘bespoke rate’ to

reimburse employees for non-taxable expenses and

benefits that are actually incurred, see:

<www.gov.uk/government/publications/paye-employer-

expenses-and-benefits-exemption.>

Employers do not need to apply to HMRC if wishing

to pay a ‘benchmark rate’.

Exceptions to the Exemption

The new tax exemption does not apply to expenses or

benefits in kind provided under a salary sacrifice

arrangement. This includes any arrangement where

employees give up the right to receive earnings in

return for tax-free expenses payments, or where

the level of their earnings depends on the amount of

any expenses payment. After 5 April 2016, any

expenses payments payable to employees under these

arrangements must be paid after deducting PAYE

tax and Class 1 NICs.

Employers paying any non-allowable expenses or

providing non-exempt benefits still need to deduct tax

and NICs through the payroll, or submit relevant

detail on forms P11D by 6 July following the end of

the tax year. Expenses or benefits that are only

partially exempted must be taxed through the payroll,

with employees claiming a deduction from HMRC on

the exempt part.

Dispensations granted prior to 6 April 2016 can be

retrospectively rescinded with consequential tax and

NIC liabilities, where the employer has failed during

that period to keep to the terms of their dispensation

and this is not established until after the start of the

2016/17 tax year.

Tax changes take effect

From 6th April, the personal allowance increased to

£11,000. There is also a change to the point at which

the higher rate of income tax (40%) must be paid, with

the threshold rising to £43,000.

From the same date, changes to the State Pension saw

the end of "contracting-out" and of the associated NI

rebate. For companies with a salary-related workplace

pension, both employer and employees will pay the

standard rate of NI contributions instead of the

contracted-out rate.

For employers, the standard NI rate is 13.8% of all

earnings above the secondary threshold for all

employees; the rebate of 3.4% will no longer apply.

For employees, Class 1 National Insurance is payable

at 12% on income between £8,060 and £43,000.

In addition, the rise in the Annual Employment

Allowance gives small and start-up businesses a boost,

because paying less NI should encourage then to take

on new staff.

In terms of Capital Gains Tax, 6th April saw rates fall

to 10% for basic rate taxpayers and 20% for higher

rate taxpayers in 2016/17. The CGT allowance

remains unchanged at £11,100.

Young workers wage rate to rise in October

The Government has accepted the recommendations

made by the Low Pay Commission (LPC) with regard

to the rates of the minimum wage affecting workers under 25 and apprentices, to apply from 1 October

2016.

The Prime Minister has announced that the National

Minimum Wage (NMW) for 21–24 year-olds will rise

by 3.7% to £6.95 an hour, while 18–20 year-olds will

see their minimum wage increase by 4.7% to £5.55 an

hour.

Apprentices will get a 3% rise (to £3.40 an hour) and

the minimum wage for 16–17 year-olds will go up by

slightly more, 3.4%, to £4.00 an hour.

Quarterly tax returns come under fire

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has spoken

out previously against government plans to require

small businesses to submit quarterly digital tax returns

but now it has new ammunition. The independent

oversight body for HMRC, the Administrative

Burdens Advisory Board (ABAB), has refused to

support the Government.

It said: “Compulsory digital record keeping and

quarterly online updates is not an approach we can

endorse” and that the proposals for quarterly updates

will be more burdensome than those currently

imposed on small firms with increased record keeping

and compliance costs.

FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry said: “The

writing is on the wall as more and more small

businesses are making clear their concerns about this

poorly thought-out plan. Forcing small firms to pay

for expensive digital accounting software so they must

submit extra tax returns is not going to help anyone”.

I look forward to seeing you at Liverpool or

Tewksbury (or maybe even both!).

With best wishes

Carol Levey

5

Annual General Meeting Saturday 28 May 2016 It is unusual for the AGM to coincide with a Bank Holiday weekend, but whilst this may have dampened down the attendance somewhat, there was no mistaking the genuine sense of cordiality and common purpose that prevailed throughout our day in suburban southwest London. John Mander opened the proceedings by describing the restoration of the 1912 J.W. Walker organ at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon. From the outset he had been adamant that his firm would only be interested in a strict restoration of the original pneumatic action, arguing that to introduce any form of electric transmission would be to sever irreparably not only the organist’s direct link to the pipework, but also our collective connection (and that of future generations) to the organ culture of the Edwardian era. Fortunately builder and client turned out to be of the same mind, and the result is the invaluable preservation of one of the finest instruments of both its original maker and period. Much of its success can be attributed to its distinctive setting: a Roman Catholic church of near cathedral-esque proportions, with a substantial west end organ gallery and a resonant arcaded apse at the east end. John also commented that the most effective improvement to the sound of the instrument had not been made by Mander Organs at all, but by the parish’s decision to re-order the interior of the building, installing a new hardwood floor and eliminating acoustically absorbent materials.

All of this we were able to appreciate for ourselves once mass had concluded and we could move from the parish hall (where we had initially met for coffee) to the church itself, to hear a well-balanced recital programme performed by organist David Gammie. He is a particular exponent of the work of Canadian composer Denis Bédard, whose Prelude & Toccata on Victimae Paschali Laudes proved to be an admirable showcase for both the instrument and the acoustic (and was the occasion for the first appearance of the Tuba!). David’s earlier assertion that every single stop on the organ has a role to play was entirely borne out in the contrastingly peaceful Rosace by Mulet, which fully exploited the variety of combinations available from the families of flutes and strings across all three manuals. After the

rousing Final from Vierne’s Third Symphony came an opportunity to climb the stairs to the organ loft for an inspection of the console and interior of the instrument. If in certain circles it is considered some form of social abnormality to derive satisfaction from the sight of pristine leathered motors and orderly bundles of lead tubing, then so be it!

We returned to the hall for lunch, followed by the formal business of the AGM. President Chris Batchelor reported that membership had remained relatively stable over the past year at 39 businesses, 16 suppliers, 40 individuals, 74 associates and 273 subscribers: 442 in total. He also made a popular announcement that Honorary Membership had been offered to (and accepted by) Mark Venning and David Frostick. Outgoing Board members Richard Young and Tristan Moore were thanked for their years of service to the Institute, and a warm welcome was offered to their replacements, Andrew Moyes and Michael Blighton, who were elected unopposed. Michael Latham, speaking in his capacity as Board representative on the Accreditation Committee, updated the membership regarding a recommendation from that Committee that the option of follow-up visits following a failed inspection should be discontinued (the Board subsequently ratified this proposal at its meeting on June 10th). Wearing my Training Officer’s hat, I announced that the IBO’s latest draft of an Apprenticeship Standard for the craft of Organ Building has received provisional government approval. Although this has been a far from easy road, with our original strategy of making common cause with a wide range of other craft professions having to be effectively set aside, the net result is a standard which is much more specifically focused on the role of organ builder than the earlier drafts (and actually includes such terms as soundboard, tuning and even gusset!). However there is a downside, with the prospect of somewhat reduced public subsidy compared with the levels we had previously been led to expect. If there is a silver lining to this situation, it is that the employer’s contribution (set at 33% over the three years of the apprenticeship) will be correspondingly reduced, making

All photographs in this article are by Michael Keayss

6

the investment more affordable to a potentially greater proportion of the membership. This does however beg the question of precisely what kind of training scheme could actually be funded at a rate of no more than £10,000 per apprentice (as compared with figures of over £25,000 that have been quoted in these columns in the past). Realistically, at least in the short term, we may have to set our sights on something more akin to an expanded version of our existing training days, with residential sessions of a week or so rotated around the larger of our members’ workshops. To repeat the truisms which I trotted out at the AGM, the hard work of planning and budgeting is only just beginning, and it is entirely down to us to make the most of the opportunity which we have been given.

Chris then picked up on the training theme, proposing a scheme for the recruitment of prospective organ tuners from the ranks of the Oundle summer courses (and similar events for young organists), which might involve the RCO as an assessment body. This would require the active participation of business members to provide workshops for the initial sessions and mentors for the ongoing training, but could be a significant contribution towards resolving the question of where the next generation of tuners is to come from. Although the RCO will understandably be thought of as an awarding body for players rather than builders of the organ, they are able to offer us invaluable experience in the practice of assessment per se, and are already recognised for this by appropriate government departments. It seems extremely unlikely now, given the diminishing role of the Craft Trailblazers initiative, that we would be able to come to a similar arrangement with any of the more traditional awarding bodies for hand skills such as City and Guilds. The meeting then transferred to the Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin, Merton, a somewhat circuitous journey by road or public transport, but via a more direct route for those of us who chose a walk in the afternoon sunshine. Streets of semi-detached commuter housing gave way to a narrower traffic-free footpath, and by the time we arrived at the idyllic churchyard it felt as though we had walked out into the countryside! The church is Norman in origin, but the organ (by Mander Organs) is brand new, the opening concert having taken place in January this year. Head Voicer Michael Blighton

acknowledged that the cramped chamber at the intersection of chancel and nave was a far from ideal position for a pipe organ, as the litany of unsuccessful predecessor instruments bore witness. (It seemed impossible to imagine how one of the rival tenderers could have proposed installing a three-manual organ in this location.) Initially the church had been in favour of retaining some of its original Holditch pipework, but an experiment in which selected pipes were substituted by new ones which had been prepared for another current Mander contract convinced the committee of the wisdom of opting for an entirely new instrument. The success of this venture was amply demonstrated by another gem of a recital by David Gammie, which opened with a Handel Organ Concerto and included works by J.S. Bach and S.S. Wesley. It concluded with another of Bédard’s compositions, his Variations on Amazing Grace, which turned out to be the ideal vehicle for a tour of the specification, taking in a virtuoso Pedal solo en-route, and culminating in a final movement in the style of a French toccata. We were again allowed to inspect the interior of the instrument afterwards, despite the restricted access. The more intrepid explorers were able to admire (amongst other things) the wooden resonators of the Pedal reed at the treble end, and the haskelled Open Diapason basses at the back of the Swell box.

As members began to make their way back into the outside world (not all of them perhaps as anxious as your reviewer to know the outcome of the Aviva Premiership Final at nearby Twickenham) we could reflect on a well-organised day of good fellowship and positive implications for the preservation of our craft’s heritage and its future prospects. Many thanks are due to Carol Levey, John Mander, David Gammie, Michael Blighton and everyone else who made this meeting possible and successful.

Geoff McMahon

7

Bruce Buchanan

Interviewed by Michael Latham

For my latest interview, I thought that IBO members

would be interested to hear about the life and times of

one of the craft’s most erudite and interesting

characters, Bruce Buchanan, well known to us as a

witty and droll speaker with an enormous and

seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of organ building,

especially with regard to the Willis dynasty. Bruce has

been continuously involved with organ building since

1957, and, knowing him well as I do, I was sure that

there was a good story to be told.

Regular readers will know that my interviews with

organ building’s alumni seem to always involve train

journeys of an epic nature. This one could easily have

been the most fraught of all, inasmuch as I found out

that the day I had chosen for the trip to Pulborough,

(which is the nearest station to Bruce’s home in

Fittleworth) was in fact the day which the RMT union

had chosen for a ‘day of inaction’, which would have

left me firmly stranded in London. (It seems that the

dispute was all about who was in charge of closing the

doors of the trains, the guard or the driver.) Luckily I

spotted news of the strike two days before I left home,

so I was able to bring the day of the journey forward.

A very early start from Worcester saw me changing

trains in London from Paddington to Victoria at

8.30am and then on to Pulborough, which is on the

line to Bognor Regis. This train is one which divides

en route, always a bit of a worry for a country boy.

But I managed to be in the right section. Imagine my

surprise when, as I stood up to get off at Pulborough, I

found that, without knowing it, I had been sharing the

compartment all the way from London with Dominic

Gwynn! Bruce met me at the station and whisked me

the two miles to his home, where I was greeted by his

wife Helen with a very welcome cup of coffee.

Although I have never been to Fittleworth before, it is

a name I know very well. Edward Elgar rented a

cottage here in 1917, when the First World War was

at its height, and the daily dreadful news from the

front had plunged him into depression. The escape to

the countryside reinvigorated the composer to the

extent that he wrote his last four great works here, one

of which was the famous Cello Concerto.

Bruce was born in York (as he puts it, on the barrack

square) in 1940, the son of Colin Buchanan, an officer

in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Bruce’s grandfather,

also Colin, was an interesting man whose life story

would be worth an article on its own. He was a

marine engineer and naval architect who served an

apprenticeship at Denny’s of Clydeside, the world

famous ship building company. In 1878 he went out

to China as a ship’s engineer, liked the place and

stayed, eventually becoming Chairman of the

Shanghai Tugboat Company, the Shanghai Ice

Company and marine superintendent of the South

China Steam Navigation Company. In 1899, Colin

senior then aged 53 married Katherine, a good Scots

girl of 35, Bruce’s father being born in 1902. Sadly,

during a journey back to the UK, Colin senior was

suddenly taken ill and died, probably from food

poisoning. (It was a German ship, as Bruce’s

grandmother was keen to recount). Supposing, for no

good reason, that her infant son would be a doctor,

Katherine set up in Forest Hill, convenient for Epsom,

then a school favoured by doctors. In fact, Colin

junior became a soldier.

After Sandhurst, his commission and some time at the

regimental depot in Glasgow, Bruce’s father joined his

battalion in India in 1924. On the ship he first saw his

future wife, Elizabeth Somerville. It may well have

been love at first sight. There was only one problem;

she was only 15 at the time, and he was 22. However,

there was a good ending to this story, because they

met again in India and were married in 1929 in

Bombay Cathedral.

They stayed in India until 1931, when the battalion

was sent to Shanghai (thus returning to his birthplace)

to secure British interests during a local disturbance.

Eventually they returned to the United Kingdom

where Colin served at the War Office and various

military establishments, including York, where Bruce

was born in 1940. His brother Andrew, who went on

to serve with distinction in the Royal Navy, had been

born five years earlier.

Soon after Bruce’s birth, and as the threats from

German bombing increased, Mrs Buchanan and her

two children left York and went to live at her family’s

home at Dinder, near Wells in Somerset, in what they

hoped would be the safety of the countryside. Even

so, Bruce remembers having to descend into the

cellars when German bombers flew overhead on their

way to Bristol docks. Their peace was thoroughly

disturbed one day in 1944 when a Messerschmitt 109,

with its pilot already presumably dead at the controls,

came gliding out of the sky and crashed into the

rectory garden next door. It could just as easily have

Bruce accepting honorary membership at the 2012 AGM

Pho

to :

Do

ug

Lev

ey

8

hit the house from which the Buchanans were

watching, fascinated by the unfolding events!

Bruce’s father was badly wounded during the

Normandy Landings in 1944, and, after repair and

recuperation, was posted to Scotland. The Buchanan

family re-settled in Edinburgh, only to move again to

St. Leonard’s at the other end of the country in 1947;

just a year later, another posting took the family to

Egypt. By this time Bruce was at a prep school and

then went on to Wellington College, well known for

the education of the children of army officers. It was

at Wellington that the first inklings of interest in the

organ occurred. Bruce sang in the chapel choir, and as

the choir was the last out of the building at the end of

the daily services, this meant that each day he was

able to hear the organ being played to the conclusion

of the piece. This in turn awakened an interest in

engineering, which Bruce had perhaps inherited from

his grandfather. A request to see the console, which

was well hidden behind a big curtain, enabled Bruce

to see the Harrison organ. Occasional note-holding for

Harrison’s tuner, Harry James, and an exploration of

the innards of the organ under his beady eye, meant

that the organ bug took hold.

When the time came for Bruce to choose a career, his

father’s hopes that he would follow his path into the

army, or his mother’s wish that he might join the navy

or the diplomatic service, were tempered by some

rather indifferent exam results. Bruce recalls that,

when he expressed his wish to become an organ

builder, there was a short silence after which his

pragmatic father said that he would write to the Royal

College of Organists asking for the names of the

leading firms. He wrote to them all asking if they

would be prepared to employ his son as an apprentice.

All bar one politely declined. Henry Willis III replied

that he would be willing to offer a pupil

apprenticeship for the consideration of a one-off

payment of 400 guineas.

His father approved of this arrangement, and a visit to

the Old Kent Road to meet Mr Willis soon followed.

There was a problem here, because Wellington

College normally forbade their pupils from visiting

cinemas, theatres and even from travelling on public

transport during term time! But they relented. Bruce

remembers that Henry Willis III was a slight and

somewhat frail figure, who showed father and son

around the workshop before going taking them to

lunch, talking mainly about wirelesses. It was agreed

that Bruce should start work on Monday 12th August

1957. The first weeks were spent in the metal shop,

working alongside eight metal hands. At this point

Bruce demonstrates his phenomenal capacity for

recall; he reels off the names of these men as if it

were yesterday − Len Newman, Harry Boulton, Ernie

Mander (no relation), his son Bill Mander, Vic

Daniels, Ron Traquair and Frank Scott, and Bruce

himself. Four months were spent here; the work

consisting of making reed blocks, cutting sheets and

every so often, casting. When this happened the men

wrapped themselves up in brown paper and filled

every crack in every door and window with

newspaper in order to maintain the temperature in the

casting shop.

After the metal shop came working as a tuner’s lad

with Thomas Colmer, a former Lewis man. When the

firms amalgamated in 1918 there had been great and

not altogether friendly rivalry between the original

Willis men and the Lewis men. This was still evident

as late as 1958, even though very few Lewis men

remained at the firm, and those who survived were all

very old. But in those days it was not unusual for

organ builders to carry on working well into their

seventies - there was precious little by way of pension.

Bruce’s note-holding duties took him to all sorts and

condition of instruments including St Paul’s

Cathedral, St John’s Church Holland Road (with its

interesting August Gern instrument rebuilt by Henry

Willis III in 1928), the Freemasons Hall, Eton College

Lower Chapel and Memorial Hall (where he last

saw Harry James who coincidentally was attending a

small chamber organ there), Reading Town Hall and

Reading St Mary’s. You could tell that Tom Colmer

was a Very Important Person because he had his own

car, which was used to travel to and fro. Bruce tells

me that he learned a lot very quickly from Tom

Colmer, including that most important piece of

knowledge for any aspiring tuner − what is best left

alone. Bruce also remembers being deeply impressed

when Tom laid a bearing on a reed stop to try and

overcome the difficulties of tuning in a very cold

church.

After six months on the tuning round, Bruce was

called into the soundboard shop. Here, as well as the

construction of new soundboards using Pitman

mechanisms, they undertook repairs to older slider

soundboards, work to accommodate stop changes and

action renovation work. Peter Sinclair was the

foreman in this department, as well as Alf Bloxham,

then aged 74, and eight other men and four or five

apprentices.

To be continued …

At the Marlborough Grove workshops in 1960

9

Pipe Making Weekend

Mark Rawlinson reports on this intensive

workshop led by Kevin Rutterford and Keith Bance over the weekend of April 15th to 17th

Kevin Rutterford’s pipe making workshop lies in the

heart of the idyllic Essex countryside and proved to be

a real haven and delightful retreat for six eager and

enthusiastic organ builders, keen to try their hands at

pipe making and voicing.

Undaunted by the journey, which on reflection had

the nature of pilgrimage about it, these six would-be

pipe makers (or pilgrims if you will), travelled from

all but one corner of England to attend the weekend

workshop.

Starting from the south-eastern corner, Richard

Goldup and Sam Keeler-Walker (far left and far right

of photo, both from F.H. Browne & Sons) battled

through Friday evening M25 traffic from Kent.

Sharing that corner, Ulrike Schmidt (third from right,

Mander Organs) came up from London (though

sensibly opting for the train rather than the M25).

The southwest saw Gary Cook (second from left,

principal at Liberty Organs) take the far longer than

expected five hour journey from Wiltshire and from

the northwest Mike Boyd (second from right, formerly

of David Wells Organ Builders, since turned airline

pilot, but nevertheless retaining his love and passion

for organ building) and Mark Rawlinson (centre,

Henry Willis & Sons) took the more predictable

5½ hour journeys from Chester and Liverpool

respectively.

With lifetimes of experience between them, Kevin

Rutterford (3rd from left, pipe maker) and Keith Bance

(behind the camera, voicer) were the perfect hosts for

the weekend and were only too happy to share their

expertise (together with several amusing anecdotes)

with us. Not wanting to take the pilgrimage analogy

much further, both Kevin and Keith had the patience

of saints whilst they showed us the intricacies of pipe

manufacture and voicing, which of course contributed

to the weekend being very enjoyable, relaxing and

worthwhile.

Following a hearty breakfast at the excellent 4-star

Bed & Breakfast (with 12 cushions/pillows per bed),

Kevin met us at 8.30a.m. on Saturday morning to

show us the way to his workshop (only a ten minute

drive away). When we got there, we found that he

had already cut out the bodies and feet for the six

pipes (C to F) from a Fifteenth stop that we would

each be attempting to make.

We each chose an area of Kevin’s workshop, which

would be our home for the next two days, and got to

work on the first step of marking up the mouths on

the bodies of the pipes using the triangular scale

plate, a critical stage of the pipe making process

known as mouthing-in. These marks were then

transferred to the feet and the excess metal trimmed

off the edges. Dividers were then used to mark the

mouth cut-up, which for these particular pipes were

set to a fourth mouth width scale. After this was

repeated for all the bodies and feet, the bodies were

stamped (C, C #, D, etc.) ready for the next stage.

This was rolling up. No, not for the fag break, rather

the rolling up of the body and feet on mandrels. Kevin

showed us what to do, making a process honed over

his many years of experience seem like a piece of

cake.

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10

When you got into it, rolling the metal was a very

satisfying experience and for the first time in the

process one had a sense of what one was trying to

achieve and the nature of what the finished article

would be, namely the organ pipe. However, we were

a long way from this and the tuition continued.

The next stage was a case of flattening the seam edge

of the feet and bodies ready for soldering: this helped

create a channel for the solder to flow into. Without

it, soldering up the seam of the feet and bodies would

be made all the more challenging, even with Kevin’s

expert assistance.

After flattening the seam, the edges were sized, and

once dried a bevelled edge was applied to both sides

of the seam using Kevin’s selection of three cornered

knives, mostly inventively fashioned by him from old

files and the like. This bevel, cutting a channel into

the sized edges, would complete the channel for the

solder to flow, and hence form the seam of the feet

and bodies.

For those not aware of what sizing is, this is where the

metal is coated (or painted) in a solution of gum

arabic, red colouring (or whiting) and water. This

‘size’ protects the metal during the soldering process

and stops the solder from going where it isn’t wanted

(in theory anyway).

We were now ready to start soldering, which I think

all of us found the most difficult part of the process (in

fact many thought a separate workshop just on

soldering would be a useful course to attend). First

though was the pressing matter of lunch – here we

were superbly catered for by Jane Rutterford who

provided us with a fine ploughman’s platter and a

wonderful homemade carrot cake for afters.

In fact, Jane provided our lunchtime fayre for the two

days and I would like to pass on special thanks to her

for her kindness (and for the extra bit of lemon cake I

received on the Sunday for the journey home!).

During lunch, Kevin had set up the soldering irons, so

we were back to the grindstone once we’d mopped up

the last of the coffee and carrot cake. Kevin

demonstrated the art of soldering, first tacking the

seam together at regular intervals, then filling in the

whole seam. It looked so easy – but it was not.

Getting the solder to flow was the hardest part, but

after a few more individual demonstrations we were

starting to get the idea. One handy tip from Kevin, of

soldering uphill where possible, certainly helped me to

get a more consistent solder flow.

With bodies and feet soldered up, it was a good point

to call it a night and we all retired to our B&B for a

hearty grill at the pub, a couple of well earned drinks

and a chance to reflect on our first day as metal

hands.

Another cracking breakfast at the digs marked the

start of the second day of the course. Making our own

way this time to Kevin’s (no one got lost) our work

areas were joined by a new addition; the infamous

languid. This somewhat quasi-mysterious creature,

which has caused untold misery and perturbation to

many an organ builder, seemed rather benign in its

present state, being as it was a flat ruler shaped piece

of metal with a bevelled edge.

Before we got on to taming the languid though, the

next stage was to complete the mouthing-in process

that we started on day one. Using a mouthing tool,

the pipe bodies and feet were placed on to the tool

11

between the score marks created when the mouths

were first set.

The mouths were gently burnished ensuring,

particularly on the feet, that no scooping occurred

(dubbing the bottom lip can help to avoid this). If the

foot mouth becomes scooped, this would cause the

wind sheet to avoid the top lip and the pipe would not

speak properly.

After planing and sizing of body and feet, the languids

were marked and cut on the guillotine. They were

tacked on to the feet and then the square edges

trimmed, leaving a small gap at the mouth of the foot

for the flue. The languid was then soldered on, ready

to receive the body.

One of the fiddliest parts of the process then followed:

joining the foot to the body. Holding the two parts

together between finger and thumb (I couldn’t

imagine doing this for the bottom C of a 16ft double

diapason) three solder tacks were applied to the sides

and the back.

Then the seam was filled in and voilà, after a bit of

cleaning and a small cut-up put on the mouth, the

pipe was ready for voicing.

As we finished the pipe-making stage, one-by-one we

visited Keith Bance, who gave us some brief pointers

on voicing. This comprised completing the cut-up,

chamfering the edge and nicking the languid and

bottom lip. Then it was a case of adjusting the languid

up or down depending on whether the pipe speech

was ‘quick’ or ‘slow’.

By the end of Sunday, and with the pipe-making

pilgrimage all but over, it was time to reflect on our

weekend’s efforts. What better way to do so, than to

admire the fruits of our labours.

Without doubt, this was a thoroughly worthwhile

course and I would emphatically recommend it to any

organ builder. Kevin, Keith and Jane’s hospitality was

generous and welcoming and the whole weekend

was well-organised, well-executed and fantastic value

for money. Kevin and Keith’s tuition was clear,

patient and unpressured and there was a real sense

from both Kevin and Keith that they wanted to impart

and share their knowledge with us.

For my part they definitely achieved this and as I

departed (with my extra slice of lemon drizzle cake to

sustain me on my journey home) and half-octave of

pipes wrapped in a jumper for protection, I felt a real

sense of achievement and a desire and resolve to

spend some time in the metal shop, which I’m

fortunate to say I have been able to do in the last

couple of weeks. On behalf of the Pipe Making

Pilgrims, I extend my thanks to all who arranged this

course and particularly to Kevin, Keith and Jane.

Mark Rawlinson

Henry Willis & Sons Ltd

A training session on ‘Tuning for Beginners’ will be held at the workshops of Goetze and Gwynn near Worksop, Notts., on

Saturday 17 September. Specifically intended for professional members who have done

little or no tuning themselves, the day will include both theoretical and practical tuition

and hands-on experience, including the opportunity to make a reed knife. The price of £25 will be inclusive of lunch. It may be

possible for people to be collected from a nearby train station, if needed (please ask!).

Please book as soon as possible via the Administrator.

12

Announcements

Further to the obituary notice for Alastair Rushworth

in Newsletter No.81, we have been asked to clarify

that John Maidment was consultant to the City of

Brisbane 2009−2014 for the restoration by Pierce Pipe

Organs Pty Ltd of the five-manual organ at Brisbane

City Hall built by Henry Willis & Sons in 1892 and

rebuilt in 1930. Mr Rushworth had no official role in

this process.

During a month of European competition, debate and

controversy, it is pleasing to report on a project

involving international co-operation! For their new

organ contract in Xi’an, China, Hermann Eule

Orgelbau of Bautzen, Germany, commissioned two

high pressure reed stops (a Tuba and a French Horn)

from Terry Shires. The pipework was voiced by David

Frostick, in whose workshop the photograph below

was taken (left to right: Johannes Adler, David, Terry,

voicer Andrè Gude, Dirk Eule).

J.W. Walker & Sons Ltd have a position for a

general organ builder to be based in Devizes,

Wiltshire. Please contact Sebastian Meakin in confidence: sebastianmeakin@walkerorgans.com.

Members may be interested to learn of the publication of a new book, Wilkinson and Sons of Kendal, Organ

Builders, by Alan Mason (organ adviser for the United

Reformed Church, northwest region, and apprentice

to the firm in the 1950s). The company was founded

by William Wilkinson in 1829, and at its height

occupied premises of 10,000 square feet in the town

before eventually merging with Rushworth & Dreaper

in 1957. Wilkinson organs may be found today in

towns and villages throughout northwest England, the

wider UK and as far afield as Australia. Copies may

be obtained directly from Alan at 15 Ashleigh Road,

Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4SS, telephone number 01539

739822.

THE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ORGAN BUILDING

PRESIDENT

Christopher Batchelor

BOARD:

Abigail Balfour

Stephen Bayley

Michael Blighton

Michael Latham

Sebastian Meakin

Andrew Moyes

Les Ross

0191 378 2222

01909 485635

01304 813146

020 7739 4747

07760 377750

01842 810296

01886 833338

01708 500790

TREASURER

Yvette Bayley

F.H. Browne & Sons Ltd

The Old School

Ash

Kent

CT3 2AA

Tel. 01304 813146

info@fhbrowneandsons.co.uk

ADMINISTRATOR & SECRETARY:

Carol Levey,

13 Ryefields,

Thurston,

Nr Bury St Edmunds,

Suffolk

1P31 3TD

Tel/Fax: 01359 233433

administrator@ibo.co.uk

www.ibo.co.uk

Aidan Nutter Organ Designs With over 25 years’ experience I am available to undertake the design of new

organs, large or small with either mechanical or electric action.

Of particular note is my involvement in

case design of which there are many fine examples in Britain and abroad.

In addition I am able to undertake physical surveys of existing organs for the

purpose of relocation or in greater detail for restorations etc..

Contact Email : aidanandjulia@gmail.com

Tel : 020 8907 3389