Sunday 19 June - Wurlitzer Theatre Organ

There was a half-marathon run this morning.  The route through town was not obvious from the information and by the time we had got out everything had passed and the town returned to its normal Sunday morning calm.

We had an early lunch at the Henry Tudor House.  The pork rack was as good thos week as last week

Walking over to the Buttermarket we came across this clematis on a trestle

The reason for the early lunch was to hear the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ at the Buttermarket.  This is a great Sunday afternoon's entertainment.  We arrived a little early and were immediately welcomed as visitors and introduced around.  We were asked if we would like to see the galleries.  Neither of us knew what to expect but it sounded interesting and they wanted to show us.  I thought it had to do with the 200 year old Buttermarket but it turned out to be not the case.

We were first shown the console and then taken up stairs to where the actual pipes and other mechanics were kept in a long dusty enclosure.

All the sounds are produced here and played into the main room through a series of four large openings with grills to control the volume.  The Wurlitzer is more than a pipe organ as it has drums, cymbals etc. and the electric connections are very complex indeed.

A video camera and screen had been set up on the stage so the audience could follow the keyboard work, it was easy to follow the footwork from the floor.

Nicholas Martin gave the recital.  

The entertainment was pretty much what we had expected.  A series of medleys chosen to show off the instrument and to cater to requests.  The audience of about sixty were pretty much all in their retirement and enjoyed cups of tea and iced cake in the interval.  There was one large lady sitting in front of us.  At first I thought she had purple high lights in her hair but this turned out to be a purple spotlight - the hall is used as a night club at other times.  She was knitting furiously - so vigorously that her chair was rocking back and forth.  Her husband was next to her trying to keep awake.

One of the members of the committee was a retired driver who started on the railway in 1970 as a guard.  He worked mostly out of Shrewsbury on diesel passenger trains but on some preserved steam and on the Severn Valley.