Below are a few comments which were originally posted on the former FOPS-forum following the organ's appearance at the Great Dorset Steam Fair in September 2005. Legal responsibility for these rests with the various writers, as detailed in the agreed disclaimer on the forum at the time. Some grammatical and spelling errors have been corrected in the interests of easy reading. However, the definitive comment can be found on the new website of Irvin Leisure.
A.S. - posted 6/9/05, 10.13pm
... Also to be found in this area was the ex-Irvin 89 key Marenghi, fresh
from our moderator’s workshop and if you've read his posting below, you'll
know he had reservations about it attending. Frankly I think he was
worrying about nothing as it sounded super to me, but then that's
perfectionism for you. My only quibble was with the decor which I thought
rather unsubtle compared to the previous scheme, still I guess it was the
customer’s choice and he who pays the piper calls the tune...
N.K. - posted 7/9/05, 11.34am
I'm glad the Irvin Marenghi is finally back in play, how much longer would
it have mouldered away in their yard if Graham Atkinson hadn’t bought it,
I will look forward to seeing it at Old Warden and hopefully Widnes later.
G.S. - posted 7/9/05, 8.46pm
I was over the moon to see the Irvin Marenghi at the show and it is a
credit to John that it played at all. I know John had reservations about
the organ attending, and I think he had good cause to, you would not
believe how that organ arrived on the field. I was however very upset by
two hand written boards that were placed along the bottom of the organ, in
full view of the public. These boards went about saying sorry for the bad
playing condition, the wrong trailer and the lack of side wings. What it
also made very clear without actually saying so, is that the blame should
be placed with the restorer.
This was without doubt an absolute disgusting display of behaviour and
made John the scapegoat for something he clearly was not happy in doing.
I hope that I speak for everyone in saying that the organ is at last
coming back to its former glory and there is only ONE person who can take
the credit for doing this and that is John Page, not Graham Atkinson, nor
anyone else who may have written that despicable sign.
Shame on you Mr Atkinson, you should keep a tighter reign on your crew.
PS. Here is a rather nice shot of the organ, and love the paint job.
A.G. - posted 7/9/05, 9.14pm
Without getting into the extremes of writing loads of notes. The situation
was as follows...
The organ was collected by GA and TJ (the driver and KF operator, on the
Monday before Dorset. The organ was complete in the respect that it was
fully tubed up. However due to the fact that John didn't have time to do
final adjustments to the organ before its depature to Dorset (the
deadline), further work had to be done at the rally to get it in a
playable condition!
These jobs were as follows: adjustment to the keyframe (freeing stuck
keys, re-setting up valves), completely tuning all the reed ranks, fitting
the figures, fitting the proscenium, fixing non-working notes on the
glock, adjustment to the valve chest under the violins to cure ciphers.
All these WOULD have probably been done by John if he had more time.
However the deadline was Dorset (well actually Pickering). Graham is a
business man and he means business. JH, RH and me only got the organ
playing in a manner suitable for listening to. Granted it wasn't perfect,
but as on-site tuning and repairs go we didn't do that badly to get 18
non-playing notes to just 3!
In reply to GS, you have no idea what you are talking about. FULL STOP!
J.S. - 7/9/05, 9.35pm
As far as I know the forum is to share each other's information about
organs... and not to build up enemies because THERE WILL BE NO POINT IN
THAT! WILL THERE?
J.D. - 7/9/05, 11.12pm
I was expecting to be standing 10ft away from the thing, being unable to
listen to it, but I was pleasantly surprised with the sound it was making,
it did have a lot of charm.
John Page really does need congratulating, the work he has done with it is
brilliant. We all go over deadlines from time to time, and the volunteers
that stepped in on-site to get it playing a bit better need congratulating
as well. It is very difficult to do on-site work and repairs, and perhaps
a little risky sometimes.
I think the point GS was trying to make was that the handwritten note was
a little unnecessary, because everything was already said in the typed up
notices about the organ. The handwritten one just seemed like it was
overshadowing the hard work John had done.
I will look forward to hearing the organ when it is finally finished. I am
sure it will be another highly respected instrument in the UK, that our
overseas enthusiasts will envy.
G.S. - 8/9/05, 6.19am
There seems to be no reason for you to get so hot headed. It was just my
views so let’s address the problems you have with my statement.
The first thing is those hand written signs. There was no need to write
such signs, everything that needed to be said was said in the special
typed signs, why go further. You state that Mr Atkinson is a "business man
and he means business" but I am afraid that owning organs is a love, not a
business. On such a historical organ as this, there should have been NO
deadline. As it happened, the "deadline" was your undoing.
However, I thought that the efforts of the crew to bring it up to playing
condition on the field was excellent, but you have to admit, if it was not
ready, it should not have been there.
I think that those people who buy organs just because they can see the
££££ flashing in their eyes are taking the preservation movement back, not
forward. Let’s not forget how it all started, for the love of these great
instruments, not to make huge bags of cash.
As far as you saying I have no idea what I am talking about, my knowledge
of this instrument is very good and even though I am an organ owner
myself, when I walked past Irvins Marenghi, I was just a member of the
public and I found the signs offensive and so did MANY others, I am sorry
but I can’t put it any other way.
I.P. - 8/9/05, 8.18pm
This is getting silly.
I've seen and met many schoolchildren being much better behaved than some
of the members on this forum.
Little hand written letters should never have been there in the first
place, any derogatory notices likewise.
If there is a disagreement between Mr Atkinson and Mr Page, it is
absolutely no-one else’s business and should not be aired in public at a
show or on this forum (in any manner).
This is not a good behavioural example to set our younger members.
I do not wish to take sides but I do believe there should be NO deadline
on any historical instrument getting a sympathetic restoration.
Now children, let's hear no more about this. (behave yourselves)
G.S. - 8/9/05, 8.42pm
I absolutely agree and I will consider myself ticked off, but this does
affect us all as it is such a historical instrument. If it were the likes
of you or I whose organs had undergone a full restoration, it would not in
any way be interesting, but this has to be one of our national treasures
and therefore should be treated with the utmost respect at ALL times by
ALL people. As John rightly says, it must be a long standing tribute to
the late Benny Irvin.
© 2007, John Page