Like a river glorious - Trinity with Palm Grove United Reformed & Methodist Church, Birkenhead

#organ #churchorgan #pipeorgan
Me playing the organ at Trinity with Palm Grove United Reformed and Methodist Church, Oxton, Birkenhead.
The church was one of the first ecumenical products in the United Kingdom with the closure of Palm Grove Methodist Church in 1977 and the congregation joining what was previously Trinity United Reformed Church.
The organ was installed here in 1970 by George Sixsmith replacing an instrument built in 1933 by Willis which I believe replaced an instrument by Gray and Davison or a rebuild of it. The bulk of the organ is made up of the instrument originally built by J Binns of Leeds for Hope Congregational Church in Oldham in 1913 with some pipework incorporated from the previous Willis instrument as well as new additional pipework. The original Willis console was used along with the pedalboard. The specification reads:
PEDAL
Acoustic Bass 32'
Open Diapason 16'
Violone 16'
Bourdon 16'
Principal 8'
Flute 8'
Fifteenth 4'
Flute 4'
Twenty Second 2'
Trombone 16'
Choir to Pedal
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
CHOIR
Geigen Diapason 8'
Lieblich Gedact 8'
Flauto Traverso 4'
Flautina 2'
Sesquiltera II
Orchestral Oboe 8'
Clarinet 8'
Unison Off
Octave
Tremulant
Swell to Choir
GREAT
Violone 16'
Open Diapason 8'
Hohl Flute 8'
Octave 4'
Harmonic Flute 4'
Twelfth 2.2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Mixture III
Trumpet 8'
Swell to Great
Choir to Great
SWELL
Lieblich Bourdon 16'
Open Diapason 8'
Rohr Flute 8'
Salicional 8'
Celeste 8'
Principal 4'
Suabe Flute 4'
Flute Triangulaire 2'
Mixture III
Contra Oboe 16'
Horn 8'
Tremulant
ACCESSORIES
6 thumb pistons to choir
6 thumb pistons to great
6 thumb pistons to swell duplicated by toe pistons
6 toe pistons to pedal
6 reversible thumb pistons
2 reversible toe pistons
1 general cancel thumb piston
1 balanced expression pedal - choir
1 balanced expression pedal - swell
With Birkenhead being on the famous River Mersey, the hymns I played during my visit here all had the theme of rivers so here is "Like a river glorious" to the tune 'Wye Valley' which I am playing from the book 'Mission Praise'.
Many thanks to the church officials for allowing me access to this magnificent instrument.

[@kejcolley]

Absolutely bostin, mate!
Do you know which river and which bit of the river Francis Ridley Havergal (the author of the words) would have been most familiar?
Because of where she grew up and lived for much of her life: the Severn at Stourport!