Wonderful Makin Windermere at Tring

Following on quickly from the recent installation of a Windermere Drawstop at St Nicholas Church in Guildford came the installation this week of the same model at St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Tring where organist Cliff Brown is thrilled with the organ.

The purchase of the organ was delayed as it was initially part of a much larger project in church which remains slow moving. Once the organ was separated from the other aspects of the original project, then the purchase and installation could go ahead. In the meantime, the release early this year of the much updated second version of the Makin Windermere 3-53 meant that the organ installed was even better than Cliff had expected. Shortly after installation, Keith Harrington performed the initial voicing which will enable Christmas services to be held in spectacular style, with a trip being planned in the early new year with Ian Tracey to finish things off and deliver the organ which so many churches dream of.

Tring is a very interesting town in Hertfordshire situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 30 miles from Central London. The name Tring is believed to derive from the Old English Tredunga or Trehangr, 'Tre' meaning 'tree' and the suffix 'ing' implying 'a slope where trees grow'.

Cliff maintains the Tring church music website which already has details of the new organ on it. The church is a busy one with a large weekly congregation which has suffered for some time with a pipe organ that is becoming less playable by the day, for example you can no longer couple the Swell and Great. For the moment, this remains in place with the digital Makin formally being a second instrument. This may change in the future with a significant reordering plan being developed.