Still on the trail of this organ-builder cousin of mine, I'm told I need to ask someone about Rushworth and Dreaper's archives, as they took over the Compton Organ Co. in the 60's and may still hold details of Compton's staff.

Can anyone help?

Please!

d - desparately seeking Wally

I believe R & D closed down a few, well maybe 10-15 years ago. They were based in St Anne Street Liverpool. Rushworths Music Shop in Liverpool went into liquidation and also closed down.
The chief tuner (Brian Jones) who was at R & D is still going , and tunes our church organ. He calles himself something like 'Liverpool Pipe Organ Workshop'. He may be able to give you more info about exactly what happened to R & D.
I regularly play a R & D at Hoylake Presbyterian Church. When I lived in Selsdon, Surrey (near Cyrilla/Bagpuss) the parish church there is also a R & D which I played. In Beccles, Suffolk, where we married, their Parish church is also an R & D (which I played for my brother in laws wedding). I'll dig out the NPOR numbers an edit this post later.

Later edit, the three NPOR numbers so organs above are N08537, N11518 and N13897. All stop lists given.

I have it from a very reliable source that all the Rushworth & Dreaper records were carefully shredded by a firm engaged for the purpose. My informant said that a van with an inbuilt shredder was situated outside the works and everything went into it. As R & D took over Compton I guess that the Compton records went the same way. If you 'phone me I will put you in touch with the informant, who was rather angry about what had happened.

There is no doubt that the delightful and highly skilled craftsman I worked with in the 1960s was Wally Sargeant and was ex-Compton. He was very much alive, so I think Genes Reunited has confused the trail. It is not a reliable source, whereas the Mormon record is known to be meticulous.

(Someone put an entry on Genes Reunited about my wife, without her permission, as and as result our computer was 'hacked! I had to threaten serious urgent legal action to get the unwanted entry removed - it was, of course, within an hour or so. They really did not want to face me in court.)

Have you tried speaking to Saxon Aldred, who was at Comptons at that time? Saxon is retired but still very interested in organ building.

Barry Williams

The R & D at St Mary's Sanderstead is a gem, though in nedd of a thorough overhaul. There was another one at South Norwood Methodist Church, now transplanted to the Church of the Holy Spirit, Portsmouth, which was quite splendid. (It was on that one that I was surrepticiously and illegally recorded and the recording (Cocker's Tuba Tune) broadcast on Organist Entertains - a long story, not for this thread.)

Yes, I can concur with what Barry says, having heard it from the same source. It was most unfortunate that these records were destroyed, not least that they were purchased by the firm of Henry Willis and Sons when they took over the former R & D worksand who were subsequently horrified to find out what had been done.

If you contact David Wyld, the managing director of Henry Willis, he should be able to inform you if any of the records are extant.

Thats interesting Barry. Sanderstead is a mile away from Selsdon, which I mentioned in my post. Maybe R & D did a good sales job in that area !
I dont recall ever going into Sanderstead church though.
In the same area I also played a few times in Coulsdon (Chipstead Valley Rd), must look it up on NPOR.
In my original home area (Keighley West Yorks), a lot of the organs were Laycock and Bannister (in nearby Crosshills), they closed down many years ago.

St Mary's Sanderstead has a nice and effective church organ, well suited to the accompaniment of the liturgy i.e. it does not bristle with Tierces and 'Positives' that are outside the style of the original builder.

The 1960s Walker at All Saints Sanderstead was ill-fated from the start. It was built, unwisely, high into the roof with the pipes sof one manual above the other and consequent tuning problems. Although the pipe organ is still there, the church has used an electronic instrument for many years - with great success.

Did you play at St Andrew's Coulsdon? It was Peter Collins Opus No 1 in 1960 something and was rather effective. They now have a good music tradition with an appreciated and valued choir.

Barry Williams

We travel through Keighley regularly on our route to play the newly installed Wurlitzer 3/11 at Saltaire's Victoria Hall.

Interesting to find out that L & B were in Crosshills!

Re; Wally....Thanks for additional information. You've all been VERY helpful! ......sounding like old Mr. Grace in "R U Being Served"

The Cinema Organ Society (of which we are members) is very happy to put the story so far in their next newsletter. It may reach a few parts that I have not yet reached. I have also had a message from one Ian Bell (ex-Compton) who knew Wally and confirmed many of the details that Barry [Williams] gave me.
Would it be boring if I kept you all updated ?

Just for the record, my home church organ (L&B) was NPOR no N05055 (Lund Park Methodist). I became its organist when I was 15 in 1962 till I went to Uni. The church closed in early 70's. I was told the organ went to a church in Wakefield.
But I had lessons on the much larger N05040 (Temple St Methodist) originally a Forster and Andrews rebuilt by L&B. This church also closed late 70's early 80's I dont know what happened to it, I took Grade exams (well 5,6, and 8) on it.