I grew up with this being the local Gavioli organ at Wonderland, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England. Back in 1948 my father had been in charge of operating it during the Summer season. It was reckoned to be the oldest Gavioli in England which was in original condition, and with its original English owner, after import from France in about 1897. The organ is a little older, probably from 1894 or 1895. Any more precise details might be lost in the mists of time. Unless Roger has any original documents to pinpoint its date of sale? We were sad to hear that it had been sold and exported to the USA. That said, even though I'll probably never see the organ again, it's great to see it being looked after properly by a custodian who understands and loves the instrument. Thank-you, Roger, for presenting it so well in this partial tour of your workshop.You certainly rescued its case from under that tarpaulin in Screeton Brothers' yard, where it was being neglected badly. *Not Hull. That's in Yorkshire. It was on the South side of the river, at Screeton's, in Barton on Humber, in Lincolnshire. There's quite a rivalry between the two sides, stemming back to Hull and Grimsby being big competitors when both places were important fishing ports! Incidentally, I have some recordings of that organ, from the 1960's when in its heyday, and in the 1970's, when the old owner had died, and it was not being maintained by then. The sound differences in the recordings tell it all.Wonderland is/was right on the seafront at Cleethorpes, and the salt air demanded that the organ was kept clean and polished, to avoid serious corrosion of the antique instrument and ride. The image at 22:38 was taken at Wonderland, probably after about 1965. At about that time, the angled grab rails which had been attached to the outer brass pillars of the Galloper had been removed for safety reasons. Several children had been injured whilst trying to grab them to have a free ride. (A ride cost more than most children's pocket money, so a somewhat blind eye was turned to their antics.) The wooden p-framed Big Dipper behind the ride was still in operation until at least the end of the 1970's. The speedboats were eventually replaced by a go kart track, and the Dodgems remained until near to the end of full operation of Wonderland as a static fairground. It became a market afterwards, until at least the early 2000's. I haven't investigated the site in recent years; there was little left to see 20 years ago.
I grew up with this being the local Gavioli organ at Wonderland, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England. Back in 1948 my father had been in charge of operating it during the Summer season. It was reckoned to be the oldest Gavioli in England which was in original condition, and with its original English owner, after import from France in about 1897. The organ is a little older, probably from 1894 or 1895. Any more precise details might be lost in the mists of time. Unless Roger has any original documents to pinpoint its date of sale?
We were sad to hear that it had been sold and exported to the USA. That said, even though I'll probably never see the organ again, it's great to see it being looked after properly by a custodian who understands and loves the instrument.
Thank-you, Roger, for presenting it so well in this partial tour of your workshop.You certainly rescued its case from under that tarpaulin in Screeton Brothers' yard, where it was being neglected badly.
*Not Hull. That's in Yorkshire. It was on the South side of the river, at Screeton's, in Barton on Humber, in Lincolnshire. There's quite a rivalry between the two sides, stemming back to Hull and Grimsby being big competitors when both places were important fishing ports!
Incidentally, I have some recordings of that organ, from the 1960's when in its heyday, and in the 1970's, when the old owner had died, and it was not being maintained by then. The sound differences in the recordings tell it all.Wonderland is/was right on the seafront at Cleethorpes, and the salt air demanded that the organ was kept clean and polished, to avoid serious corrosion of the antique instrument and ride.
The image at 22:38 was taken at Wonderland, probably after about 1965. At about that time, the angled grab rails which had been attached to the outer brass pillars of the Galloper had been removed for safety reasons. Several children had been injured whilst trying to grab them to have a free ride. (A ride cost more than most children's pocket money, so a somewhat blind eye was turned to their antics.) The wooden p-framed Big Dipper behind the ride was still in operation until at least the end of the 1970's. The speedboats were eventually replaced by a go kart track, and the Dodgems remained until near to the end of full operation of Wonderland as a static fairground. It became a market afterwards, until at least the early 2000's. I haven't investigated the site in recent years; there was little left to see 20 years ago.