The organ must have been ejected by the early thirties as it was soon equipped with a Compton 3c/5 theatre organ.This organ although not still in the Art is still in existance.The organist at one time there was a Mr Arthur Turner.Arther married into money and bought his own cinema,the Hollywood Plaza in Scarborough.There he bought and installed the Wurlitzer organ from the Ritz ABC Ipswich.A man with money he was,an organ builder he wasnt.The thing was cobbled together and it was a miracle it played at all.
I think those rooms up above the stage were the empty Compton pipe organ chambers.It spoke out through those openings and then through the
grille immediately above the stage.Unless there is another room above there ,because it has always been rumoured that all the organ pipes and mechanism were still there.
so i presume you found no evidence of any higher up rooms.?
The organ was said to be removed in 1954 when a cinemasope screen was installed neccesitating the removal of the organ console (on the lift).But that is only 10% of the organ.It was said that the organ chamber was entered from a door on the roof.Perhaps you can investigate that further?
Its a great photo,but i have it captioned as Cecil Williams at the Grand Southport.But the organ at the Palladium was installed in 1930 so he cannot have played there for 23 years unless he played at the old Palladium before it was destroyed by fire.
Whilst researching for plans of the cinema to install the Wurlitzer organ,we went to the public library opposite the cinema and found quite a few plans.
The first cinema plans we found were from 1933 and it was to be built 500 yards further up the road at a junction called the five Lamps.This was to be a large Savoy cinema on a triangular site (due to the railway line crossing under the junction).It had a Cafe ,organ chambers over the proscenium and an orchestra pit.The entrance was at the smallest point nearest the road junction.
This scheme didnt come to fruition hence another a couple of years later another one popped up.Maybe 1936 and this was a sizeable cinema.I dont recall the name ,maybe Essoldo,but this scheme had now moved to the present plaza site.But this one too had a cafe and organ understage chambers and an orchestra pit.This one too didnt come to fruition.The final scheme that was finally built in 1939 was a vastly reduced one with no cafe,no orchestra pit and the organ pipes in one chamber to the right of the stage.Even the organ was a little un`.The last organ that the John Compton co built it was only two manuals (in a three manual shell with a blank plate where the third manual would have been).It had only five sets of pipes in the upper chamber (now occupied by the main chamber of the Wurlitzer).It had an electronic melotone that would normally have supplied all the tonal percussion effects.But because of this being the last organ,and they must have had stock laying around,it got the real things too.
The console wasnt on a lift and spent most of its days in the centre of the stage apron,where the Wurlitzer console now sits.
The latest on the Wurlitzer organ installation..
This is a first for the uk.
THe cinema own the organ and have paid for its restoration.
Other organs have gone back into cinemas that previously had organs,but normally they are owned and funded by private individuals.
This one although initially started by a private trust was soon gifted to the cinema.
And its likely a sum of £100k may have been spent on it.
The project stalled of course with Covid.But now it is probably 95% there,although not playing yet.
Both chambers have all the component parts installed and the Console is placed at the front of the stalls back onto the Stage apron.its thought it will first play in spring 2023
The latest on the Ipswich Wurlitzer organ.
Obviously the project was adversely affected by Covid (as was the cinema at Crosby).
But as of January 2023 the project is now 90% complete and will be playing in the spring.
The organ chambers are pretty much complete with all parts installed and the console is against the stage at the front of the stalls.
MikeJC,
Ive just uploaded a photo ,which im told is the organ at the Regent.
Ive put out feelers in the cinema organ world to see if anyone knows what became of it.
Ive just uploaded a photo of the console of the 3-19 Wurlitzer which was opened by REX O Grady not Reg.
The organ was removed around 1968 and its next home is the Thursford collection in Norfolk where it has been used on almost a daily basis since.Its a shame this beautiful theatre was let go.Only two of Paramounts theatres survive.Plaza Piccadilly Circus was also stripped internally.The Paramount Birmingham is still open,but has been drastically altered by Odeon over the years.
The organ went from Abbeyroad to a house in St Austell,Cornwall where it was installed and playing.The owner also had the largest Christie theatre organ from the Regal Marble Arch.This was never reassebled and was poorly stored.He also had a Wurlitzer.That didnt even make it off the truck it was collected in.The Compton was removed and reinstalled in a residence in Norfolk.
ozbeach, Contrary to what is said here about the organ going to Australia ,The Theatre organ societys page states the Console and five ranks of pipes came from the Astoria Old Kent Road,London.The site you mention does say the Relays and some pipes came from Sparkbrook,ultimately the relays weren`t used.
i performed with my band at the Carleton club in the early nineties.I was told there was a leslie speaker on the old stage.
they showed me up there,and there was the leslie with a pyramid of pidgeon crap on top of it.Then i noticed the bricked up proscenium and a ladder leading up to a small hole in the brickwork.I climbed up and looked through,and there was the remains of the Alhambra complete with the balcony.Stretching into the distance was the false ceiling of the carleton club.Its closed now ,but i guess much the same.
The Wurlitzer organ was actually removed from Scarborough in 2008.It just escaped being broken up for parts.It was removed and stored in St Leonards near Hastings pending installation in a school in Robertsbridge just outside Hastings.Unfortunately a change in management cancelled the plans and it has stayed in store ever since.January 2019 sees it all removed up north with the major windchests just taken to Cornwall to be restored.After 80 years it needs a MAJOR restoration.In fact its borderline only good for parts.
The Plaza Hollywood is very interested in the Crosby installation.
I live down the road from this former cinema.Ive just taken my car there for mot and there is nothing at all left there to identify it with its former use.All the ceiling has been removed as plaster was falling on cars in the garage.All the walls are just bare brick now.It has a new roof but a huge mobile mast is at one end.Unfortunately this mast doesnt benefit me as i still have poor mobile signal.
Terry,
Yes that video of Gerald Shaw was uploaded by me.We are going to St Leonards in January to get it out of long term storage (ten years)The console and surround will be restored first externally so it can sit in front of the stage and garner interest(and money).The chambers have been cleared of defunct equipment and now need to be plastered ready for the organ.
Adrian
Early 2019 will see the start of the installation of a WurliTzer theatre organ installed back in the Plaza.The organ has previously been in the Ritz/ABC Ipswich and the Hollywood Plaza Scarborough.
Odeonesque, as Ken rightly says ,this was not the venue used for Brief Encounter.It was the Metropole Victoria but the two Wurlitzer organ consoles were very similar.Other consoles similar were at Granada Edmonton,Troxy Stepney and of course the Tower,Opera House and Empress ballroom in Blackpool.
As of June 2018,the local council who apparently own the building still (and leased to Northern Morris) are considering redeveloping the immediate area-including the cinema,saying its in poor condition externally.A poor show from the council,the building blends well with the others from the front .No doubt if it were a privately owned building they would have insisted in it being preserved!
Its Wurlitzer organ was removed in the 1930`s and reinstalled in the Metropole cinema in central London.In the sixties it was removed,provided with a new console(from the Troxy Stepney)and installed in Buckingham Town Hall.In the seventies that building became unsafe and the organ was removed to Worthing assembly hall and enlarged from ten to 23 ranks.It is still there now.
Wurlitzer organ was a three manual six rank instrument.Removed to a residence in Capel st Mary near Ipswich with an odd arrangement of the console in the house and the pipework in a building at the end of the garden.The organ was mic`d up and the sound fed through leslie speakers in the house.The owner then emigrated to South Africa but only took part of the organ with him.
The organ must have been ejected by the early thirties as it was soon equipped with a Compton 3c/5 theatre organ.This organ although not still in the Art is still in existance.The organist at one time there was a Mr Arthur Turner.Arther married into money and bought his own cinema,the Hollywood Plaza in Scarborough.There he bought and installed the Wurlitzer organ from the Ritz ABC Ipswich.A man with money he was,an organ builder he wasnt.The thing was cobbled together and it was a miracle it played at all.
I think those rooms up above the stage were the empty Compton pipe organ chambers.It spoke out through those openings and then through the grille immediately above the stage.Unless there is another room above there ,because it has always been rumoured that all the organ pipes and mechanism were still there. so i presume you found no evidence of any higher up rooms.? The organ was said to be removed in 1954 when a cinemasope screen was installed neccesitating the removal of the organ console (on the lift).But that is only 10% of the organ.It was said that the organ chamber was entered from a door on the roof.Perhaps you can investigate that further?
Its a great photo,but i have it captioned as Cecil Williams at the Grand Southport.But the organ at the Palladium was installed in 1930 so he cannot have played there for 23 years unless he played at the old Palladium before it was destroyed by fire.
Whilst researching for plans of the cinema to install the Wurlitzer organ,we went to the public library opposite the cinema and found quite a few plans. The first cinema plans we found were from 1933 and it was to be built 500 yards further up the road at a junction called the five Lamps.This was to be a large Savoy cinema on a triangular site (due to the railway line crossing under the junction).It had a Cafe ,organ chambers over the proscenium and an orchestra pit.The entrance was at the smallest point nearest the road junction. This scheme didnt come to fruition hence another a couple of years later another one popped up.Maybe 1936 and this was a sizeable cinema.I dont recall the name ,maybe Essoldo,but this scheme had now moved to the present plaza site.But this one too had a cafe and organ understage chambers and an orchestra pit.This one too didnt come to fruition.The final scheme that was finally built in 1939 was a vastly reduced one with no cafe,no orchestra pit and the organ pipes in one chamber to the right of the stage.Even the organ was a little un`.The last organ that the John Compton co built it was only two manuals (in a three manual shell with a blank plate where the third manual would have been).It had only five sets of pipes in the upper chamber (now occupied by the main chamber of the Wurlitzer).It had an electronic melotone that would normally have supplied all the tonal percussion effects.But because of this being the last organ,and they must have had stock laying around,it got the real things too. The console wasnt on a lift and spent most of its days in the centre of the stage apron,where the Wurlitzer console now sits.
The latest on the Wurlitzer organ installation.. This is a first for the uk. THe cinema own the organ and have paid for its restoration. Other organs have gone back into cinemas that previously had organs,but normally they are owned and funded by private individuals. This one although initially started by a private trust was soon gifted to the cinema. And its likely a sum of £100k may have been spent on it. The project stalled of course with Covid.But now it is probably 95% there,although not playing yet. Both chambers have all the component parts installed and the Console is placed at the front of the stalls back onto the Stage apron.its thought it will first play in spring 2023
The latest on the Ipswich Wurlitzer organ. Obviously the project was adversely affected by Covid (as was the cinema at Crosby). But as of January 2023 the project is now 90% complete and will be playing in the spring. The organ chambers are pretty much complete with all parts installed and the console is against the stage at the front of the stalls.
Photo added from FB
Ive just seen on Facebook today that the whole roof has blown off and the metalwork collapsed into the auditorium.
MikeJC, Ive just uploaded a photo ,which im told is the organ at the Regent. Ive put out feelers in the cinema organ world to see if anyone knows what became of it.
Ive just uploaded a photo of the console of the 3-19 Wurlitzer which was opened by REX O Grady not Reg. The organ was removed around 1968 and its next home is the Thursford collection in Norfolk where it has been used on almost a daily basis since.Its a shame this beautiful theatre was let go.Only two of Paramounts theatres survive.Plaza Piccadilly Circus was also stripped internally.The Paramount Birmingham is still open,but has been drastically altered by Odeon over the years.
The organ went from Abbeyroad to a house in St Austell,Cornwall where it was installed and playing.The owner also had the largest Christie theatre organ from the Regal Marble Arch.This was never reassebled and was poorly stored.He also had a Wurlitzer.That didnt even make it off the truck it was collected in.The Compton was removed and reinstalled in a residence in Norfolk.
ozbeach, Contrary to what is said here about the organ going to Australia ,The Theatre organ societys page states the Console and five ranks of pipes came from the Astoria Old Kent Road,London.The site you mention does say the Relays and some pipes came from Sparkbrook,ultimately the relays weren`t used.
A coomon theme amongst a lot of Glasgow cinemas
destroyed by firei performed with my band at the Carleton club in the early nineties.I was told there was a leslie speaker
on the old stage. they showed me up there,and there was the leslie with a pyramid of pidgeon crap on top of it.Then i noticed the bricked up proscenium and a ladder leading up to a small hole in the brickwork.I climbed up and looked through,and there was the remains of the Alhambra complete with the balcony.Stretching into the distance was the false ceiling of the carleton club.Its closed now ,but i guess much the same.The Wurlitzer organ was actually removed from Scarborough in 2008.It just escaped being broken up for parts.It was removed and stored in St Leonards near Hastings pending installation in a school in Robertsbridge just outside Hastings.Unfortunately a change in management cancelled the plans and it has stayed in store ever since.January 2019 sees it all removed up north with the major windchests just taken to Cornwall to be restored.After 80 years it needs a MAJOR restoration.In fact its borderline only good for parts. The Plaza Hollywood is very interested in the Crosby installation.
I live down the road from this former cinema.Ive just taken my car there for mot and there is nothing at all left there to identify it with its former use.All the ceiling has been removed as plaster was falling on cars in the garage.All the walls are just bare brick now.It has a new roof but a huge mobile mast is at one end.Unfortunately this mast doesnt benefit me as i still have poor mobile signal.
Ive just seen a programme with Michael Portillo about the Odeon.Apart from the Ballroom,the auditorium looks as if theres nothing left to conserve.
Terry, Yes that video of Gerald Shaw was uploaded by me.We are going to St Leonards in January to get it out of long term storage (ten years)The console and surround will be restored first externally so it can sit in front of the stage and garner interest(and money).The chambers have been cleared of defunct equipment and now need to be plastered ready for the organ. Adrian
The ABC Ipswich Wurlitzer organ will be restored and installed in the Plaza Waterloo(Crosby) cinema in Liverpool in 2019.
Early 2019 will see the start of the installation of a WurliTzer theatre organ installed back in the Plaza.The organ has previously been in the Ritz/ABC Ipswich and the Hollywood Plaza Scarborough.
Odeonesque, as Ken rightly says ,this was not the venue used for Brief Encounter.It was the Metropole Victoria but the two Wurlitzer organ consoles were very similar.Other consoles similar were at Granada Edmonton,Troxy Stepney and of course the Tower,Opera House and Empress ballroom in Blackpool.
As of June 2018,the local council who apparently own the building still (and leased to Northern Morris) are considering redeveloping the immediate area-including the cinema,saying its in poor condition externally.A poor show from the council,the building blends well with the others from the front .No doubt if it were a privately owned building they would have insisted in it being preserved!
Obviously the Compton doesnt fit in with IMC`s business plan!Shame on them.
Its Wurlitzer organ was removed in the 1930`s and reinstalled in the Metropole cinema in central London.In the sixties it was removed,provided with a new console(from the Troxy Stepney)and installed in Buckingham Town Hall.In the seventies that building became unsafe and the organ was removed to Worthing assembly hall and enlarged from ten to 23 ranks.It is still there now.
Wurlitzer organ was a three manual six rank instrument.Removed to a residence in Capel st Mary near Ipswich with an odd arrangement of the console in the house and the pipework in a building at the end of the garden.The organ was mic`d up and the sound fed through leslie speakers in the house.The owner then emigrated to South Africa but only took part of the organ with him.