Above is a picture of the organ console, and the organ is a well travelled one!
After being removed from Southport's Grand Cinema in the early 1960's, the organ spent some years in Cheetham Hill Methodist Church. When that building closed, the organ was re-installed in an organ studio at Darcy Lever, outside Bolton. Then, after a few years, it moved again to an organ studio in Hyde, Cheshire. In 1985, it was moved to Chorley Town Hall, where for 20 years it played
for audiences at concert and dances. In 2006, Chorley Council decided that they no longer wanted an organ in their building, the the instrument was once again on the move - although this time to storage.
WeLCOT is a group of enthusiasts who are working to return the organ to the Southport area, so that once again it can entertain audiences in Lancashire.
Fund raising dances (50:50 ballroom and sequence) are held at St Stephen's Institute & Club in Banks, near Southport, on eight Friday evenings throughout the year. Please come along and join us.
The committee of the Trust are working hard to save one of the area's last cinema organs (there were originally three in Southport),
and give it a home back in Lancashire. If you know of a sizeable hall that might be willing to install an organ, please let us know!
WeLCOT is looking forward to the time when this unique form of music can once again entertain local people.
The cinema organ
In the early 1900's, silent movies were accompanied by a pianist, or in larger cinemas, by a small orchestra. In these larger buildings, the cinema owners needed an alternative to cover for the orchestra when the musicians took their break. Cinema organs were specially designed to mimic traditional orchestral instruments, and were loud enough to fill the auditorium and replace the orchestra - there were no PA systems in those days. When 'talkies' came along in the late 1920's, the orchestras were disbanded, but the organs remained as a feature, to play music during the sales intervals.
The organs were so popular that, during the 1930's, the BBC used to broadcast music played on the cinema organ virtually every day - indeed they had their own cinema organ in London. The most famous cinema organ is in Blackpool Tower's famous ballroom, and is still used today to entertain visiting holiday-makers.