Forest Church organ taken apart to tackle woodworm

Specialists Andrew Cooper and John Davey, of Andrew Cooper & Co, have been working on the organ since Monday.

The company is based in the Isle of Wight, but staff make frequent visits to the island as it cares for all but three of the church organs in Guernsey.

‘We come at least four times a year,’ said Mr Cooper.

‘We’ve got about 300 contracts all over the south of England and the Channel Islands, and have even travelled to places such as Gibraltar.’

The organ has about 500 pipes that needed to be taken out and cleaned. Mr Cooper said that the deconstruction process took a day.

‘There was woodworm scattered through the organ and it was quite bad in places, so we needed to take the organ apart completely in order to see everything. It would only get worse if left alone,’ Mr Cooper said, adding that the pipes were sticky as well due to aircraft pollution.

The pipes have been cleaned, and the timber is being inspected for further woodworm infestation and treated if needed, before the rest of the organ is cleaned.

‘It’s difficult to say how long it will take, because if you hit a snag then it could take a whole lot longer. It’s unquantifiable really, but we are hoping to be done sometime next week,’he said.

Mr Cooper has been repairing and building organs since 1979, and was inspired by watching an organ builder in his local church when he was young.

‘I used to go to church when I was a kid. I started playing the organ when I was 10, once my feet could reach the pedals. It’s something that has always been a part of my life,’ he said.

Mr Cooper said that the organ was built in Plymouth in the 1930s by a company called Hele & Co, and was transported to the island once it had been completed.

The same company also rebuilt the Elizabeth College and Town Church organs.

One of the pipes has a hand-drawn wreath on it, with a date of ‘8/5/45’ written next to it, the day before the Liberation of the Channel Islands.

Mr Cooper added that he thought this was the first time the organ had been completely de-constructed since 1970.

Forest Church rector the Rev. Claire Claxton said that this was the first time she had seen the organ treated for woodworm.

‘I’ve been here for five years, and I’ve only ever seen it being tuned, which happens four times a year.

'Hopefully this work means that the organ will be good for another 50 years,’ she said.