Owned by The Cowell Family.
Filmed at the MOOS AGM which took place at The Cowell Family’s Collection in Preston, Lancashire.
The organ was once owned by organ renter Ceulemans in Schoten and later by Frans Peys in Zammel (Geel) it was equipped with a so called reed box which was later removed.
In the 1930's the organ was modernised with an accordian and other things. In 1948 the instrument was accquired by Jean Caluwert in Brussels.
In the 1950's and 1960's he had several records of the organ produced first a 78rpm and later 45rpm records. Two LP's were recorded in 1968 which sold well and made the organ widely known. On the LP the organ is accomplained by a drummer and an accordianist.
The organ was named "Madeleine" after the recording studio of the same name in Brussels. In 1972 the instrument was sold to England where it was mounted on a trailer. It was then on loan to the Leyland Commercial Museum by Mr Webster. After Webster's death the organ was bought by The Cowell Family and organ restorer David Burville had done regular restoration work and tuning since then.
The facade has had some alterations in the past and the bandmaster isn't original.
I have very special memories of this organ as it was the first instrument I ever saw as a child which got me interested in mechanical organs without this I wouldn’t know what a mechanical organ is.
It certainly was sounding amazing that day after some work by David Burville before the day. Took me back to the time when I was younger watching it play at Grimsargh Field Day with the Cowell's steam engine next to it.
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