In the summer of 2019 we moved and repaired the ca1890 Peter Conacher organ from St Michaels and All Angels Hudswell, near Richmond in North Yorkshire (where the church has been made redundant) to St Patrick Bradford. The organ was made for Kirby Malzeard Methodist Church, and moved to Hudswell in 1934, according to newspaper used in re-adjusting the bearers of the wind chest. In August 2019 it was re-installed in St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church Bradford. The church is in the diocese of Leeds whose Bishop Marcus Stock is determined to expand the mission and teaching of the Church https://www.stpatricksmission.co.uk/about. As a result this church has stayed open and is administered by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal https://www.cfrfranciscans.co.uk/about
The organ was moved to its new home on the initiative of Dr. John Rowntree. It needed little work doing, apart from the pedalboard (which was falling to pieces) and the pedal key action turning machine (to take the action through 90º to treble and bass chests). The treble side needed new panelling, and the back, and the blower was moved from the side to the back of the organ.
It is a single manual and pedal organ, with Open Diapason, Stopped Diapason, Dulciana, Principal and Fifteenth, and a Pedal Lieblich Bourdon. There is a coupler ‘Pedals to Keys’ and a balanced swell pedal (altered in 1934 by ‘C.H.Hopes’). The pitch is A449.6 @ 18ºC, the tuning equal temperament. The wind pressure is 75mm (3 inches). The organ was numbered 958 in 1890. The Fifteenth was stamped with 1252 as well, perhaps the 1934 move. The manual keyboard was made by ‘Sebright + Clark’.
