Organ bows out at St Mary's
By VIC PIERCE-JONES A SAD farewell, touching on the lives of several generations of Hayling Islanders, took place at St Mary's Church on May 2.
It was the last service featuring the Bevington organ which has been at the heart of the musical life of the church for 110 years.
The departure draws to a close the pageant of weddings, funerals and musical liturgy which has supported spiritual life in the parish from the Victorian era, through the stresses of two world wars and the challenges of the post-war world.
The organ was played for the occasion by Hayling virtuoso organist, Jonathan Bunney, who added four specially-selected classical solos, demonstrating the scope of the instrument for the last time on Hayling.
For the record, the last flourish was the profound grandeur of Nimrod, from Elgar's Enigma Variations.
Former pupil of The Hayling College, Jonathan is currently organist at St Giles in the Fields, in London's Tottenham Court Road, and is due to take his Master's Degree this June.
Adding even more colour to the music were trumpet sequences by Lizz Warmsley, Islander and former pupil of Oaklands School.
Pauline Clothier, the church choirmaster, writes that the organ was manufactured by Bevington and Sons of Manette Street, London, and was a gift to the church from the then Lord of the Manor of Hayling, C J Park.
It was transported to Hayling by rail and inaugurated on July 12, 1900, by Professor Fowles FRCO, who played selections from Mendelssohn, Weber, J S Bach and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.
Since then the organ was refurbished in 1969 and 1989.
The farewell event was part of a service with a larger scope because it marked the closure of the church interior while a reordering takes place.
In the words of the Vicar, the Rev Paul Ginever, the aim is to make the 13th century Priory Church warmer, brighter, more welcoming, and, in the modern idiom, more "user-friendly" to attract larger and younger congregations.
He paid tribute to the organists who had served the church over the years particularly, in recent times, the late Margaret Slater.
The service was attended by the Mayor of Havant, Cllr Jackie Branson, escorted by Hayling's retired county councillor Ted Gale, former Mayor of Havant and current county councillor, Frank Pearce with Mrs Sheila Pearce, former Havant Mayors and borough councillors John Smith with Mrs Smith and Cllr Vic Pierce Jones, plus Church dignitaries and Churches Together well wishers.
It was concluded by a procession through the great East door to the church hall for a celebratory high tea.
This move was seen as introducing the phase when services will be in the hall while work on the interior is going on.
The future of the organ was not certain as the Islander went to press, but it is undestood there has been an enquiry from France.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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