An historic moment on 19th June when Stephen Hall played the refurbished Bevington organ in Holy Trinity Church, Great Paxton!  Vicar Annette, organist David Weir and neighbour Ursula were all present at a social distance to hear the beautiful sounds of two hymns - 'Be Still for the Presence of the Lord' and 'In Christ Alone'.

After Stephen had played and there was some animated comments, David then stepped up to play 'All Things Bright & Beautiful'.

We look forward to inviting an audience to come to hear the organ played by local organists and give it a blessing.

Below is a video of Stephen playing:

Beginning on 1st June, the late 19th Century Bevington Organ in Great Paxton Church has been cleaned and refurbished.  The organ builders were able to commence work taking the necessary precautions and the Vicar stood at a distance to take pictures!

It is a pipe organ with a tracker action.  Originally there would have been a real organ blower - often a young person - but now the organ blower is an electronically charged turbine.  It supplies a steady stream of air to the organ.  We are very grateful to the donor who is making this project possible.  The work is being undertaken by Norman Hall and Sons based in Cambridge and in order to clean the organ they removed parts of organ including the pipes, key board and pedals.  A label was found inside the organ stating it was built in 1880 - earlier than we thought.  Could it have been given by the Towgood family from Paxton Hill House?  Another delivery label states it came from Rose Street in London (consistent with Bevington's premises) but unfortunately part of the label is missing which states who had ordered it.  We cane make out the word Hall on the far right corner - but if it was given by the Towgoods they lived at Paxton Hill House.  It would probably have come by train to St Neots, and then by cart/carriage to the Church.  The label reads Midland carriage.  It has been fascinating to see the various innards of this instrument and it has helped that the church is not currently being used at the moment as the workers can use the pews to lay the various parts out safely.

Hopefully in the near future we shall have a recital and hope lots of people will come to hear this charming antique instrument sing sweetly.

Below are two videos.  One of an interview with Charles Hall, who with his brother has been working on the organ, and the other of the Vicar's musings:

Here is the link to the very beautiful video of how the bells of Great Paxton Church were returned to Holy Trinity in the summer of 2018.  They had been refurbished by Taylor's of Loughborough with a new treble bell added to make a peal of 6 bells.  This project was made possible by the generosity of local donors and the National Lottery Fund with other grant making bodies.

With thanks to Chris Hall for producing this precious record of an amazing achievement.  Let's hope soon all six bells can ring out again with easing of lockdown restrictions.

Great Paxton Community Shop will remain open for four hours per day:

8am to 10am and 3pm to 5pm daily (Sun 8-10am).  This will limit the number of people serving.

We ask that only one customer at a time enters the shop.  Please stand off the ramp is a customer is already in the shop and wait for them to leave.  If there are any customers already waiting - please stand 2 metres apart.  We ask you to wash your hands before you enter the shop.

We are still accepting telephone orders (218624) between 9am and 12 Noon for those who cannot get to the shop - but bear with us.  We will do all we can to fulfil your orders and have them ready for collection or delivery during the 3-5pm shift.

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