Stockport Plaza Open Day

[Dave Stubbs]

The Stockport Plaza theatre had an open day on May 12th.

It is one of only a few Art Deco period theatres in the UK and dates from 1932.

The theatre is one of only three in the UK with its original Compton organ.

In fact the organ is an integral part of the buildings 'listed' status - so this gives the organ maintainers a headache, because they have to try and preserve the original 1930s components!

The original Compton Parkinson motor driving a Discus blower and 12 volt generator.

Ranks (and ranks) of pipes!

The Percussion section

Ian Goodwin showing one of the new 16' tibia pipes, which he hopes will be installed eventually!

Original Compton electromagnets still operate the organ!

Each pipe requires its own magnet!

The windings of the magnet can be seen on the right side
This operates a ventil mechanism to activate a pallet (shown below)

Even the wiring is vintage!

One of the organ manual relay boxes.

These magnets are connected to the 'Tabs' on the organ.

The label is original: note the date!

Panoramic views of the theatre (use the scrollbar to pan across):

Regards,

Dave Stubbs

[George Houghton]

What fantastic pictures Dave.
The people concerned in the restoration of such a unique Theatre are to be congratulated for their dedication.
I hope that they can get enough interest from the public to make all their hard work worthwhile.
It is a pity that some TV company can't make a 30 minute programme showing the Theatre and the Organ being played, similar to the Fred Dibner Heritage series, it would be better than some of the rubbish they televise.
Regards
George.
_________________
Dont despair. (Moses was once a basket case)