“If we had 50 people or a coachload every week coming to the concerts the balance sheets would stay nice and stable.”
The Wurlitzer organ at the Eccles concert venue and heritage centre run by the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust. (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
A cultural gem in a backstreet is on the brink of closure.
The Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust’s Heritage Centre in Alexandra Road, Peel Green, Eccles, keeps alive the mighty sound of the Wurlitzer as well as being custodians of precious artefacts.
It is housed in a 100-year-old former Methodist Sunday School building but is a link to a type of music which once enthralled audiences in Britain and the US.
Each Wednesday throughout the year, it stages concerts in the afternoon with artists using two rare organs which the Trust owns.
The centre opened in 2006 after a four-year refurbishment and is a mock-up of a a 1920s theatre from the days when cinema organs rose from the pit and the music accompanied silent movies with their ability to mimic many instruments.
But dwindling numbers attending the concerts and an urgent need for more volunteers and new blood to run it has put its future in jeopardy.
Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust, The centre is in danger of closing due to dwindling aundience numbers, and a shortage of volunteers
Picture Jason Roberts / Manchester Evening News(Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
The trustees have taken a decision to close the centre at the end of this year after a final concert in December “unless things change”.
The organisation’s secretary, Ron Whalley, has said there is a glimmer of hope it may survive, however.
“We run weekly concerts which went well until Covid when we had to stop for 18 months. When we started again the audience numbers had dropped,” he said.
The Wurlitzer organ which is still entertaining audiences in Eccles(Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
“We are still, just about balancing the books. The numbers coming to the concerts vary from 30 to 60. Most of our clients tend to be older and have grandparent duties too.
“We have people from overseas coming to see us because we are not only a theatre but a museum. We have artefacts relating to Rober Hope-Jones which the Americans who have visited go ape over.
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“We used to have a good number of volunteers but we have lost many, as they have died or moved away. The running of the centre has been left largely to the trustees.
“This is not just a matter of opening up on a Wednesday and operating the lights and the catering, but the business management of it too. It can be seven days a week trying to grant aid and working with the Charity Commission.
The former Methodist Sunday School which is home to the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust and its heritage centre (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
“Unfortunately the trustees themselves are getting older and two are retiring because of other commitments. There are fewer and fewer of us trying to do more work. We did a reality check and we can only see a slow gradual decline unless we can get some major assistance. What we are really missing is someone who is good at marketing.
“If we had 50 people or a coachload every week coming to the concerts the balance sheets would stay nice and stable. We need new blood too to take up the roles of trustees and volunteers. It is cinema in miniature and the jobs are for stage management, sound video mixing, and maintenance of the building.
“We took the decision that if nothing happened it would be sensible to shut at the end of the year. But we are open to suggestions. Our ex Manchester Odeon Wurlitzer which is in Stockport Town Hall is being extensively rebuilt, but will not be ready until March next year. If trustees are in agreement we may carry on until then.
An audience enjoying the mighty Wurlitzer organ at Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust’s 1920s style auditorium in Eccles this week(Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
“We are preserving technology and equipment from yesteryear and providing entertainment.”
The trust was formed in October 1968 by a small group of enthusiasts who met to discuss ways to preserve the 4/20 Wurlitzer pipe organ in the Odeon Theatre, formerly the Paramount Theatre in Manchester.
During the years that followed regular concerts and shows were presented at the Odeon and also at the Gaumont, with its 4/14 Wurlitzer, featuring famous British and overseas artists, The LTOT produced over 24 LPs during this period and launched the career of many young organists including Nigel Ogden and David Shepherd.
Its auditorium can seat 90 people and it houses a 2/6 Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, originally from the Trocadero Cinema in Liverpool – one of the first to come to the UK.
It also has the first theatre organ museum in Britain, including exhibits relating to the work of Cheshire-born Robert Hope-Jones, who became “the father” of the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ after moving to the US and working for the company. The centre also has the ex-Davenport Theatre, Stockport, Compton organ installed in 2017.
Walter Baker, chairman of the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
Chris Lawton, from Bolton, who is organist at Eccles Parish Church, has launched an online petition to save the centre.
He said: “I think it could be saved if they embrace new ideas. For Greater Manchester it is a vital piece of heritage. For the organ world generally it is important internationally.
“The person who came with the idea for a cinema organ was Robert Hope-Jones. He adapted the church organ to make it more suitable for entertainment and they have artefacts on him – historically it is vital.
“In my opinion, the decision to close after so much time and effort and work has gone into this venue is hasty. The reasons for closure are apparently declining audiences, increasing costs and lack of volunteers. I strongly believe these are obstacles that can be overcome with some imagination.
Chris Lawton, organist at Eccles Parish Church, who is adamant that the organ heritage centre in the town can be saved.
“I am calling on the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust to reverse this decision immediately or – at the very least – give it another year. Greater Manchester is home to some very popular historic attractions such as the Museum of Science and Industry, the East Lancashire Railway, Greater Manchester Museum of Transport, to name just a few.
“These are all popular venues and I see no reason why the Theatre Organ Heritage Centre can’t be just as popular.”
Weekly concerts are held at the centre every Wednesday at 1pm featuring well known and local artists. The Trust also presents concerts at Stockport Town Hall.