Regent St Cinema

This delightful small Compton cinema organ has been under the company's care for over 10 years - initially made playable under a project for our previous incarnation HWS Associates LLP, and more recently further works and ongoing care as Taylor-Hammond Associates Ltd. The organ had been unplayable for some 20 years prior to our being involved and was in a sorry state when we first saw it in 2005. The initial main works back then constituted a programme of re-leathering, repairing pipe damage, installing a new main cable, extensive cleaning, new electrics for the blower and the console refurbished. Subsequent works in 2014 included installation of a multiplexer, respraying the console again to suit new decor in the cinema and other general works.

The cinema building started life as the Marlborough Hall of the London Polytechnic and was the place where the first ever film show was given in 1896 by the Lumiere Brothers. It went on to be a cinema in its own right and the organ was installed in 1936. Later years saw the building again become a lecture hall in the now University, and again full circle to a public cinema in 2014. The organ is a 2/6 Compton with Tibia, Tuba, Vox, Violin, Diapason and Flute, plus Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Chimes and traps in a single chamber at the rear of the stage. It is thought that although the chamber contents were probably new in 1936, the console probably came from the Carlton Norwich. It is of an earlier design than would be typical of 1936 and it's known that the Carlton changed its console just prior to that.