WESTERN ORGAN ARRIVES IN CONTAINERS

Friday October 22, 1999

The new pipe organ for St Mary's Cathedral was one step closer to physical fruition as it arrived in two containers. The containers were loaded from the wharver onto two trucks on Thursday 21 October. As the containers would need to be lifted from the trucks onto the grounds of the Cathedral by crane, the council allowed for this to occur in the early hours of Friday morning. So, by 4am, a few people had arrived to witness the unloading. It took over an hour for the first container to be put in place due to the underestimated weight of the container at the wharves. Botany Cranes, who were responsible for the lift from the trucks to the cathedral grounds, didn't take their chances on the second container and called for counterweights to be added to the crane. The organ builders however were busily unpacking the first container, even as the second was being spun in the air - there was no time to lose. It was after 9am when the second container was put in place adjacent to the first, and it turned out to be a few tonnes lighter than the first!

The second container being put to the ground a little after 9am on a picture perfect morning.

By 11am, the crane had moved into the Cathedral Carpark to lift a "scissor lift" into the cathedral. The scissor lift will move the pipes from the ground of the cathedral to the new western gallery. Also to be used is an old pulley style system for some lifting. While the lifting of the containers and scissor lift took a few hours more than expected, it was still a fascinating and exciting experience being witness to the first stages of a new organ that will undoubtedly serve the Cathedral for hundreds of years.