In the autumn of 2006 there was no room for an overflow congregation in the small chapel of Low Row United Reformed Church in Swaledale. The gallery was full of organ pipes - and the organ gallery was a empty space!
As reported on an earlier news page on this site, the 1924 Roy Huntingford organ was undergoing a total rebuild - thanks to generous grants and private donations, and a great deal of organisation undertaken by the late Dr Clive Preece.
The work was completed just in time for Christmas - which was as well, as the gallery was certainly required for the Christmas Eve village carol service.
However, the church waited for a suitable occasion to celebrate. They chose the annual Smarber Weekend at the beginning of May, when the origins of dissenting Christianity in the Dale are marked by an open-air service in the ruins of the old Smarber chapel on the fellside.
On the Saturday evening a host of local talent presented a full and varied concert to a chapel that was packed to the seams. Obviously the organ had central place in the programme - and the organisers (ie the organists, Duncan Blythell and George Lundberg) had cunningly arranged to include some of the pieces that had been played in the original service of dedication in 1924.
Perhaps most moving of all the church secretary Edward Brown was able to welcome to Norman Huntingford, son of the original builder, who was present with his family.
A full account of the concert, as originally pubished in the Northern Echo, is now available on the Low Row website.