This is a little picture of “Shaharazad”, a mechanical organ owned by Boz Oram.
Today we went to Crofton Beam Engines with the Aldbrickham Clog & Step Dancers, to dance at their end of season gala. There were some vintage cars, a few different steam engines and this mechanical organ. (And the enormous beam engines, of course.)
It was very loud, but we stood and listened to it for ages, and I eventually plucked up the courage to be a little bit cheeky and ask Boz if I could have a look inside.
Oh my goodness, it was AWESOME.
Boz showed me all the cards of music, and how they fed through, and explained how he makes them (he makes them himself!) and I was gutted to have to run away after only a few minutes because it was time for me to play the recorder again.
It was absolutely mesmerising to watch the wheel turning and the holes in the cards slowly moving along – I was surprised how quickly I could read the holes, and understand what the music was going to do next.
When I run away and join the circus, I’m definitely going to have a mechanical organ. (And some earplugs. Very loud!)
I had an absolutely fabulous day. Apparently I’m even more of an Industrial Revolution nerd than I’d thought.