Church Organ

You may have seen Michael Portillo on TV presenting a programme about train travel in U.K. and abroad. He is also a politician. However, did you know that his mother was Scottish and went to St Leonard’s School in St Andrews and his grandparents lived in Kirkcaldy?

 

His grandfather was John Waldegrave Blyth, a wealthy linen manufacturer and a lover of music and the arts. In fact he regularly played the organ in Dysart Church. He enjoyed playing the organ so much that he had one built in his house on Loughborough Road, Kirkcaldy. He chose a Harrison & Harrison organ made in Durham, one of the best in the country. Later he moved further along the road to Wilby House which is now a care home, and took the organ with him. Now, what has that to do with Crail?

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Well, in 1936 our church bought that organ and had it built into the eastern arch where you see it now. Professional organists love to play it, so it is regularly tuned and kept in good order.