THE mission to bring a grand new organ to High House Chapel in Upper Weardale was similar to that journey taken by John Wesley 250 years ago.

The organ was a legacy from the crowd disaster at the Victoria Hall in Sunderland, in June, 1883, which trapped and killed 183 children.

A year later, after being inspected by Weardale musicians Thomas Dawson and Peter Walton, the rare CJ Vincent organ was bought by the chapel's trustees for an unknown price.

There then followed a tortuous journey to transport it to High House.

For 16 years, before he suffered from ill health, Robert Milburn, a retired professor of botany, was the unofficial guardian of the organ, lovingly restoring it like the clocks he has surrounded himself with at his home near Ireshopeburn.

Dismantling the organ in Sunderland and transporting it to Ireshopeburn must have been "a slow and laborious business", said Professor Milburn.

It first travelled by rail through Bishop Auckland to Stanhope. Then, as John Wesley first came to the dale on horseback, the organ was transported by horse and carriage to its present resting place at High House.

It was a remarkable achievement in those days, said Prof Milburn, and prompted a great upsurge in Methodism.

The organ was built by CJ Vincent at its musical instrument warehouse in Bridge Street, Sunderland. The company boasted "exceptional facilities for selecting the finest qualities of wood and by casting their own metal, they can always guarantee quality and substance".

Professor Milburn said the advent of the grand Vincent organ, with its 620 pipes, provided congregations with their "first proper musical accompaniment".

Before that a single instrument, such as a clarinet, acted as a pitch pipe for the first line of a hymn.

The organ's arrival at High House also prompted the drawing up by the trustees of some quaint and archaic rules governing its use.

An extract from these reads: "The trustees appoint Mr William Heatherington and Mr Thomas Dawson as organists on equal terms, who are requested to take their turns of playing under the direction of Mr Thomas Watson, the Choir Master.

"No one else but the two appointed as above have any permission from the Trustees to play or practise upon the organ and no person whatsoever shall be permitted to do so without the express permission of the Trustees' Meeting."

These rules, said Prof Milburn with wry humour, still - strictly speaking - apply today.

Sadly, because of ill health, Prof Milburn has not been able to play the High House organ for three years.

But he will view with deep satisfaction the great part it will play in this weekend's 250th anniversary celebrations at the chapel.

Thorn tree marks site of first meeting

A GNARLED old thorn tree in a walled garden outside High House Chapel remains as a permanent testament to John Wesley's first visit to Weardale.

According to contemporary reports, a group of about 35 "lively people" met at Hotts - now the site of the chapel - to hear Wesley preach for the first time near the tree. The Methodist missionary was to preach there several times to growing congregations.

But in 1893, the fate of the thorn tree hung in the balance because of plans to uproot it to make way for a railway line extension.

Such was the groundswell of protest from outraged residents that the railway board even agreed to re-route the railway line around the tree.

Until 1969, there were two thorn trees near the chapel, until one was cut down.

A memorial plaque, reading "John Wesley preached in the vicinity of this tree", was placed near the remains of the second tree "in the pretty garden behind the level crossing keeper's house".

David Heatherington, of the Weardale Museum, believes there is no evidence to prove which tree Wesley first preached beneath all those years ago.

Meanwhile, a new tree has now grown from the stump of the original thorn tree which, along with the memorial plaque, is maintained by Wear Valley District Council.