John (Johnny) Warr, the most cherished member of the Shires team, died on February 3, 2026 after a short illness and was laid to rest in March. He was 87. All who knew John knew him to be honest, loyal and straight-talking man. When he talked, people listened as he always had something interesting to say. He started working at FJ Rogers in Bramley, Leeds, in 1954 aged 15, making church organ pipes. Harold Marshall who owned the firm at the time knew John’s father and offered

Our workshop has been extremely busy in the run up to Easter and the latest organ pipes to be made are two new reeds: a Corno di Bassetto 16ft and Clarion 4ft. The Corno has zinc resonators in the bass octave, the remainder is all spotted metal. Our experienced pipemakers love making reeds, so if you have a new or restoration organ project in mind, please get in touch.

These are the new 8ft Principal front pipes we have made for a new continuo organ destined for St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The instrument is being built by Jennings Organs and Harpsichords of Dorset. It have three stops: our Principal of 80% tin, plus an 8 ft Stopped Wood and a 4ft Chimney Flute, both handmade by our good friend, Robin Jennings, a true craftsman. The case, illustrated here, will be finished to blend in with the choir stalls.

Besides making and repairing organ pipes, cleaning them is another of our specialist skills. Were were asked by a church in Leeds if we would brush up these spotted metal Open Diapasons and replace the old tuning slides. We tried cleaning one pipe first to see how it compared. When we were satisfied with the result, we progressed to the others. We were pleased with the result – and so was our customer!

We have completed the display pipes for the new organ in Bedford School Chapel being constructed by William Drake Organ Builders. They are composed of 80% tin and the start and finish of the work – from the mouth width marked on the body to pipes wrapped for dispatch – can be seen here. Organ builder Kelvin Deeming-Kent, now working in America, says in a post: 'The finest flue pipes made in the UK and I have no hesitation in saying so. Always a joy to see progress pictures!'

Many of our customers believe that our renowned colleague and restoration expert, George Fowler, is as much a magician as a pipe maker....

We are pleased to have supplied the metal flue and reed pipes for the exciting organ being built by our friends William Drake in the...

Terry Doyle, above, uses a mandrill to shape pipes – 330 of them – for a V-VI rank mixture of 80 per cent tin destined for an organ...

Chris Shires rolling metal for the replica pipes destined for Gloucester Cathedral James Atherton, head voicer at Nicholson's, shows one...

Here is Terry Doyle making decorative gift pipes for our stock. He is following a standard pattern, but others can be made to order. This...

Here's a Tuba 8 ft destined for an instrument in America. It features Skinner scales and shallots in the same style. We are specialists...

Here are some before and after pictures of repairs carried out on a 16ft Waldhorn from the Victoria Hall, Hanley. Originally named a...

We are delighted to be involved in a new project for our friends at William Drake, organ builders. They have been commissioned to build a...

In the video below, Chris Shires demonstrates how burnishers are used at Shires Organ Pipes to make pipes perfectly round. Soap and...

A customer asked us to make three new pipes for an existing Tierce to adjust the scale of the rank. Upon investigation we found that our...

We are delighted to see our facade pipes in their full glory on a new two-manual, mechanical action organ. It has been built by Mander...

It's satisfying to see our work in place and a pleasure to have worked together with our colleagues at Wallace Pipe Organs in Maine, USA....

We have now completed the decorative Open Diapason facade pipes for Mander Organ Builders who are building a new two-manual instrument in...

Organ builder Nick Adams asked us to repair these bent Conacher Salicional pipes from St John's Church, Canton, in Cardiff. They acquired...

Ryan Luckey, vice president of the Nebraska-based Bedient Pipe Organ Company, asked us to make a four foot Octave of 73 notes to...