A NEW organ was blessed at St Nicholas Church in North Bradley with a service attended by the Bishop of Ramsbury on Sunday.

The organ was put in place towards the end of last year after a donation of £7,500 from Joan Hunt, a former churchgoer who wanted to have a new organ in place for her grandson’s wedding.

The 93-year-old sadly died before the wedding but churchgoers have been enjoying the sounds of the electronic organ at weekly services and on Sunday evening officially blessed it with a well-attended service, led by the Rt Rev Dr Edward Condry.

Parishioner Peter Hunt, son of Mrs Hunt, said: “It was a lovely service and the musical aspect was really nice.

“Mum and dad would have been very proud had they been watching on.

“After leading the service the Bishop placed one of his hands on the organ and said the appropriate words to make his blessing.

“At evensong there’s usually only five or six people but on Sunday there were around 60 people, which was amazing to see.

“Edward Condry was very impressed with our healthy choir, which is quite unusual for village churches these days, and that we had the organ to accompany them.

“He seemed very happy with the whole service; it was great to have him there.”

Mrs Hunt's husband, Jack, was a bell-ringer at the church for the majority of his life and the couple were well known in the village. He died just weeks after Joan, aged 96.