the fire extinguisher issue

One Friday evening in September 2006 I arrived as usual to set up for our Friday choir practice. I noticed that everywhere seemed considerably more dusty that usual, but didn't think a great deal more about it. When the boys began to arrive - and play in the Nave as they usually did - it became obvious that something out of the ordinary had happened. The boys had left footprints along the aisles, and the pews were covered in a fine grey dust. It transpired that during the afternoon some boys had come into the church and decided, as a prank, to let off the fire extinguishers. What no-one had realised was that the Chubb powder fire extinguishers contained a substance that was highly corrosive to metal, and also affected stone surfaces - particularly if mixed with water. From CCTV footage it appeared that the boys had run up and down the church firing the extinguishers up into the air, into the organ, and near the screen. The result made the church look like a bomb had gone off.

The vicar, Rev Tim Barker, called the architect, Helen Weatherill, and together they surveyed the scene of devastation. In the meantime, that evening we held our rehearsal in the adjacent church hall. Due to a wedding due to take place the following day, professional cleaners worked throughout the night to clean off as much dust as possible so that the wedding, and the Sunday services, could go ahead that weekend as normal.

We were then informed that the church would have to be closed and every surface cleaned to prevent further damage. The church became a building site whilst scaffolding was erected, and hundreds of planks scattered throughout the building. The organ would have to be dismantled - and all 3000 pipes removed, and every surface cleaned. Everything in the choir vestry had to be removed - and the Green Room (the upper room in the church hall) became our choir 'vestry' for the next six months.

All choir rehearsals had to held in the church hall, and due to the extensive scaffolding throughout the church, Sunday services could only be held in a very confined space in front of the screen. The chancel and organ were out of use, and lighting was provided by workmen's industrial lights strung across the scaffolding. The services had to be accompanied on the piano, and the choir had to sit on chairs - processing in via the North door from the church hall. This worked reasonably well apart from occasions when it poured with rain and we all got wet walking across from the hall to the church.

With permission, the choir boys and men were allowed to climb to the top of the scaffolding - with adult supervision - to see the view from the top!

The limited space for singing meant that it was pointless recruiting any more boys to the choir in 2006, and the number of boys dropped to its lowest level - of just 11. Everyone thought that this period in time might mark the end of our choir as we knew it, but those who were there resolved to get everything back to normal as soon as possible - and a recruitment campaign in 2007 brought in 14 new boys, and increased the number of boys to 25.

Once all high level cleaning had been completed, the scaffolding was removed, the organ re-instated, and everything returned to normal. By March 2007 normal services resumed - and at least the church was as clean as it ever had been!

What had started as a prank one afternoon caused an enormous amount of cleaning work - at great expense - to be carried out over a four-month period.