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"shire" Concertina Makers.


Anglogeezer

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I came across the following advert today in an old copy of "ENGLISH DANCE and SONG, 1978" which was (and still is) the quarterly magazine of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

I've never heard of this make before and thought I'd post this snippet before the magazine goes to be re-cycled!!

It may one day be helpful to somebody!!

 

regards Jake

 

*****************************************************************

SHIRE

Concertina makers, tuners

and repairers

 

Chrome plated metal ends

Nickel Silver buttons

Black 6 fold leather bellows

Reeds individually clamped in single frames

 

5 year guarantee

1st re-tuning free

 

36 key Anglo £220.00 (Brit isles only)

48 key English £250.00 (Brit Isles only)

 

For further information :-

John Timpany, 3 Chequers Lane,

Grendon

Northants

**************************************************************************

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Many years ago I did buy a C/G Shire Anglo Concertina direct from the maker and I have to say that it was something of a disappointment. It was sold on to a morris friend at a greatly reduced price. My friend later moved away from the area, so I don't know if he still has the instrument.

 

Chas

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  • 4 weeks later...

Wasn't Shire Concertinas John Timpany (who also performed as a duo with Audrey Smith, if memory serves me)? I heard he got a fair dollop of government money as a start-up before the business went bellows-up. I encountered a Shire G/D for sale second hand once. It wasn't a bad concertina - better than anything with accordion reeds at the time (I'm talking about 1996) - but not one to get at all enthusiastic about.

 

Chris

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  • 4 weeks later...
I came across the following advert today in an old copy of "ENGLISH DANCE and SONG, 1978" which was (and still is) the quarterly magazine of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

I've never heard of this make before and thought I'd post this snippet before the magazine goes to be re-cycled!!

It may one day be helpful to somebody!!

 

regards Jake

 

*****************************************************************

SHIRE

Concertina makers, tuners

and repairers

 

Chrome plated metal ends

Nickel Silver buttons

Black 6 fold leather bellows

Reeds individually clamped in single frames

 

5 year guarantee

1st re-tuning free

 

36 key Anglo £220.00 (Brit isles only)

48 key English £250.00 (Brit Isles only)

 

For further information :-

John Timpany, 3 Chequers Lane,

Grendon

Northants

**************************************************************************

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I was interested to read the recent exchanges concerning Shire Concertinas.

 

Around 1978, following a visit and chat with Geoff Crabb at Liverpool Road I eventually opted to place an order for a 36 key C/G Anglo with John Timpany of Shire Concertinas. I paid a couple of visits to his Grendon workshop during the course of it's construction. On calling back to collect the finished instrument it was sadly apparent that all was not well and that John and his fledgeling business were being hounded from their attractive little village workshop by an unsympathetic landlord. John told me that his next project was to be the construction of a Hurdy Gurdy, leaving me wondering if perhaps my instrument was the last Concertina that he was to produce.

 

My Shire is a handsome, well built instrument with very pleasant tone and action.....a fine example of hand craftsmanship and I have always treated it with appropriate respect. I have had endless pleasure over the last thirty years busking by ear entirely for my own amusement Never has the expenditure of £220 provided me with greater pleasure and satisfaction.

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My Shire is a handsome, well built instrument with very pleasant tone and action.....a fine example of hand craftsmanship and I have always treated it with appropriate respect. I have had endless pleasure over the last thirty years busking by ear entirely for my own amusement Never has the expenditure of £220 provided me with greater pleasure and satisfaction.

A picture would be interesting Rod, I'd not heard of Shire concertinas before and it would be nice to see one.

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My Shire is a handsome, well built instrument with very pleasant tone and action.....a fine example of hand craftsmanship and I have always treated it with appropriate respect. I have had endless pleasure over the last thirty years busking by ear entirely for my own amusement Never has the expenditure of £220 provided me with greater pleasure and satisfaction.

A picture would be interesting Rod, I'd not heard of Shire concertinas before and it would be nice to see one.

I have now taken some digital snapshots but have yet to fathom out how to transmit them. (Something I have never done before)

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My Shire is a handsome, well built instrument with very pleasant tone and action.....a fine example of hand craftsmanship and I have always treated it with appropriate respect. I have had endless pleasure over the last thirty years busking by ear entirely for my own amusement Never has the expenditure of £220 provided me with greater pleasure and satisfaction.

A picture would be interesting Rod, I'd not heard of Shire concertinas before and it would be nice to see one.

post-6561-1203256098_thumb.jpg

post-6561-1203256132_thumb.jpg

post-6561-1203256148_thumb.jpg

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My Shire is a handsome, well built instrument with very pleasant tone and action.....a fine example of hand craftsmanship and I have always treated it with appropriate respect. I have had endless pleasure over the last thirty years busking by ear entirely for my own amusement Never has the expenditure of £220 provided me with greater pleasure and satisfaction.

A picture would be interesting Rod, I'd not heard of Shire concertinas before and it would be nice to see one.

Insofar as I can tell the pictures have probably now been transmitted .....but all three are now upside down. They are lousy pictures that do not give the instrument full justice. I shall have another go at the whole operation later but I have had more than enough for now.

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My Shire is a handsome, well built instrument with very pleasant tone and action.....a fine example of hand craftsmanship and I have always treated it with appropriate respect. I have had endless pleasure over the last thirty years busking by ear entirely for my own amusement Never has the expenditure of £220 provided me with greater pleasure and satisfaction.

A picture would be interesting Rod, I'd not heard of Shire concertinas before and it would be nice to see one.

Insofar as I can tell the pictures have probably now been transmitted .....but all three are now upside down. They are lousy pictures that do not give the instrument full justice. I shall have another go at the whole operation later but I have had more than enough for now.

 

You got the job done, not bad for a first try. And we get to see the instrument. I understand you want it to be perfect, after all, that is why we become concertina players.

 

Alan

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My Shire is a handsome, well built instrument with very pleasant tone and action.....a fine example of hand craftsmanship and I have always treated it with appropriate respect. I have had endless pleasure over the last thirty years busking by ear entirely for my own amusement Never has the expenditure of £220 provided me with greater pleasure and satisfaction.

A picture would be interesting Rod, I'd not heard of Shire concertinas before and it would be nice to see one.

Insofar as I can tell the pictures have probably now been transmitted .....but all three are now upside down. They are lousy pictures that do not give the instrument full justice. I shall have another go at the whole operation later but I have had more than enough for now.

 

You got the job done, not bad for a first try. And we get to see the instrument. I understand you want it to be perfect, after all, that is why we become concertina players.

 

Alan

Thanks for your encouragement Alan. The original digital photos were not too bad but we opted to scan the prints into the computer. I guess we would have got better quality had we transferred the images direct from camera memory card to computer. It's a case of the blind leading the blind at present and we have a lot to learn. I shall have another go some time but I had reached a stage where I was beginning to use language which would be unacceptable in polite society.

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I know its a bit off topic but John Timpanny wrote some super songs. We still sing "Whistling Jacket" which is about the folk tale that a Hare will be bemused by a man whistling thinking that is his jacket. I have tried to contact him but the phone no. isnt working

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I know its a bit off topic but John Timpanny wrote some super songs. We still sing "Whistling Jacket" which is about the folk tale that a Hare will be bemused by a man whistling thinking that is his jacket. I have tried to contact him but the phone no. isnt working

 

Here are some better quality photos of my 'Shire' 36 key C/G Anglo......worth enlarging a little and printing out onto good quality gloss photo paper. When visiting John in 1978 I would hear his singing from the workshop as I stepped from my car in Checquers Lane !post-6561-1203508950_thumb.jpgpost-6561-1203508803_thumb.jpgpost-6561-1203508990_thumb.jpg

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