Four of the seven winners were from Otterburn First School, and author Anne Curtis visited the school to read the story to the children, answer questions and present the winners with certificates. She also visited Bellingham First School in the afternoon to do a similar workshop.
The competition was launched earlier this year after the Horsley Organ Restoration Project received a £201,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant to restore a Nelson organ at Holy Trinity Church in Horsley.
As part of the grant, an educational project was set up which included a children’s book called Phwoot, written and illustrated by Anne.
The story tells the tale of organ-eating mice who invade an old organ and cause mayhem. It is based on real life events, as the church used to rely on old harmoniums, donated by the congregation, which were progressively eaten by mice, causing the organ’s sound to get worse.
The four winners who received certificates at Otterburn First School were: Noah Kellie, who called his mouse Archie; Erin Kellie, with her mouse Evie; Teagan Rideau, with Freddy and Nina Dickinson with mouse Cheesee.
David Walmsley, heritage and education activities co-ordinator for the Horsley Organ Project, said: “The idea of the competition was to get children involved and give them an insight of how an organ works from the inside.
“Anne was very good at engaging the children at the school. Not only did she read the story, but she acted it out too, and it was lovely to see how mesmerised the children were by a story about an old organ.”
Anne said: “It was a lovely little project to work on and I’m very proud of how it makes children laugh.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here