MOST of us are hoping for Spring to finally arrive with warm sunny weather.

David Wood wants to see rain. Lots of it. It’s not that he’s a killjoy. He’s one of the country’s top organ builders and restorers, working for the Huddersfield family firm of Wood of Huddersfield (Organ Builders).

He knows well the damage that has been done to instruments up and down the country with the long spell of very cold and dry weather.

That has sent humidity levels plummeting and that’s bad news for organs.

The old pipes and timber structures can dry out and crack, rendering some of the instruments unplayable.

So David and his team have been called into action all over the region, mounting rescue missions to save historic organs.

In Huddersfield Town Hall they have resorted to an age-old remedy to save the historic Father Willis organ, built in Huddersfield Town Hall’s magnificent concert hall in 1860.

They have filled 24 buckets with water and dotted them around the organ.

“It’s an old method but it proves very successful at raising humidity levels,” said David.

“I was called in on Sunday and spent four hours working on the town hall organ to get it ready for a concert on Monday by Borough of Kirklees organist Gordon Stewart.

“The buckets do work, but they will be drained in a matter of weeks as the timber and the leather in the organ sucks up the moisture.

“I even went inside the organ armed with a mist spray to try and improve things.

“What we want is rain to bring the humidity levels back up.

“We have had calls from all over the country to try and sort out problems. Once they start to dry out, the materials can crack and air either leaks in or leaks out which is not what we want to see.

“Many organs are built into very old concert halls, churches and cathedrals and it is only the really modern concert halls such as Bridgewater Hall where they have the air conditioning set at the right level.

“The organ at Beverley Minster is only just playable and we have been working to sort out that one.

“We are used to getting the odd problem, but this year and particularly this last few weeks is as bad as I can remember.”

But help may be at hand.

Weather experts are predicting a band of heavy rain spreading north later today and tomorrow, which will bring showers and longer spells of rain across the Yorkshire area.