Lincolnshire piano collection under threat from eviction

BBC Bill Kibby-JohnsonBBC
Bill Kibby-Johnson says the pianos will need to be destroyed if they cannot be rehomed

A pianist is desperate to find a museum to take his treasured collection of more than 50 instruments.

Bill Kibby-Johnson, from Burwell, Lincolnshire, said one of his pianos dates back to 1796.

His landlord has given him notice to leave his property, which includes a barn used to store his collection.

Mr Kibby-Johnson warned his pianos - many rescued from the scrapheap - would be destroyed if they cannot be rehomed.

Bill says the collection deserves a place in a museum
Bill says the collection deserves a place in a museum

He said: "If I cannot at least find storage for them, then I will have to take them outside one by one and set alight to them."

Mr Kibby-Johnson said the collection is a musical "timeline that goes from Georgian right through to modern times".

He said "the idea has always been a museum", but plans have not come to fruition.

His love affair with pianos began in the 1960's when he began tuning them, he said. He began collecting them about 20 years ago.

Explaining his predicament, he said: "We can find somewhere else to live but you cannot say, 'oh by the way we have 50 pianos'."

Mr Kibby-Johnson said the barn leaks - far from ideal conditions for musical instruments, he suggested.

"It [the collection] deserves a proper museum setting," he said.

But Mr Kibby-Johnson only has a few weeks to find a museum for his collection.

Giving BBC Look North a tour of the barn, he said: "Some people walk in and say, 'wow'. When you have someone interested in them, you can see different things or the way a certain detail was done."

A piano
Mr Kibby-Johnson says his collection deserves to be displayed in a museum

Asked if he had a favourite, Mr Kibby-Johnson replied: "I don't think I could pick a favourite."

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