Most grand pianos come with a story of some kind. The one we delivered today came with more history than most, and a panel you can see straight through.
A piano with some provenance
Among the people said to have sat down at this instrument over the years is Frank Sinatra Jr, the American singer and conductor who spent much of his career as musical director for his father. That history is also the reason for the piano's most unusual feature. The original wooden lid is still there and still does its job, but sitting underneath it is a clear perspex insert over the frame, strings and soundboard. The workings stay on show, while the inside of the piano is kept clear of dust, drinks and curious fingers. For an instrument with a past like this one, and one that is as much a talking point as it is something to play, it makes a lot of sense.
How a grand actually gets moved
A grand piano does not travel on its legs. The lid comes down, the pedal lyre and legs come off, and the instrument goes over onto its straight side on a padded piano board, where it can be strapped, wrapped and wheeled out on skates. It is the only sensible way to get several hundred kilos of cast iron frame and strung back through an ordinary house doorway, and it is a great deal safer for the piano than trying to walk it out upright.
Floors, door frames and the piano itself all get protected before anything is lifted. That is standard on every job we do, whether the piano is a family upright or something with a name attached to it.
Its new home: DunnyBees of Upper Hopton
The piano has gone to the owner of DunnyBees, the family-run beekeeping business at Liley Barn, Upper Hopton, just outside Mirfield. What began in 2023 as a few hives and a curiosity about bees has grown into a proper working apiary, with further out apiaries placed across the surrounding countryside so the bees can forage over a wider spread of heather, wildflower meadows and old woodland. Each site gives a honey of its own character.
Dunny's Honey is raw and single hive, which means a jar comes from one colony rather than being blended together, so the flavour genuinely varies between hives and seasons. It is sold runny and in the comb. Alongside it there is beeswax and a range of honey-based skincare, including soaps, lip balms, hand, face and body creams and a paw lotion for dogs, plus beekeeping equipment made on site such as their open mesh hive floors, and Buzz Box starter kits for anyone thinking of taking up beekeeping themselves.
There is more going on at the barn than honey. Bee experience sessions run for adults and for children from six upwards, with morning, afternoon and evening slots. There are one to one lessons for beginners, honey extraction workshops where you fill and label your own jar, and an apitherapy pod. Businesses can also sponsor a hive, which a good number of local and national firms already do. DunnyBees are members of the British Beekeepers Association along with the Yorkshire and Huddersfield district associations, and they collect swarms locally.
You can order from the DunnyBees store online, or arrange to collect from the HQ apiary at Mirfield by ringing ahead. If you want proper local honey, a gift for someone who has everything, or a genuinely different day out, it is well worth a look. It is also a fine home for a piano built to be looked at as well as played, and one that will clearly be looked after.
Moving a grand piano in Kirklees and beyond
Piano work is what we are best known for. Uprights, grands, baby grands, pianolas and organs, moved room to room, house to house or the length of the country, with the right boards, skates, straps and covers on the van every time. We move families in Mirfield and across Kirklees every week, and travel nationwide for piano removals across the UK.
If you have a piano to move, or an old one to clear, you can read more about our piano removals service and licensed piano disposal and recycling, or get a price straight away with our free piano removal quote. Family-run in Huddersfield since 1977, and still the crew the local tuners send people to.