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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>LEARNED JOURNAL</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I too was in receipt of Bill Butler's letter inviting=20
contribution to and support for the Learned Journal to which George and Dav=
id's=20
letters refer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>David makes some cogent points, but the fact remains th=
at=20
<EM>The Ringing World </EM>has over the last 90 years provided ringers with=
the=20
opportunity to share with a wider readership various levels of histor=
ical=20
scholarship and given the opportunity for=20
extensive discussion. I have appreciated these endeavours =
and=20
have been able to make my own contribution.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>We are fortunate that <EM>The Ringing World </EM>h=
as at=20
present an Editor who is sympathetic to the endeavours of bell specialists =
and=20
has a keen sense of the value of properly researched historical=20
submissions. This we should appreciate and encourage; as George=
=20
says, "Exposure is better than hiding away.....exclusivity will be=20
counter-productive in the longer term".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Just as David choses not to subscribe to <EM>The Ringin=
g=20
World </EM>(but to which he has lately made a notable contribution) so=
the=20
general readership do not have to read historical articles: but my feeling =
is=20
that more do than perhaps we appreciate. <EM>The Ringing World=20
</EM>is itself a journal of record, and historical articles frequently=
=20
acknowledge indebtedness to previous articles which have appeared in=20
it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>We have also in the past few years seen some excellent=
=20
topographical bell books, with Chris Dalton's <EM>The Bells and Belfri=
es of=20
Dorset</EM> as their crowning glory; and also some<EM> </EM>usefu=
l and=20
informative general works, amongst which George Elphick's <EM>The Craft of =
the=20
Bellfounder </EM>stands out. A Learned Journal with a limited=20
circulation might equally be inimical to the reception of such=20
work.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>DLC</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
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