<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16525" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=left><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Martin has asked me if I
will forward this to this list. Matthew.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><U><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The Redundant Bells of St Nicholas,
Cork.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></U></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>It was towards the end of May that I brought to
the attention of the ringing fraternity the plight of the above mentioned bells,
a complete eight by J Murphy of Dublin, which the historians and members of the
bell hanging trade will realise are quite rare.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">This morning we witnessed the back four of
these bells being loaded onto a lorry for their final journey to Taylor’s, Eayre
and Smith, where they are likely to meet with a sledgehammer on or very shortly
after their arrival there.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Although Matthew Higby and Co. have, for the
time being at least, retained the front four bells with a view to possibly
reusing them as the back four of a light six,<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>or for augmentations of existing rings,
it is also possible that these bells may, too, suffer the same fate as their
larger counterparts.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Four months have now passed since,
effectively, notice was given regarding these bells, and not withstanding the
fact that several enquires have been made regarding them, no genuine offers have
been forthcoming.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>I feel that Philip Earis may have had a point
when, at a Central Council meeting, he proposed that the redundant bells
committee be disbanded, as, surely, this is a case where those entrusted by our
guilds and associations to make decisions regarding what should be preserved and
where it should go etc, should have been able to act.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If it is the case that this committee
doesn’t have funding to rescue such rings, then it is a “toothless tiger”, with
no real point to it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
Keltek Trust has successfully rescued and re-homed many bells, both single and
complete rings, over the years, however, it is not a bottomless pit of money,
and having recently acquired a large number of more modern bells, have not been
in a position to rescue these. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">A glance at the Central Council accounts,
published annually in the Ringing World, will show that it is not exactly
strapped for cash.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The obvious
thing, to me at least, would be to transfer some of this money to an account
administered by the redundant bells committee so that when such a situation
arises, as has done here, this committee is in a position to act, and act
quickly if necessary. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As it stands
now, however, the ringing exercise has been let down.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Will lessons be learned from this?<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Don’t know, but don’t hold your
breath!</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Martin B Hough, </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Lambourn,
Berks.</FONT></P></DIV></FONT> </BODY></HTML>