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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What Colin did not explain is that the church at
Stirchley is redundant and maintained by The Churches Conservation Trust. Now
before all on this list start thinking that the Trust has begun restoring bells
in its churches, I should explain that this church was</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2> originally destined to be maintained and used by
Telford & Wrekin Council. Having accepted the building, the
Council decided not to proceed with the its proposed use. However, it
agreed to fund the repairs it would have carried out to the church once it
had vested in the Trust. The original repair programme included the
bells.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I hope that this makes clear the unusual situation
in this case and why the Trust will not be restoring to full-circle ringing all
of the bells currently unringable in its churches.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Neil Skelton.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=colin@ZklImYYetls--IkSysR_ouK-FlAT1X_gNo8oTSPeRlctyrWF3HhUu841t7VybR-5juQbsYICdDS1tDBTfObGjbid.yahoo.invalid href="mailto:colin@-Vaiq8spuqgDgc78HmEhT2p3PV1QmQoW2-6oPeB_7bfIQ4T6aRO4zTooGcqa5rNC4Q_bx5nxIVz6lLuyKsI.yahoo.invalid">Colin
Turner</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=nabbers@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:nabbers@yahoogroups.com">nabbers@yahoogroups.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A
title=bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com">bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, January 20, 2008 9:46
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [nabbers] 3 bell
restoration</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV id=ygrp-text>
<P>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=655352509-20012008>I
recently had the pleasure of ringing on the restored three bells at Stirchley,
Shropshire. The work here was carried out by Matthew Higby et al, and rather
unusually resulted in the bells being reinstated for full circle ringing. The
last time I heard of this being done was at Downhead, Somerset, where the work
was carried out by, er Matthew Higby.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=655352509-20012008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=655352509-20012008>This
is a most refreshing change, as nowadays most "restorations" of lesser
numbers involve hanging the bells dead or fitting them with levers. I
appreciate the additional cost involved in a complete rehang, but often
wonder that after an initial burst of enthusiasm following conversion to
chiming, how many towers with three lever chimed bells actually use all three
bells each week? I've not heard of many active chiming bands, so my guess is
that in most places a single bell is used briefly before the service.
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=655352509-20012008>So what has been achieved? In a lot of cases nothing,
a single bell that was chimed anyway, is still heard once a week.
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=655352509-20012008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=655352509-20012008>Does
anybody have any thoughts - or hopefully evidence to counter my
musings?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=655352509-20012008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=655352509-20012008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=655352509-20012008>Colin </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=655352509-20012008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
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