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<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Yeah, plod and his EH mates dragging an
antique bell roughly over pebbly concrete - not that convincing as a
co-ordinated professional approach top safeguarding stolen heritage property.
Hardly the way to treat a precious artefact! </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Reminds me of a case I've encountered
very recently of a bell from a Warwickshire Country house (which I saw back in
1980 with Chris Dalton who photographed it for me) that was stolen while the
house was unoccupied. It was dated 1610 and inscribed with the names of the
people who owned the house when it was remodelled in the early C17th. It was
sold as unclaimed property in a police auction of stolen goods, but fortunately
someone local realised where it came from - though after the sale, and the
present owners of the house (now a hotel) had to buy it back. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Apparently (according to the information
now displayed alongside the bell in the hotel foyer) the police claimed that
they hadn't even noticed the inscription and date on the bell at all - let alone
followed the clues (the inscription is in the VCH) as to where it came from!
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<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">CP</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>