Learned Journal

[D Cawley]

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LEARNED JOURNAL

I too was in receipt of Bill Butler's letter inviting contribution to and s=
upport for the Learned Journal to which George and David's letters refer.

David makes some cogent points, but the fact remains that The Ringing World=
has over the last 90 years provided ringers with the opportunity to share =
with a wider readership various levels of historical scholarship and given=
the opportunity for extensive discussion. I have appreciated these endea=
vours and have been able to make my own contribution.

We are fortunate that The Ringing World has at present an Editor who is sym=
pathetic to the endeavours of bell specialists and has a keen sense of the =
value of properly researched historical submissions. This we should appre=
ciate and encourage; as George says, "Exposure is better than hiding away..=
...exclusivity will be counter-productive in the longer term".

Just as David choses not to subscribe to The Ringing World (but to which he=
has lately made a notable contribution) so the general readership do not h=
ave to read historical articles: but my feeling is that more do than perhap=
s we appreciate. The Ringing World is itself a journal of record, and hist=
orical articles frequently acknowledge indebtedness to previous articles wh=
ich have appeared in it.

We have also in the past few years seen some excellent topographical bell b=
ooks, with Chris Dalton's The Bells and Belfries of Dorset as their crownin=
g glory; and also some useful and informative general works, amongst which =
George Elphick's The Craft of the Bellfounder stands out. A Learned Journ=
al with a limited circulation might equally be inimical to the reception of=
such work.

DLC


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