[Bell Historians] Yesterday's CCC conference

[A Willis]

Doesn't this highlight one glaring problem with bell history? Namely that,
unlike clocks, monumental brasses, or other church fitments, there is no
formal society dedicated to their study. In many ways this isn't a problem,
but if we were a formal society rather than a loosely organised group of
individuals sharing a common interest then perhaps we would have more clout
when it came to deciding conservation policies.


My main trouble with bell history is the lack of context. It's all very
well having some knowlegde of, say, bells in Wiltshire between the
reformation and the civil wars, or bells by L&J, but it is very difficult to
tie the subject into any national picture.

If a Society of Bell Historians were formed I can see the subject of A
Learned Journal raising its head again, and I cannot see any agreement on
that.

I managed to silence a bell conservationist for a short while by saying
firmly that bells were meant to be rung to the Glory of God, and not to hang
silently in a church, and that we owed it to past parishioners to keep them
in ringable condition, if not ringing.

Anne Willis