[Bell Historians] Digest Number 506

[Ben Willetts]

Andrew Bull:
> That having been said, [Chris Dalton's] descriptions of bells
> in his Dorset books adds a whole new dimension to the survey.
> I am now desperate to have a ring at Bagshot, Surrey, after
> Dalton's description of them ... 3rd pretty good, 4th weird,
> 6th good, 7th pretty good but old-style-ish, tenor extraordinary".

Those descriptions by themselves seem rather useless. "Pretty good" under
what criteria? What do "weird" or "extraordinary" tell us? Are they good
sounds or bad sounds? Perhaps the tenor sounds like someone revving a car
engine - that would certainly be extraordinary.

As it happens, Bagshot is in my Guild, and I've rung a peal there. The
tenor sounds bad, reminiscent of a tin bath perhaps, but I wouldn't call it
"extraordinary". Lots of bells sound crap.

Ben