[Bell Historians] transport

[Susan & Christopher Dalton]

>>When two of Dauntsey's bells were recast in 1858 they were taken to Wootton
>>Bassett for onward transmission to Mears at Gloucester. Does anyone know
>>whether they would have gone by canal or rail?
>
> Probably rail by this date. It is reckoned that the first bells to be
> transported by rail were the 1840 Mears ring of thirteen for Leeds Parish
> Church.
>
[The Dauntsey bells are dated 1848, not 1858. Were the relevant railway
lines already open then? Yes, probably - change at Swindon. C D]