[Bell Historians] History

[Anne Willis]

There is real work to be done in bell history. For example, we still have
little more than an outline theory of when and where change ringing emerged,
and how it spread across England. My understanding is that the evidence to
support the East Anglian idea is thin. (I would be delighted to have my
ignorance exposed if I'm wrong on this.) I firmly believe that there is
historical research to be done on the basis of surviving and recorded
artefacts and records that can allow us to form an evidence based theory of
were the exercise comes from - but none of the evidence for this sort of
project is likely to be changed one jot by correcting the weight of a tenor
bell by an amount of less than 1%.



Giles


Hear, hear. To quote E.H. Carr 'history is a continuous process of
interaction between the historian and his facts, an unending dialogue
between the past and the present.'

Anne Willis