[Bell Historians] York St John

[Richard Offen]

> There really is no need to take such a negative view. The owner of 
the building is very supportive of the idea that the bells should be 
rung and, as I said, ensured that the interior of the building was 
designed such that it would still be possible to ring the bells. 
However, it would be totally unreasonable to expect him to arrange 
his business around people wanting to ring the bells. I don't know 
exactly how much he has spent on the building, but with purchase and 
fitting out I would guess it is somewhere in the region of £2 
million. Clearly, his business has to take priority. He has been very 
supportive of the idea of ringing, and in return we need to be 
reasonable. After all, there is absoloutely nothing to stop him from 
banning all ringing, but he hasn't.
> 

It sounds to be the best arrangement possible under the 
circumstances.   

Would there ever be the prospect of ringing the bells as a 
demonstration during opening hours? It would be a novel 
entertainment for the patrons and wonderful PR for ringing.

R