[Bell Historians] Christopher Dalton

[David Cawley]

Thanks, Neil, for letting us know on this list, to which Christopher was in more robust days a wise and witty contributor, whose friendship, knowledge and fun we will all miss. His last postcard to me was at the end of July and was still full of life and hope - "Bashing on with Wiltshire" . ' Bell Books seem to be coming fast and furious' he observed (he'd just received my Channel Islands one) - and 'they are such a pleasure to have'. There will be many, many stories of 'encounters with Dalton' - not least in "Tales from the London Crypt". Sometimes the encounter was sharp and to the point, but there was no malice in him. How we shall miss that mischievous twinkle. He would say 'rubbish' to a claim that we are the poorer for his passing, but would I believe derive satisfaction that we have been immeasurably enriched by his life.    

DLC

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Neil Skelton 
  To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com ; 3and4bell at yahoogroups.com ; nabbers at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 1:24 PM
  Subject: [Bell Historians] Christopher Dalton



  I have just received the sad news that Christopher died yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. He had been in a great deal of pain and discomfort for many months.

  His funeral and burial will be at Ullingswick sometime next week. I understand that this will be for family and close friends only. There is to be a memorial service at Hereford Cathedral at a later date. 

  Christopher has left a tremendous legacy, not least in his magnum opus the Bells and Belfries of Dorset. At the time of his death he was working on the Bells and Belfries of Wiltshire and for which he made provision for its completion and publication in the event of his death.

  I was glad to have played a part in securing for him the richly deserved award from the Dorset Archaeological Society last year. This was in recognition of his Dorset book and his contribution to the history bells and churches generally; also, his valuable work for the Redundant Churches Fund (now The Churches Conservation Trust). I have been privileged to have been a part of that too, not least in that we were colleagues for a number of years. Indeed, it was through Christopher that I joined the staff of the Trust.

  Neil Skelton 

              
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ringingworld.co.uk/pipermail/bell-historians/attachments/20080204/efe96b2c/attachment.html>