3 bell restoration

[Colin Turner]

I recently had the pleasure of ringing on the restored three bells at
Stirchley, Shropshire. The work here was carried out by Matthew Higby et al,
and rather unusually resulted in the bells being reinstated for full circle
ringing. The last time I heard of this being done was at Downhead, Somerset,
where the work was carried out by, er Matthew Higby.

This is a most refreshing change, as nowadays most "restorations" of lesser
numbers involve hanging the bells dead or fitting them with levers. I
appreciate the additional cost involved in a complete rehang, but often
wonder that after an initial burst of enthusiasm following conversion to
chiming, how many towers with three lever chimed bells actually use all
three bells each week? I've not heard of many active chiming bands, so my
guess is that in most places a single bell is used briefly before the
service. So what has been achieved? In a lot of cases nothing, a single bell
that was chimed anyway, is still heard once a week.

Does anybody have any thoughts - or hopefully evidence to counter my
musings?


Colin

   
           
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