[Bell Historians] Bell's "Beer Mats"

[Anne Willis]

Subject: [Bell Historians] Bell's "Beer Mats"

While having a clear out I came across some beer mats that were given to 
me some years ago. There are just seven, and strictly they should be 
called whisky mats because they were issued by Bell's Scotch Whisky. On 
one side is a picture of the distillery and the reverse features a 
series of pictures and text under the title "Other Famous Bells".

The ones I have are:
No. 29, Great George, Bristol.
No. 30, The Wimborne Bell (tenor).
No. 33, Great Tom of Westminster.
No. 34, The Downside Abbey Bell.
No. 35, Southwark Cathedral tenor.
No. 36 The Bell Shrine of Conall Caol, Ireland.
No. 37, Bell of St. Pierre's Cathedral, Geneva.
No. 38, Promise Bell, Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong.
No. 39, The Big Bell of Our Lady of Pompeii, Italy.
No. 40, Centenary Bell of the Unification of Italy.

Does anyone have the set, or any details of when it was published? I 
would be interested to learn what other bells were included and how 
accurate the details are. The Great Tom of Westminster picture appears 
to be the same as that shown on the ASCY web-site (the bell actually 
hangs in St. Paul's Cathedral) but the notes on the beer mat do not 
mention recasting. The Southwark bell details also omit mention of 
recasting. The Wimborne bell is said to be "one of eight" but bears no 
relation to any listed on Dove. So there are plenty or errors, 
apparently and although one would not expect great detail or precision 
in such a production, it would be interesting to know just how accurate 
they are.

Ted


There is someone near Taunton who knows of a complete set.  Can't put my
hands on the information right now, but I will hunt it out.


Anne