[Bell Historians] Re: Levels of Bell Production

[Chris Pickford]

I have done a lot of work (unpublished as yet) on bell production for different founders, including Whitechapel, Warner, Rudhall and others. I have also done "all periods" work on a number of counties (Beds, Warwicks and Worcs). I think (though I'm not entirely sure) that Mark's Worcs figures are derived from my spreadsheet - and if so, I have absolutely no problem with that. Certainly mine covers a) all bells (not just rings), and b) previous bells (including those that have since been recast).

What I would say is that building up a complete and accurate picture would be a huge job - I've probably got as close to it as anyone, but I wouldn't want to think about how many months I've spent on it - and (most importantly) any figures that we produce need to be viewed as indicative (at best) as the data will necessarily be incomplete. Because of the limitations of its coverage, the NBR (invaluable though it is) probably won't produce anything like reliable figures for the key question in mind about the ups and downs in overall production over time.

It is my plan and hope, though, to publish an analysis at some stage covering both the output of particular foundries over time - definite case of peaks and troughs, with periods of inactivity - and the regional and national picture. Not yet, though - sorry!

CP
           
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