Front Cover: The Great Malvern judgment: an analysis and explanation by Chris Pickford
When I learned to ring in Worcester in the mid-1960s the eight bells at Great Malvern Priory were unringable. I remember being puzzled as to why a ring that was hung in a new frame and fittings by Taylors as recently as 1887 – then less than 80 years earlier – should be in anything other than first class ringing order.

Letters
Bellringing: music, sport and so much more - Mark Regan
Defining ‘music’ - Richard Bourne
It should be Saturday/Sunday - Peter Davies
Painswick Ringers’ Silver Cup - David Bishop
William J. Nudds – The Great Peal - Peter G. Scott

International reports
A N Z A B
Central European Association
Irish Association of Change Ringers
SAGCBR

Obituaries
James Arthur Stubbs, Alan McNutt

Bells at St Joseph’s Cathedral, Hanoi, Vietnam by Elisabeth Smith
On a recent visit to Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city, we went to see St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Cathedral. This is an impressive stone building with two large towers which was built in 1886 by the French, who of course colonised Vietnam. Just as we were leaving we heard the clock strike the hour and realised that, unusually in this part of the world, there must be ‘real’ bells in the tower.

Thought for the week
There is a peculiar difference between ringing a peal and living the Christian life. You can ring a near-perfect peal but if just one change is repeated the whole peal is rendered false. You can live a life with many failings but at the end of the day you can still be counted a Christian – with the slate wiped clean.

Also included with this issue:

2009 Central Council Supplement
The annual report of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers