Front Cover: All Saints’ Church, Scraptoft, Leicestershire by Eric Cook
In 1960 the Parochial Church Council of this church decided to have the mechanism for the ringing of three bells converted to simple swing ringing. Some 32 years later Alan Cattell, a multi-skilled craftsman who was passionate about bell ringing and well known in bell-ringing circles, sought permission to embark on a project to reconvert the bell frame and attachments to facilitate the traditional English system of full circle ringing.

Letters
Dove updates - Julian Pawley
Fire Escape? - Peter G. Davies
Quarter peal analysis - Laith Reynolds
Dealing with Sex Offenders - Ted Steele
Excluding sex offenders - Stephen Penney
Exclusion is the best option - Cliff Davies
God so loved the world - Phil S Gorman
CRB Checks - Gill Waldron
Octavian D. Royal - Stephen J Bedford

Big Ben and the ‘Pips’ by Derek J. Carr
The Big Ben anniversary described in the recent front page article is only a part of the story that made this bell the most famous and recognisable sound in the world. It was not until over sixty years after its installation that the bell would become a sound that we all instantly recognise as, for the first time, it was heard outside the confines of Westminster.

Obituary
W. M. David Collis

When it was suggested I should learn the line for Cambridge by Andrew Davey
When it was suggested I should learn the line for Cambridge, two things went through my mind. First – ‘I am not good enough, I am not ready for this’. They convinced me that I was, and so I cautiously opened Diagrams at the relevant page: and so to the second thought, ‘Hell’s bells – I was right, I am never going to learn all that’!

Thought for the week
Make a joyful noise
I am aware that some Church authorities are not entirely sympathetic to the ringing of the bells in their Churches. Obviously this is not good news for ringers and provides us with a challenge because such Church authorities see little value in the ringing of bells. How can we justify bells and ringing them in such circumstances?

Eccleston Flower Festival
At St Mary’s Church, Eccleston in Lancashire we have just staged our very successful Flower Festival from 10th – 12th July. The theme of the festival was the celebration of marriage and 100 years of weddings. We have an enthusiastic Sunday service band at St Mary’s comprising experienced, talented and relatively new ringers. On hearing the plans for the festival, we retired to the pub to decide how we could contribute...