Readers of the Ringing World may have read Matthew Higby’s article and the subsequent letter about the Westcroft Park Campanile near Chobham. What you may not have spotted was the connection with the ODG. Back at the end of March, just after the lock-down, I was in the garden admiring a couple of pheasants that happened to be wandering through and I heard the “Nine Tailors” blowing across on the Easterly wind. A quick dash to Shrivenham St Andrew’s found the church locked and the churchyard deserted. What was going on? It was a substantial bell that I heard. After some hasty local research the sound was eventually traced to the local Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in nearby Watchfield. So started a very interesting bit of research which just happened to coincide with the Westcroft Park research and the researchers met each other in the middle of the story! I won’t spoil the story for Ringing World readers who will shortly see the article on “The Mystery Bell”. After it has been published, I shall put up another article here on the ODG website for the benefit of those folks who can’t see a Ringing World while we are locked-down. In the meantime, here is a video of the bell being sounded by the Army Chaplain. (By the way; you can’t see the device inside to ensure it is not “clocked”).
https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/videos/612102296185965
Tony Crabtree (Tower Captain – Shrivenham).