Jubilee Bells

A multiplicity of bells,
Changing cadence, rich and deep
Swung from those pinnacles on high
To fill the trees and flood the sky
And rock the sailing clouds to sleep.

Our great English poet John Betjeman understood our love-affair with bells. Recall for a moment the many and varied occasions on which church bells have set the mood and made a difference. Bells are for great state occasions - Royal jubilees, weddings and funerals - and for calm, still Sunday mornings. In the Second World War the bells were silent - only to be rung in case of invasion. I love the distant message of a solitary bell singing quietly across a Wiltshire landscape. I love as much the raucous peal of bells above the noise and bustle of city life, bells that will be heard above the market and the traffic.

The only cathedrals in England without bells are Salisbury, Ely and Norwich. No-one dared risk hanging bells in our delicate cathedral tower - but on the northern edge of the churchyard, close to the house called Ladywell, stood the belfry. It was damaged by the Earl of Ludlow and his troops in the Civil War and never much used again. Ringing bells is thirsty work and since the early seventeenth century the Cathedral belfry had been used as an alehouse. In 1758 the Chapter ordered the removal of the top two storeys and by 1777 six of the bells had been sold. By 1791 the belfry had been pulled down. The only remaining bell now hangs in the cathedral tower and is tolled for services (or if the organist is locked in, as happened in my childhood).

There is all the difference in the world between the sound of a bell that is struck and a bell that is rung. Those weedy continental carillons that play tunes are, I assert, an insult to campanology. British bells are swung full-circle and placed with precision among the other bells. A full peal means 5000 different sequences (changes), taking over three hours to ring. Across our nation about 6000 towers still swing bells full-circle - and 112 more exist around the world in former British colonies.

The bells of Britain ring out loud and clear - about 100 full peals a week are rung across the land. But what of Salisbury? There are four bell-towers in the City, each having eight bells. St.Edmund's (The Arts Centre) is virtually unringable. St.Paul's no longer allows it. The bells of St.Martin ring out loud and clear on the city edge. That leaves St.Thomas-a-Becket.

The magnificent bells of St.Thomas, in the heart of the City, are a glorious expression of confidence and exuberance. They ring for all of us. They remind us of our heritage and drive us to overcome the challenges of our future. They are a vital part of the heart and soul of Salisbury. But they are tired. They are becoming increasingly difficult to ring well. They need extensive work. They must be refurbished and re-hung. Please will you help?

It is difficult to raise funds for things like bells. There is no humanitarian imperative, no moral responsibility, no civic duty. This is an appeal to our better nature! £35,000 is needed. (An additional £20,000 would give them two more bells.) The ringers have already raised £4,500. As in days of yore, you can have a bell dedicated to your memory or to a loved one, to peal out across the city. Please visit their website at www.stthomassalisbury.co.uk. Enquiries and cheques please (endorsed 'for the bells'), to Church House, St. Thomas's Square, Salisbury SP1 1BA, or e-mail the Deputy Tower Captain : nigel.orchard@btinternet.com .

Whether you can spare the price of a pint of ale or a butt of malmsey, let's keep our thirsty ringers at work! This is, after all, The Queen's Golden Jubilee. As Tennyson put it, "Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky".

ROBERT KEY MP