Bells of Christ Church

Sir, - The splendid picture (Millennium Supplement, December 2nd) of children dancing on the new bells of Christ Church Cathedral…

Sir, - The splendid picture (Millennium Supplement, December 2nd) of children dancing on the new bells of Christ Church Cathedral before the bells were hoisted into the tower was marred by an inaccurate caption. The children are from a local school and are not, as the supplement stated, Christ Church bell-ringers. We recruit only adults for the difficult task of learning to ring the bells.

In the year since these new bells were added, with welcome assistance from the National Millennium Committee, 12 excellent recruits have made remarkable progress and are poised now to take important roles in the New Year ringing. All, without exception, were drawn to our company (The Society of Ringers, founded 1670) by an article in your own newspaper containing our appeal for more ringers. They include a philosopher and a mathematician who show no inclination to dance on the bells, as far as I can tell. - Yours, etc.,

Leslie Taylor, Honorary Ringing Master, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin 2.