The Bells! The Bells!

I once thought that I would like to purloin the unused bell from St Barnabas' College and have it here at Blackwood.

However a number of things dissuaded me.One, the thought of being woken on Saturday nights by hoodlinks who just wouldn't be able to resist it. Two, my near neighbour, who finds our presence difficult enough.

So it was interesting to hear as ABC began their countdown of the top 100 symphonies that Rachmaninov 's Opus 35 The Bells Symphony-brought out a spontaneous lament from all over the country about the fact that bells have gone.

It is of course one of those things that gives some poetic coherence to community, links with the past; ordering of the day etc. etc....but we are so fearful about Christianity impinging on popular culture. Not so much the signs of the other religions, but another point at which Christianity as the 'religion'of the dominant culture is both patronised and compromised