Lexicographer review — Page 34 of 37 S5

But there is also a discordant , modern note in Aslacton , though it can not be heard by the church-goers enjoying the peal of bells this cool autumn evening .

Like most of the other 6,000 churches in Britain with sets of bells , St. Michael once had its own “ band “ of ringers , who would herald every Sunday morning and evening service .

Now , only one local ringer remains : 64-year-old Derek Hammond .

The others here today live elsewhere .

They belong to a group of 15 ringers -- including two octogenarians and four youngsters in training -- who drive every Sunday from church to church in a sometimes-exhausting effort to keep the bells sounding in the many belfries of East Anglia .

The others here today live elsewhere .

They belong to a group of 15 ringers -- including two octogenarians and four youngsters in training -- who drive every Sunday from church to church in a sometimes-exhausting effort to keep the bells sounding in the many belfries of East Anglia .

“ To ring for even one service at this tower , we have to scrape , “ says Mr. Hammond , a retired water-authority worker . “

We 've tried to train the youngsters , but they have their discos and their dances , and they just drift away . “

Mr. Hammond worries that old age and the flightiness of youth will diminish the ranks of the East Anglian group that keeps the Aslacton bells pealing .

It is easy to see why the ancient art is on the ropes .

The less complicated version of playing tunes on bells , as do the carillons of continental Europe , is considered by the English to be childish , fit only for foreigners .

Change-ringing , a mind-boggling exercise the English invented 380 years ago , requires physical dexterity -- some bells weigh more than a ton -- combined with intense mental concentration .

Proper English bells are started off in “ rounds , “ from the highest-pitched bell to the lowest -- a simple descending scale using , in larger churches , as many as 12 bells .

Then , at a signal , the ringers begin varying the order in which the bells sound without altering the steady rhythm of the striking .

Ringers memorize patterns of changes , known as “ methods , “ which have odd-sounding names like Kent Treble Bob Major or Grandsire Caters .

A series of 5,000 or so changes is a “ peal “ and takes about three hours .

A look at a Thursday night practice at St. Mary Abbot church in the Kensington district of London gives an idea of the work involved .

Ten shirt-sleeved ringers stand in a circle , one foot ahead of the other in a prize-fighter 's stance , each pulling a rope that disappears through a small hole in the high ceiling of the ringing chamber .

No one speaks , and the snaking of the ropes seems to make as much sound as the bells themselves , muffled by the ceiling .

No one speaks , and the snaking of the ropes seems to make as much sound as the bells themselves , muffled by the ceiling .

Totally absorbed , the ringers stare straight ahead , using peripheral vision ( they call it “ rope-sight “ ) to watch the other ropes and thus time their pulls .

Far above in the belfry , the huge bronze bells , mounted on wheels , swing madly through a full 360 degrees , starting and ending , surprisingly , in the inverted , or mouth-up position .

Skilled ringers use their wrists to advance or retard the next swing , so that one bell can swap places with another in the following change .

In a well-known detective-story involving church bells , English novelist Dorothy L. Sayers described ringing as a “ passion that finds its satisfaction in mathematical completeness and mechanical perfection . “

“ They were a self-perpetuating club that treated the tower as sort of a separate premises , “ the Vicar Hummerstone says .

An entirely new band rings today at Great Torrington , several of whom are members of the congregation .

But there still are not enough ringers to ring more than six of the eight bells .

At St. Mary 's Church in Ilminster , Somerset , the bells have fallen silent following a dust-up over church attendance .

The vicar , W.D. Jones , refuses to talk about it , saying it would “ reopen the wound . “

At St. Mary 's Church in Ilminster , Somerset , the bells have fallen silent following a dust-up over church attendance .

The vicar , W.D. Jones , refuses to talk about it , saying it would “ reopen the wound . “

But C.J.B. Marshall , vicar of a nearby church , feels the fault is in the stairs from the bell tower that are located next to the altar .

“ So crunch , crunch , crunch , bang , bang , bang -- here come the ringers from above , making a very obvious exit while the congregation is at prayer , “ he says .

Vicar Marshall admits to mixed feelings about this issue , since he is both a vicar and an active bell-ringer himself .

It hopes to speak to students at theological colleges about the joys of bell ringing and will shortly publish a booklet for every vicar in the country entitled , “ The Bells in Your Care . “

Says Mr. Baldwin , “ We recognize that we may no longer have as high a priority in church life and experience . “

Mr. Baldwin is also attacking the greater problem : lack of ringers .

One survey says that of the 100,000 trained bellringers in England today , only 40,000 of them still ring .

Also , ringers do not always live where the bells need to be rung -- like in small , rural parishes and inner-city churches .

They are not accepted everywhere , however .

The oldest bell-ringing group in the country , the Ancient Society of College Youths , founded in 1637 , remains male-only , a fact that 's particularly galling to women because the group is the sole source of ringers for Britain 's most prestigious churches , St. Paul 's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey .

This being Britain , no woman has filed an equal-opportunity suit , but the extent of the problem surfaced this summer in a series of letters to “ The Ringing World , “ a weekly newspaper for ringers .

One writer , signing his letter as “ Red-blooded , balanced male , “ remarked on the “ frequency of women fainting in peals , “ and suggested that they “ settle back into their traditional role of making tea at meetings . “

In the torrent of replies that followed , one woman ringer from Solihull observed that “ the average male ringer leaves quite a lot to be desired : badly dressed , decorated with acne and a large beer-belly , frequently unwashed and unbearably flatulent in peals . “

Mr. Quinlan , 30 years old , knew he carried a damaged gene , having lost an eye to the rare tumor when he was only two months old -- after his mother had suffered the same fate when she was a baby .

Because of the isolation of the retinoblastoma tumor-suppressor gene , it became possible last January to find out what threat the Quinlan baby faced .

A test using new “ genetic probes “ showed that little Will Quinlan had not inherited a damaged retinoblastoma supressor gene and , therefore , faced no more risk than other children of developing the rare cancer .

“ It made our New Year , “ says Mr. Quinlan .

This test was the first to predict reliably whether an individual could expect to develop cancer .