As someone who has lived all his life (57 years and counting) in this area, this sort of thing makes me very sad. I fully agree with Geoffrey's sentiments. But let's be careful here - Helen might construe this as a political thread if we're not careful!! Alan A J Brown Living in Bournemouth, England http://www.ajbrown.eu.com -----Original Message----- From: Mary Voller [mailto:mary@foxprowl.screaming.net] Sent: 09 June 2003 08:47 To: ENG-DORSET-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [DOR-LIFE] Stoke Abbot Bells Hi Helen, I think what isn't said speaks loudly. Where does the owner of the holiday home live ? Is this another case of centuries old tradition being swept away because of 'Human Rights' ? What about the Rights of the village as a whole ? Mary (please reply to yaffles@waitrose.com) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Helen Jones" <hsj@melcombe.freeserve.co.uk> To: <> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2003 9:19 PM Subject: [DOR-LIFE] Stoke Abbot Bells > Those of you with Stoke Abbot interests might like this little story > which has somehow made the national press. > > Apparantly a 7am curfew has been rung in Stoke Abbot for generations. > This consists of 100 rings of the Church Bell every day from the start > of May will the end of September (the current bellringer has been > ringing the bell, unpaid, for the last 20 years!) Many villagers > apparantly use it as their morning alarm call. > > Now the time has been put forward to 7.45 due to complaints from the > owner of a holiday cottage in the village. He says there have been > comments in his guest book along the lines of 'please strangle > quasimodo'! Some of the > villagers are up in arms about this, claiming that this has broken an > old tradition - and they are over-sleeping without the bells. Others > can't see what the fuss is about. All in all it has caused a right old > fuss which first hit the pages of the local editions of the Dorset > Echo and which was then picked up by the some of the National > Newspapers (who must be short of > news!) Of course here in England papers often like to run features > about holiday makers and/or incomers to rural areas trying to change rural > traditions because they find them inconvenient - so they liked this story. > > Whatever the rights and wrongs of the issue, the Daily Telegraph had rather > a nice photo of Stoke Abbot! > > Helen > > > > > Helen Jones, Weymouth, Dorset http://www.melcombe.freeserve.co.uk > List Admin Rootsweb Eng Dorset & Scammell Lists, and > British Genealogy Eng-Dorset, Surnames & Forenames list > > > ==== ENG-DORSET-LIFE Mailing List ==== > Look at the website for the Office of National Statistics for information about the census and ordering certificates > http://www.statistics.gov.uk > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > ==== ENG-DORSET-LIFE Mailing List ==== For old maps, see the Landmark Map site http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

Thanks for the warning Alan, but you can give me the worst, most insulting rude names, but never say I'm political! If I'm living down here it's because that's the way life happens, (and never reveal this to my old lady), but even after 40yrs I still dream of Ringstead Bay, Chesil Beach and the woods near Evershot! I couldn't give a tinker's about which political party they belong to, just as long as they think more about the wonderful places they have been given to take care of, rather than the amount of hard cash an inifinitely small minority can earn out of a block of holiday flats (I spit on the ground) or a caravan camp (ditto). I can hear the holidaymakers saying "aha, but we are making the money for you yokels" - thankee kindly 'cos the other 9 months of the year the county ceases to exist. I think I'll take a Valium or two (or three) because this is a subject that really gets me .... (fill in the blanks) Geoff

As a second home owner (Wareham) I must say I would never dream of seeking to interfere with local customs. The bells of Lady St Mary are truly beautiful and if they rang early I wouldn't mind! We spend all the time we can in Dorset and would love not to live in London at all Ros