THE Bellman bell is back in action thanks to the kind efforts of a Men’s Shed volunteer.
You will hopefully realise The Bellman takes its name from the old way of referring to a town crier. Gentlemen of this profession were employed by the town council in the days before a printed newspaper.
So when acting the part for events like the Feein’ Market or for giving talks, I was pleased to have an old town crier’s bell found in an antique shop in the Cotswolds. Unfortunately, its age was its downfall as the wooden handle broke recently.
But like a star of the Repair Shop, Raymond Penny of Stonehaven Men’s Shed took on the challenge and crafted a beautiful new handle from black walnut, turning a block of wood, by eye, to the perfect size and shape.
One of the trickiest elements of the task was shaping the base of the handle so it would fit into and over a wedge shaped fixture inside the brass neck of the bell – the tang. A bit of thought was required but Raymond did a perfect job.
And this morning, just like in that BBC programme, there was that moment of owner and object being re-united. I was and am suitably delighted – a huge thank you Raymond.