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........we are just receiving details of an extra-ordinary protest in
Norfolk, so straight over to our on-the-spot Reporter in Clenchwarton, near
Kings Lynn
"Yes, here I am outside the church of St Margaret and as you can hear
(bong......bong.......bong.......) there is a bell ringing. It has been
ringing for exactly 5 minutes every hour, on the hour, since early this
morning. It is being rung by the Rector, not to announce a service as is
usual, but to protest that he has been excluded from his local Church Bell
Ringing Association because he is.............a clergyman. Yes, that's
right, it seems that the Association have changed their rules recently and
the 'Clerical Member' category no longer seems to exist and the vicar has
been threatened with expulsion. Lets go inside now and have a word with the
Revd gentleman as I think his latest 5 minute stint is nearly up
(Bong.........Bong...............Clunk...........Silence...............Silence)
"Good evening Sir! Is that hard work?"
"No not at all - its quite a light bell - very easy to ring"
"I see. Now tell me why you are making this extra-ordinary protest?"
"Well I was elected to this Association in 2000. As you can see (close-up of
dog-collar, hastily retrieved from where it had been dropped on the study
desk after last Sunday's Service) I am a clergyman, so naturally I believed
I had been elected as a Clerical Member. I paid my one-off joining fee and
thought no more of the matter. Since them I have taken part in a number of
'peals' - performances which can last up to 3 hours and for each of those I
paid a Performance Fee of £1. Now it seems the Officials are not happy with
this and want me to pay an annul subscription and 4 years back subs. They
say I was not entitled to be categorised as a clerical member because I am
also a ringer and it was supposed to be only for non-ringing clergy! The
rules said nothing about this, and why would non-ringing clergy want to join
a bell ringing association anyway? So as a matter of principle I have
refused to cough up. The officials have also been a tad rude! So now it
appears that all the peals I have rung for the association cannot be
accepted by it and they will have to refund my performance fees, plus those
of all the other ringers who took part in them with me. It could amount to
over £600! So until they accept I am a clerical member I shall be ringing
this bell for 5 minutes every hour during daylight hours - I wouldn't want
to annoy people by keeping them awake at night! I have also moved into the
church until this silly situation is resolved (camera pans to armchair,
desk, computer etc)"
"I see! It does seem a bit silly - by trying to get a relatively small sum
they could lose quite a large amount?"
"That's right, and its not as if I haven't paid anything - I have paid over
£100 in Performance fees -but that's officials for you!"
"I asked the Treasurer, Bet L Acks, to comment, but all she would say was
'We believe that the Vicar should pay an annual subscription like everyone
else'. The Performance Recording Officer, Mr I. A. M Stubburn, when asked
about the potential loss of over £600, said 'We hope that most people will
be happy to donate the money to the association and not ask for a refund'
(cries of 'fat chance' 'not a hope' from somewhere 'off-camera')
The General Secretary. Mrs Lilly Lyver, said 'It's really not up to me - we
are just trying to enforce the rules, even though we seem to be upsetting a
lot of people apart from the clerical member I mean the ringer who happens
to be a vicar and we could end up losing a lot of money over it. But we must
stick to the rules. Well ,our interpretation of them anyway. Well I mean
that our interpretation is correct, not the vicars. We are right, even if it
looks as if we are wrong as no-one else seems to agree with us. Oh
dear................................
" And with that, back to the studio"
(Ding..............Ding................Ding..................Ding...........
....Ding-ding........................Ding.......................)
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