Bells are part of village life (1)

As an ardent bell ringer, campanologist and bell restorer, in principle I strongly condemn all excess and abuses in bell ringing.

Mechanical clocks have been in use for many years to the extent that whenever a clock is stopped for some reason or other, the authorities are faced with complaints and I can vouch for this from experience. This happened during the restoration of the Citadel clock bells in Victoria, and the clock bells of St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta.

People who find the striking of time useless and inconvenient, do so because they are simply not used to village core life.

The Senglea clock is a replica of an irreparable derelict mechanism and its reinstallation was carried out nine years ago with much prudence and consideration. It was not easy to take the decision to install a replica. A night silencing facility was activated on the insistence of the then Archpriest Vincent Cachia between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Although the clock installation in Senglea is relatively recent, the clock bells have an ancient role. The hour bell was cast for its noble time-indicating purpose in 1796 by the eminent bellfounder Domenico Canciano of Venezia, who cast the famous Marangona bell hanging in the Campanile of St Mark's Basilica of the Lagoon City. The quarter bell was cast in the early 19th century by Maltese bellfounder Salvatore Cauchi.

Stopping our clocks from striking will be yet another blow to our culture. People who cannot bear the striking of church clocks should avoid the temptation of living in the village core as almost all local belfries feature mechanical chiming clocks.