<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Historic bells set to ring again

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> The bells were removed from the church in March

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF -->Scotland's oldest peal of bells will be rung properly for the first time in a century after being fully restored.
The eight bells of St Andrew's and St George's Church in Edinburgh date back to 1789.
The operation to clean and tune them was only made possible after two years of fundraising brought in £160,000.
The bells will be re-dedicated at a special service. Twelve new bell ringers have been trained but the church said it wanted to recruit more. <!-- E SF -->
It was a major project to remove them from the city centre church in March - and to get them back in again.
One bell weighed nearly three-quarters of a tonne.
Poor reputation
They had not been rung fully for more than 100 years due to doubts over the safety of the bell tower, but that has now been strengthened to take their weight.
The restoration work required the bells to be returned to the Whitechapel Foundry in London where they were first cast more than 200 years ago.
When the bells were first installed, they were the subject of much comment because the tolling of bells for any purpose other than to signal the start of a service was deemed "a remnant of Popery". The bellringers then acquired a poor reputation in the 19th Century and were admonished by Edinburgh's town clerk because of their fondness for alcohol. The restored bells will be sounded by members of the Scottish Association of Change Ringers.<!-- E BO -->


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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/6184012.stm