SIR - Mayor Stephen Inman is probably quite correct in saying the bells of old St Nicholas Church had not been rung since before the war (Mayor's Diary, January 15). As I remember it, the circumstances here were that a structural defect in the tower itself made it unsafe for the bells to ring.

This does not mean they remained silent for it was perfectly safe to chime the Ellacombe hammers and veteran ringer Charlie Coles continued to do so for many years.

At nearby Old St Martins circumstances were somewhat different.

As a little boy I had often accompanied my father when he rang at Old St Martins but these sessions seemed to end with the death of ringing master Bill Edgington.

Many years later I was invited to take a look at these old bells and found it possible to put the Ellacombe hammers into working order.

At the time, old Charlie Coles was chiming out a hymn tune at St Nicholas and I realised both peals were in identical pitch.

I was therefore able to join Charlie in an improvised duet - probably the only time such an event has ever occurred on the bells of neighbouring churches in Worcester.

JOHN HINTON, Worcester.