Bring back Westminster Abbey’s bells

It took me several weeks, after returning to the Spectator office, to work out what was missing. It wasn’t the people — though Westminster is a zombie town these days, and even Pret A Manger, once hectic as a trading floor, is calm. I like the calm. What’s missing, I realised as I walked past Westminster Abbey, is the bells.

If you’re anywhere near the Abbey when the bells start up, it’s like being caught out in a monsoon. It’s overwhelming and joyful. You can’t speak. You can’t think. There’s nothing for it but to stop and gawp up like a guppy at feeding time. The bells have been silent since March, since the Church of England abandoned its churches, and it’s strange how claustrophobic it feels without them.

Half a mile away, over the river in Lambeth Palace, sits our tortured Archbishop of Canterbury. A fortnight ago he suggested that we were all suffering from ‘a sort of national PTSD’ brought on by uncertainty. Well then, here’s a suggestion for the Archbishop. Instead of depressing the country by diagnosing it as nuts, why not cheer it up? Instead of agonising over which statues to rip out of which churches, why not encourage the bells to ring? Especially the Abbey bells. Every cathedral and church with willing ringers and a decent belfry should be given some special archbishop’s award for cracking on despite the virus. I can’t think of a better remedy for national PTSD.

I’m not for a minute suggesting any ringers risk their lives. I’m a Covid-believer and I think it was reasonable to be cautious back in March. But the C of E, not known for laughing in the face of risk assessment, has said that it ‘would be good to get ringing going’.