Every Thursday evening at 8 pm my local village church, which has a fine set of bells, hosts campanologists from around the region who rehearse the most amazing creations. Some days are better than others but tonight the sound was extraordinary. A lovely sunny English day, everyone enjoying evening in the garden, to the sound of the bells.

I am uplifted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k530Ca3hkdQ

Briggy

I do, and I'm most certainly not religious ;)

I used to live in a small town in the midwest. I loved hearing the bells every Sunday morning.

I've always thought the mormon church was so boring because they won't have bells. That and many other forms of musical instruments that are banned from their buildings.

Love the bells! (am not religious)

Love it! When I lived in Germany, I could hear the bells every Sunday. No bells here. :(

When I lived in Germany I loved them as well. And not religious here.

Same here, there was a church just down the road from us in Germany and every Sunday, you could here the church bells. Beautiful. We lived in Augsburg.

Yes. I hear them every day.

Not religious at all, but I love church bells. I also love stained glass and other forms of religious art. I suspect the human affinity for beauty is the source of religious impulses rather than the result.

Love church bells too...and not religious presently.

I used to live by a university that had Carillon Bells and one of the professors used to play them at noon on some days. He happened to be one of the most famous LDS organists.
It was lovely.

I went to school on a campus where the math building was an old bell tower and they chimed every 15 minutes. Every day at noon, the bells would peal a song. My favorite was "Flinststones, meet the Flintstones." I still miss those bells.

I do. Very seldom do I get to hear any, though.

Yes, usually. I like it when the bells are rung on occasion, but not hourly.

I recently watched an episode of "Midsomer Murders" that focused on village bell ringers. Fascinating!

I truly miss the sound of the church bells marking the hours. At 7pm, for some reason, there was always a different composition lasting for about five minutes, and it was very cool. They played different songs marking different occaisions. On the 25th anniversary of the release of star wars, they played the star wars theme song, which was very cool. When Prince William and Kate got married, they played "Rule Britannica!" I just thought it was cool that they used music to mark events, and solidifying them in our minds, and how amazing it was that they could do that with a set of church bells! :)

When I was in high school, I lived near a string of old stone churches in Pittsburgh. The bells were beautiful when they rang. I also lived near the bell tower at BYU, but it wasn't the same.

I like them as long as they are bells and not a pre-recorded fake bell (sound out of a speaker system)

Yes, very much so! I grew up listening to them, and I visited my old home grounds 2 weeks ago, and one of the first things I heard sitting in the old Catholic church was church bells from 2 local churches, vying for attention! It was absolutely beautiful and filled me with a sense of peace.

I do too and am not religious. I also like to see people united and that is one good thing religion can do. I love singing music too and that is something I miss. I live in AZ and don't know like anyone so that was a good thing church helped with but then too many people is overwhelming too. I went to BYU-I and loved hearing the bells while I was out walking at the top of each hour- so beautiful. I wish there was a happy medium, like drop all the bs and call it what it is - a spiritual place and then I would consider being part of the tribe again. Until then I am sort of laughing in the background- photo bombing

I do, and I'm not actively religious. To me, that was one thing I missed in the Mormon church.

I got sick and tired of the bells on my European mission. I found them very annoying.

I live in the burbs in Utah, so I rarely hear church bells. Sometimes I'll hear them when I visit a city and I really love the sound. I have never attended a church that had bells, so the sound doesn't have religious connotations for me, they're just part of the sounds of the city.

I like them. Of course it depends on what time it is! In Mexico when I was staying there for work, they'd start pealing a bit earlier than I'd like. Makes an excellent alarm clock.

Yes, but only because it reminds me of 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' from Metallica

The Nine Tailors, a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery.

Is there any sound more joyous than the peal of church bells? When WW2 started in 1939 it was decided in Britain that the church bells would remain silent until victory was declared...a decision spontaneously reversed when after so many setbacks Montgomery achieved victory at the battle of El Alamein...bells all over England burst into life. Just Google Google English Churchbells for a sample.

I hear two different churches pealing every day when I walk to my mail box. It always puts a smile on my face.