oh this is not daft at all!! that bell is beautiful and the fact that someone noticed YOU polished it properly?? im actually a bit emotional at six in the morning now. marmalade knocked my oldest jar off the windowsill last night so im raw about loss today but still. ronnie can shove it respectfully. marmalade walks in straight lines toward trouble btw

Rope lanyard still on it. You ever actually rung it or is that sacrilege in a kitchen. Not taking the mickey, genuine question. I've got an old vice on my bench that came off a scrapped lathe, had it since my second job. Nobody's ever asked me to leave and it's still bolted down.

Not daft, thats a proper bit of history right there!! Nan kept a chipped drinking glass from her first job at the bakery for like 40 years, used it every single morning, wouldnt let anyone wash it in the machine. Theres something about the objects that survive a place closing down. The bell outlived the whole ferry!! Thats a story you cant buy.

sorry im back, made coffee and thought about it more. the second mate KNEW you polished it. he didnt give it to whoever, he gave it to you. thats not a dust trap thats someone saying i see you. ginger just knocked a cutting bag over in solidarity i think. take that ronnie

Gonna say the tarnish pattern backs you up. Even wear on the lip, brighter at the crown where a hand goes to steady it. That bell got rung properly for years, not sat in a cupboard. Ronnie can come round and I'll show him the difference between a dust trap and a patina. He can bring a cloth if he likes.

fern youve gone and done me in before the shops are even open... he did know. Knew about the fog horn too but thats another story. And gearhead youve spotted the crown wear cos thats where she went when the swell came through the wheelhouse door, hand on the bell, other hand on the wheel. Youd have made a fair deckhand, though youre too clean. I do ring it. Christmas morning and when the fishing boats come back in with a good catch. Ronnie says the neighbours think Im potty. I say the neighbours are fine with it

First time poster, been lurking a while. Just wanted to say my dad kept a rusted mooring cleat from a shipyard that closed in the 80s, bolted it to the porch step for years. Mum thought it was an eyesore right up until the day he died and then she polished it herself and never took it down. The things we keep are never really about the thing are they. Anyway. Sorry for the ramble. And oldsalt I think your downvoter is just jealous you have something worth keeping.

oh no. 'she polished it herself and never took it down' - im going to have to sit down for a minute. marmalade just walked in a dead straight line across the kitchen and stood on my notebook like he knew. some things are never about the thing are they. thats a proper first post saltandsparrow, lurk less

the fog horn is a longer story and Ronnie will tell you it was the tide, he always does... it wasnt the tide. Anyway, the downvoter has been at it again this morning, which means the kettle is on and the grudge stands. Whoever you are, I hope you had a lovely evening.

saltandsparrow that first post has done me in and im supposed to be testing a camcorder off my for-parts crate right now!! nan had exactly that thing with the chipped glass, 40 years of mornings out of it. some objects just carry the whole building around inside them. the bell outlived the ferry AND the second mate knew your name, thats a double win, no amount of dust changes that!!

just finished a close. kept a bent spatula from my first kitchen in the drawer, the one with the melted edge. no reason. keep the bell. tell ronnie the ghosts of good catches are worth the dust