Bell tolls once more at Durban Girls’ High
A man has donated a new school bell to Durban Girls' High School.
THE bell will ring once more at Durban Girls’ High School following a generous donation of an unused bell.
Principal, Erica Hayes-Hill was devastated when the school’s bell, which was such an important part of the school’s history and culture, was stolen in January. The bell and bell tower were erected by the old girls for the school’s 100 year centenary in 1982.
Speaking to Berea Mail at the time, she said it was a highlight for the matrics to ring the bell as they leave the school on their last day.
Now, thanks to John Hulett, who read about the theft of the school’s bell in the newspaper, learners will be able to continue with this tradition.
READ RELATED: Bell stolen from Durban Girls’ High School
Erica said: “John contacted me after seeing an article about the bell and said he had an ornamental bell that had been sitting under his staircase for the past 40 years! He said a friend had given it to him and it had never been used. He sent me a photo on 22 January before it was polished up, and then once he had cleaned it up, he sent another photo. We didn’t know if it would be the right size for the tower, so he came to the school onto see if it would work,” she said.
Erica said at the school’s speech day last week, she made the surprise announcement that the bell was suitable, in the presence of John, his wife Yvonne, and friend and Durban Girls’ High School old girl, Penny Coelen-Rey, who were guests for the day.
“Now that we have a 10.6kg hand-made solid brass bell, we have to work on getting a clapper (or clanger) as the bell doesn’t have one. We also need to figure out how to get the bell up and down, as we don’t want to leave it up all the time and risk losing this beautiful bell too!” she said.
“The girls have been so happy to hear about the new bell and there has been unbelievable excitement that they will get to ring the bell as well. We are so grateful for this generous donation,” she said.
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