* Update 051220: The proposal to turn London’s Whitechapel legendary bell foundry into a boutique hotel has been ended by government intervention.

THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY, above, can continue to do what it has done for more than 400 years: make the kind of bells that go into history.

That is the bold claim a pop-up in East London aims to ring out loud and clear tonight Tuesday 10 December 2019 when its shows how modern technology can give the foundry a working future. 

The foundry that made the Liberty Bell for Philadelphia in 1752 and Big Ben in London, was doomed to fade into aural oblivion when Tower Hamlets council last month November 2019 granted permission for developer Raycliff Whitechapel LLP to turn it into a bell-themed boutique hotel, despite alarm bells being rung by influential campaigners.

Then Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick intervened, overruling the council. The campaigners know that the decision is only a reprieve, one saying: “The fight isn’t over yet.”

Tower Hamlets will rethink its move to allow the 1570-established foundry to change tune and become a live-in theme park for luxury-seeking tourists.

The conservationists’ (ap)peal wants to rope lovers of Britain’s heritage into help, if only only with the ring — sorry, ping — of a finger on a smartphone. Press this link or go to Change.org here.

David Altheer 101219

* No more weak wordplay — promise. So complainers can belled up (oops!).

* Emboldened underscored words in most cases indicate a hyperlink, a reader service rare among websites. If a link does not work, it is probably because the site to which the URL refers has not been maintained. A link in no way expresses support for any site. Pictures from the foundry