TODAY will see the launch of a major £90,000 appeal to restore the quintessentially English sound of pealing church bells to an Eden parish.

The five 18th century bells at picturesque St Patrick's Parish Church, Bampton, near Shap, were last rung properly 42 years ago to bid farewell to the old county of Westmorland.

Since that final peal on March 29, 1974, their ancient oak frame and the crumbling walls of the cobweb-strewn belfry have meant the bells are no longer safe for full-circle ringing - the 360-degree rotation that makes the distinctive pealing sound.

Now, inspired by a revival of interest in the centuries-old tradition, campaigners are confident of raising enough money to restore the bells and install a new ring of six bells, to peal out over the Lowther Valley for generations to come.

The £90k Bampton Bell Appeal is to be officially launched today (Friday) at St Patrick's Church Hall, where everyone is welcome from 7pm.

"The sound of church bells ringing out on Sunday morning was once described by Radio 4 as the essence of the English countryside," said the appeal's guiding light, Ron East, who has 907 Cumbrian church bells in his care as Carlisle diocesan bell advisor. "Everybody's really quite excited about it."

Publishing house Frances Lincoln has agreed to a special reprint of 1,000 copies of Wainwright's book Westmorland Heritage, which features St Patrick's Church, and will be sold for £35.

On its pages, the fellwalker and artist recorded every parish in the old county, dedicating the entire work to "those who have their roots in Westmorland". The bell appeal team plans to name one of the new bells Lowther, after the river that runs through the parish, and to inscribe it "A bell for those who have their roots, have lived and walked in Westmorland".

Bampton tower captain Bridget Kelly hopes the six new bells will inspire a new generation of bell ringers to come forward. "There hasn't been a band of ringers here for over 40 years," she told the Gazette. "We are having a lot of tuition with some experienced bell ringers at Shap and Penrith to try to get us ready for full-bell ringing when the bells are in place."

As bell ringer Janet Shepherd explained, church bells are cast from an alloy of bronze, copper and tin, to give resonance and flexibility without cracking.

"It's a bit of heritage that will last for hundreds of years," she said. "Think of anything that villages do these days, such as building cricket pavilions; this will outlast a lot of these things."

The two oldest of Bampton's five bells - the tenor and treble - were cast in 1729 and bear the Latin inscriptions 'To God's glory' and 'I call the people'.

Although the bells have not rung full-circle for four decades, they have continued to chime the hours and quarter-hours of Bampton's Edwardian church clock mechanism. As PCC secretary Andrew Yates explained, the chime - called Stoke St Gregory - is unique to just three churches.

"We wanted to preserve the old bells as they are, with the chime sounding on them, because they have rung out since 1909 when the clock was put in by Miss Jane Dalton," he said. "It is very much part of the valley's heritage."

To donate to the Bampton Bell Appeal or find out more, visit www.bamptonlakedistrict.org.uk and www.facebook.com/bamptonbells