THE old school bell at Steam Mills School had been silent for as long as anyone could remember, all but forgotten on its rusty perch on a gable end.
That was until local firemen held a ladder training exercise at the school and noticed what a poor state it was in. They brought it down and decided to give it a clean-up.
"We had almost forgotten it," said a school spokesperson. "Of course we've had suspended ceilings installed and nobody knew where it was attached even if we wanted to ring it."
The cleaned-up bell was presented at the end of the summer term to outgoing head teacher Mrs Glenice Barnard, and after being re-installed by local contractors D.J. Hewer on a gable at the Cinderford end of the school where it can be clearly seen, it was officially declared in operation again by new head Janet Williams.
Performing the opening ceremony were the school's youngest pupil, Thomas Smith, and oldest, Samantha Nicholls.
"It is great. We can now ring it for break and at the end of break and for other occasions at the school," said the spokesperson. "It has a beautiful tone."
One of the first tasks the restored bell had was to call the whole school to its Harvest Bake just before the half-term holiday, which raised £86 which is to go to a local charity yet to be decided.