The speakers at the November meeting of the Stewarton and District Historical Society were Mr & Mrs A. Watt, from John Knox Church, who spoke about their Church bell.

This proved to be a fascinating subject, as the bell had been out of commission for some time due to the deterioration of its wooden supports. Their research led them to a bell foundry in London, where the bell had originally been cast. It is one of only two foundries left in Britain, and is also the foundry which cast Big Ben. It also cast a replica of the Liberty Bell in America, and members were able to watch a film of this replica being cast, in exactly the same way as the John Knox bell had been made. The foundry were interested to learn that one of their bells still existed in Stewarton, and expressed surprise at its size, in comparison to the bell tower. Thanks to the company's expertise, and the church's fund raising, the bell is now back in position and ringing as well as when it was first cast.