This being Scotland, we have a storm door and an inner door.  All very useful given the weather.   However the only bell for the house is a buzzer between the two.   So since we moved in, we’ve been living with a bit of scruffy paper pinned to the front door that alerts all visitors to this rather unsatisfactory arrangement.  

Today at last we dispensed with the buzzer (and the paper) and replaced with a much more seemly antique servants bell inside and a new brass bell pull on the outside wall.

The brass handle of the bell pull is lovely to use –  heavy and sleek  – and as it smoothly slides back into place a satisfying tinkling follows.   We soon discovered though that a ‘tinkling’ isn’t going to stir many souls inside. On that front I’m afraid the electronic buzzer wins hands down.    So now we need to find a larger bell or … hire a butler!