TAVISTOCK bell ringers rang a peal to welcome in the new Millennium at midnight on Year Year's Eve.
The bells were also rung at noon on New Year's Day, along with church bells up and down the country.
George Mudge, of Tavistock Bellringers, said: 'Obviously we were doing the same thing as usual, but although we couldn't see the people outside, we were well aware everyone was waiting — it was quite special.'
Among the ringers was Don Connett, the longest serving member of the group, who has been ringing the church bells in Tavistock since the late 1930s.
The new Millennium sees an additional feature in the bell tower — the town's chime bell which plays automatically four times a day.
The bell was erected in 1884 but has never worked properly — last year the town council, which owns the bell, paid for it to be wound electrically.
'We've got it going for the first time in many years — it plays a different tune every day of the week. We finished in 1999 what was started over a hundred years ago,' said Mr Mudge.
The chime bell will ring at 9am, noon, 6pm and 9pm — the only time it will not work is when the main bells are ready to ring.
Mr Mudge said although Tavistock has a very successful team of bellringers, the group is always happy to welcome newcomers of any age and experience.