In learning the blue line for Cambridge Surprise Minor we have looked first at what happens when you make ‘Cambridge places’. Next we will look at the back work and the front work. (The warning given before still applies: if you are reading this and trying to learn Cambridge, then don’t assume that the instructions here are right. I am doing this from memory as part of my own learning process.)
The back work in Cambridge is like this:
double dodge 5–6 up, lie behind, dodge 5–6 down with the treble, make 5th place (below the treble), dodge 5–6 up with the treble, lie behind, double dodge 5–6 down.
And we can draw this in diagrammatic form, like this:
-1-x–
1—x- double dodge 5–6 up
-1—x
–1-x-
—1-x
–1-x-
—1-x two blows at the back
—-1x and dodge 5–6 down with the treble
—-x1
—-1x
—-x1 make 5th place below the treble
—-x1
—-1x and dodge 5–6 up with the treble
—-x1
—-1x two blows at the back
—1-x
–1-x- and double dodge 5–6 down
—1-x
–1-x-
-1—x
1—x-
-1-x– and continue
Next, we come to the front work, which is something like this:
dodge 1–2 down, lead full, dodge 1–2 up, make 2nd place, lead full, dodge 1–2 up with the treble, make 2nd place over the treble, dodge 1–2 down with the treble, lead full, make 2nd place, dodge 1–2 down, lead full, dodge 1–2 up, and continue.
Got that? Perhaps a diagram will help:
–x–1
-x–1- start with a dodge 1–2 down
x—-1
-x—1
x—1- lead
x—-1
-x–1- and dodge 1–2 up
x–1–
-x1— make 2nd place
-x-1–
x-1— lead again
x1—-
1x—- dodge 1–2 up with the treble
x1—-
1x—- make 2nd place over the treble
1x—-
x1—- dodge 1–2 down with the treble
1x—-
x1—- and lead agan
x-1—
-x-1– make 2nd place again
-x1—
x–1– dodge 1–2 down
-x–1-
x—-1 lead
x—1-
-x—1 dodge 1–2 up
x—-1
-x–1-
–x–1 and onward
Now we have each of the components of Cambridge Surprise Minor. We just have to put them together, along with a few more dodges and some plain hunting.
0 CommentsI went yesterday to practice at Hemingford Grey. Although the tower captain there is away on an extended holiday, this is still a weekly gathering of more experienced ringers. At the end of the practice I was asked, ‘What method are you learning at the moment?’ Hmm, I thought, ‘Nothing really, busy running practices and teaching some beginners.’ Back came the suggestion ‘You could start having a look at Cambridge.’
So, I had a quick look at Cambridge Surprise Minor in Steve Coleman to see what is involved. I also glanced at Cambridge Surprise major, and quickly decided that I’d concentrate on Minor for now. If the Hemingford captain were around he’d probably throw me into the deep end with Major (as he threw me into Stedman Triples and Kent Treble Bob Major without first trying Doubles and Minor).
Anyway, after reading what Coleman has to say on the subject, the next step is to commit this to memory, and part of that process is to regurgitate it here. (Warning: if you are reading this and trying to learn Cambridge, then don’t assume that the instructions here are right. I am doing this from memory as part of my own learning process.)
We can divide a plain course of Cambridge into several pieces of work: the front work, the back work, and the places, which combined with a couple of other dodges, and some pieces of plain hunt, make up the method.
Coleman calls the places the most difficult bit, but they looked fairly easy to remember to me (though perhaps not so easy to remember when ringing, of course). Places are made in 3–4 up and in 3–4 down. Cambridge places in 3–4 up work as follows:
dodge 3–4 up, make 4ths place, make 3rds place, dodge 3–4 up, make 4ths place, make 3rds place, dodge 3–4 up
That’s it. Cambridge places down are the exact opposite of this:
dodge 3–4 down, make 3rds place, make 4ths place, dodge 3–4 down, make 3rds place, make 4ths place, dodge 3–4 down
If I remember correctly, then the dodge in the middle of the places work is made with the treble.
So, we can build a skeleton diagram of this, showing the treble and the bell making places.
First, Cambridge places up:
-x—1
–x-1- dodge 3–4 up
—x-1
–x–1
—x1- make 4ths place
—x-1
–x-1- make 3rds place
–x1–
–1x– dodge 3–4 up with the treble
–x1–
–1x– make 4ths place
-1-x–
1-x— make 3rds place
-1x—
1–x– dodge 3–4 up
1-x—
-1-x–
1—x- and continue
And secondly, Cambridge places down:
1—x-
-1-x– dodge 3–4 down
1-x—
1–x–
-1x— make 3rds place
1-x—
-1-x– make 4ths place
–1x–
–x1– dodge 3–4 down with the treble
–1x–
–x1– make 3rds place
–x-1-
—x-1 make 4ths place
—x1-
–x–1 dodge 3–4 down
—x-1
–x-1-
-x—1 and continue
That’s enough for now. Next we’ll look at the front work and the back work, and then we’ll put it all together.
0 CommentsThis afternoon saw the Annual Meeting of the Huntingdon District of the Ely Diocesan Association. Last year we hosted this at our own tower in St Ives. This year it was the turn of St Neots, which has a 10-bell tower. As I have never rung at a 10-bell tower before this was something of a challenge. And a tenor bell of some 29cwt — ours is a mere 12cwt, so the bells are considerably heavier than I am used to. The tower at St Neots is large and spacious, certainly compared with the few other towers I’ve been in. Here is a comfortable ringing chamber, 30 feet or so up the tower, with plenty of space for the 10 ropes to fall nicely in a large circle, and room around the ringers to sit or stand.
Soon after I arrived the ringing master called for a plain course of Bob Royal — that’s on all ten bells — and I decided to stand behind one of the ringers (bell 7) and see what it was like.
Then some call changes were rung, and I had a go at this, partly to get a feel for the bells, but even so I managed to make a few mistakes. Sigh. I sat down, not entirely impressed with myself.
Next the ringing master called for a touch of Grandsire Caters — that’s 9 bells, and a tenor cover. I stayed in my seat, but was eventually persuaded to ring bell 7, with an experienced ringer standing alongside me. Now in theory I can ring a touch of Grandsire Triples, and Caters is ‘only’ a couple more dodging places in 8–9 up and down. The bobs and singles are the same as for Triples. And then there’s the extra two ropes — counting my place up to ninth place was one thing, but could I see what was happening amidst all those ropes?
So, starting on 7, I dodged with 6 and then up to the back — easy because it is over 8 and 9. Down to the lead is still okay because the bells are still just plain hunting (so every other bell: up the even numbers and down the odds). Then as I came off the lead a Bob was called. ‘You’re in the hunt now,’ said the friendly voice at my side; ‘Thanks,’ I thought gratefully, vaguely aware of the fact. (Hindsight is a wonderful thing: I started by dodging 6–7 up, so I knew my next dodge would be 4–5 up; I should have also considered that a bob at that point would mean making 3rds place and going into the hunt; I should not have been surprised, but somehow I had not thought about what to do at a bob — let alone the inevitable single.)
Still, plain hunting is nice and easy, except that it’s on 10 bells, well 9 bells, because the tenor is just covering. Oh, and the treble is always the last bell when you’re in the hunt in Grandsire, so I only had to worry about 8 bells. And in fact that’s only 7 other bells. But with all these ropes, that’s still quite hard to see, certainly when you’ve not done it before. It was a bit like ringing Major for the first time — then I could see my place when I was in 2nd or 3rd, and when I was in 7th or 6th, and somewhere in the middle was 4th and 5th. Here, however, I could see my place when I was in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and when I was in 9th, 8th, 7th. And somewhere in the middle was 5th place and 6th. So ring at about the right place and hope for the best! ‘Bob!’ came the call and I double-dodged 4–5 down, coming out of the hunt. Now carry on plain hunting, and remember that you have to dodge 6–7 down next time.
I don’t remember the exact details of the touch, but there were a number of other bobs, which had me, for example, double-dodging in 8–9 up. And there was another call of ‘Single!’ Help, what do I do at a single?! Another friendly word from my minder put me right, and the touch continued and eventually completed.
Everyone seemed to think I’d done quite well, although perhaps they were just being polite. For myself, I thought I did just about tolerably, and it was an interesting experience: my ropesight was pretty good, just about good enough to cope with ringing Caters (though probably not good enough to ring Royal); my striking and handling could be improved, especially when ringing these heavy bells, somewhat heavier than I am used to; and I need to commit Grandsire to memory just a little better — I really shouldn’t have been caught out going into the hunt, and I ought to remember about singles and what to do at one.
1 CommentOh dear! I have been discovered! My ringing teacher said to me at Monday’s practice, ‘I was looking at your website…’. I shall have to be careful what I write!
His revenge was to tell me to learn a touch of Kent Treble Bob, the ‘blue line’ of which I learnt a few months ago, and I have had one attempt at ringing a plain course.
When ‘Bob’ is called, the treble is, of course, unaffected, and so are the two bells which are going into, or coming out of, the slow.
The bells which are dodging in 5–6 and above make two extra dodges — three dodges in all, rather than one.
One bell makes the bob: the bell which is making 3rds and 4ths places up the second time. It makes 3rds and 4ths up, and then immediately rings 4ths and 3rds down, and goes straight down to the lead. It has become the bell making 3rds and 4ths down the first time, so it will make 3rds and 4ths down again next time, and then go back into the slow.
The bells which triple dodge at the back continue in their treble bob course. Each of them is delayed in making 3rds and 4ths down by one lead end (because the bell which made the bob has pushed itself in, instead).
Remember that you know you will have to make 3rds and 4ths down for the first time in the next lead end — because you dodge 3–4 down with the treble. So you ‘just’ have to notice when you are dodging with the treble in that position.
0 Comments… say the bells of St Clement’s.
But ringing St Clement’s Major is another matter. There we were, ringing rounds, and about to ring a touch of something, when the conductor (on bell 7) turned to me (bell 6) and said, ‘We’ll ring St Clement’s’ and then proceeded to explain(!) ‘It’s the reverse dodging order of Bob Major. And you make reverse 3rds. And you do some dodging at the front.’ Or something like that.
So off we went, and starting from 6th place I hunted down to 3rd, made 3rds place and back up to the back, 2 blows at the back and then down towards the front, dodging 3–4 down on the way, and then start dodging at the front. Bell 4 seemed quite happy to be dodging with me, but the conductor at this point decided something had gone wrong and called rounds. But, even assuming that I had not already gone wrong, I don’t think there was any way that I could have managed to complete the plain course. A little homework is necessary…
0 CommentsA few weeks ago, as part of an on-line discussion of Dorothy L Sayer’s Nine Tailors, I sat down and taught myself Kent Treble Bob (and Oxford Treble Bob for good measure, though that doesn’t appear in the book). On Wednesday I finally got a chance to try this out, at practice at Hemingford Grey. We set out to ring a plain course of Kent Treble Bob Major. I chose to ring bell 6 (because I reckoned that bell 6 or bell 4 would be easiest to keep my place — see below), but there were a number of complications. First, the ringer of the treble had never done any treble bob hunting before, but she did have an experienced ringer standing behind her to help; secondly, at least two of the other ringers were not entirely comfortable with Kent.
Why did I choose bell 6? Because, at the start, after dodging with bell 5, bell 6 next dodges in 3–4 down with the treble, and this means that next two times you find yourself in 3–4 down you have to make places (4ths then 3rds) rather than dodging, and after this second time you immediately dodge with the treble in 1–2 and go ‘into the slow’. All the bells have to do this, but 4 goes straight into the slow from the start, and 6 next time; the other bells have to wait longer for this to happen — more time for a beginner to miss this important work.
So, off we went, and I was pleased that I managed to keep my place throughout, and so did the treble. One of the other ringers was a bit wobbly, but what really threw us was that the conductor — naturally trying to keep track of what these inexperienced ringers were doing — himself went wrong, telling me, for example, to dodge with him in 5–6 when I was in the slow (but I was sure I was right and ignored him). Still, we managed some 5 or so leads of a plain course (which would be 7 leads in total, I think). During those 5 leads I had done all my ‘hard’ work — making places down, doing the slow work at the front, making places up — and was into the ‘ordinary’ work — dodging in 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8 up and down. We immediately had another go at a plain course, but — for the same reasons — this was less successful than the first.
So I was quite pleased with myself: I had rung most of a plain course of Kent Treble Bob Major, and it wasn’t my fault that it had gone wrong!
0 CommentsI need to get my head around bobs in Grandsire Triples.
In Grandsire, the treble always plain hunts, and in a plain course one other bell plain hunts after it — bell 2 when starting from rounds. This other bell is said to be ‘in the hunt’. At a bob this bell leaves the hunt and joins the other bells in hunting and dodging, and one of the other bells joins the hunt in its place. How does this work?
If we are ringing bell 3, then starting from rounds we ring one blow at handstroke in third place and then hunt down to the lead, up to the back, and down again. Then we dodge in 4–5 down. The plain course continues with dodges in 6–7 down, 6–7 up, and 4–5 up. Then we make 3rds place, which brings us back to rounds.
When a bob is called the dodges are changed in the following way: the bell making 3rds place is unaffected and each of the other bells skips the dodge it would have done and instead double dodges the next dodge, so to speak. This has the following effect:
but:
and conversely
In this bob, two bells each make 3rds place — first the bell which would have dodged 4–5 up, but which makes 3rds and goes into the hunt. This bell makes ‘first 3rds’ at the bob. Secondly, the bell which was going to make 3rds anyway — it does so and continues in the normal way, unaffected by the bob. This bell makes ‘last 3rds’ at the bob.
When set down in this way it is fairly easy to remember. All that has to be done is to remember this in the heat of the moment: that is, know which dodge you are about to do next, and consider in advance what you must do if a bob happens to be called. There, touches of Grandsire Triples made easy! Except that we have not yet considered the question of calls of ‘Single!’.
Footnote (24 August 2004): A further point about bobs in Grandsire Triples, is that when a bob is called you double-dodge in the place you are in at the moment of the call (unless you were going to dodge 4–5 up, in which case you make 3rds and go into the hunt).
1 CommentHad a few more attempts at ringing Stedman at Hemingford Grey last night. We rang a couple of plain courses of doubles: first time I rang bell number 2, and afterwards I tried number 3. Both times I got it right. Later in the evening — after more ringers had turned up — we rang triples. I rang bell 4, and started off making a mess of things. I was immediately put right by the conductor (‘lead now!’), and from then on I was okay. I realized at the time that I had probably gone wrong in exactly the same way as I had done the very first time I had tried to ring Stedman. But I could not see at all what I was doing wrong.
Later, when driving home, I worked out what I had probably done on both occasions. Bell number 4 starts by dodging once with 5 (i.e., from ringing in 4th place at rounds, you ring one blow in 5th, one blow in 4th, and then ‘go in slow’, that is, two blows in 3rd place and down to the lead). I had forgotten to do the dodge with 5, instead trying to go in slow immediately with the two blows in 3rd place. Obviously something to remember — not just ‘go in slow’, but ‘dodge 4/5 down’ first.
We also tried to ring a touch of Grandsire Triples, with me ringing bell 6. In a plain course of Grandsire Triples there are dodges in 4/5 up, 6/7 up, 6/7 down, 4/5 down, and then make 3rds. But I haven’t got the hang of bobs in this method yet. Ringing 6 the first dodge is in 6/7 up, but a bob called before this means do a double-dodge in 4/5 up; another bob was called as I was about to make 3rd — which is unaffected by the call. We did this a couple of times, then a bob was called in some other position, and I was somewhat lost. We struggled to the finishing post which was by then in sight. More work needed to understand bobs in Grandsire…
0 CommentsAfter some hints at last Wednesday’s practice at Hemingford Grey, I have spent a while getting to grips with Stedman, a method (or rather a principle) devised in the 1670s. A couple of things helped me. First, when I began to learn to ring, Stedman was the first method that I learnt to ring a cover bell to, and one of the things I did was to learn the pattern in which pairs of bells come to the back. In a notebook I had sketched this out, writing out a plain course of the last two bells — the first time I had done this. The second help was that I spent an hour each way on the train to London, and decided to use it to work out the full plain course for Stedman Doubles. Turning to the back of the notebook I had with me I found my notes of 18 months earlier which I had entirely forgotten about.
Stedman is based on the two orders in which you can arrange six bells. There are only six ways you can arrange six bells, and in ringing there are only two ways of arranging these six different changes, since a bell can only exchange places with its nearest neighbour (or stay in the same place). These two ways can be considered as: ‘forward hunting’ in which the bell in first place hunts to third place, and then down to the front again; and ‘backward hunting’ where the bell in third place hunts down to the front, leads, and hunts back up to third place again. Stedman consists of each of these ‘sixes’ performed alternately. At the end of each ‘six’ the bell in third place moves out of the front three into fourth place, and the bell which was in fourth place moves down to take its place. And during each ‘six’ the bells in fourth and fifth places dodge with each other.
Armed with this information, you can then work out a plain course of Stedman Doubles, or indeed Triples.
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Then came the moment of truth, this Wednesday. ‘Did you have a look at Stedman?’ I am asked. ‘Right, we’ll ring Stedman Triples.’ So we rang Stedman Triples — and I made a complete hash of it. Very annoying, having put some effort into thoroughly learning the ‘blue line’, and knowing exactly what I was supposed to be doing — but actually trying to remember that and ring at the same time was too much. Later in the practice we had another go, with me again ringing bell number 4. This time — I got it right, and we rang a plain course of Stedman Triples without me going wrong. I guess my striking could have been better, but I never lost my place, knew what I should be doing, and was always more or less in the right place. Phew! Now to do it a lot better.
0 CommentsFor quite a while now practice has involved ringing touches of bob doubles, minor, triples, and even bob major, in which the conductor has called various bobs. So it came as something of a surprise tonight when a ‘single’ was called a short way into a touch of bob triples. Of course, I had no idea what to do, and as I was (or should have been) affected by the call, since I would otherwise have been dodging 3/4 up, the whole thing went wrong. Oh well, that’s what practice nights are for.
So we had another go, after it was explained what I should be doing: if dodging 3/4 up then instead make fourth’s place, hunt to the front, and next time dodge 5/6 down; and if dodging 3/4 down then make third’s place, hunt to the back and next time make second’s place. In other words, the bells that would otherwise be dodging 3/4 up and 3/4 down effectively swap places. And it worked! We got through the touch without further errors, a single being called twice with me affected. Phew!
So in theory I can now ring any touch of Plain Bob. We shall see.
0 Comments