Month: September 2021

Ringing, 25 September 2021

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We had a small group today. Just Andrew, Maggie, and Randy. So we rang a lot of minor! Randy rang 1/2, Maggie rang 3/4, and Andrew rang 5/6.

We started with something we are all comfortable with – a touch of Plain Bob. It was a simple touch, with just a pair of Singles called, doubling the length of the plain course. Maggie was ringing 3/4, and so was the only one affected by the call.

We then rang St. Clements College Bob. This one took us a few tries to accomplish even a plain course. But we eventually got it, and even rang it a couple of times. At one point, Andrew decided to call a Single (again affecting only Maggie on 3/4), and we got through a couple of leads, but then failed.

We finished with Little Bob. This is such a fast a furious method! We were struggling with it, until Randy thought to call the special changes (when the treble is at the lead, and when the treble is at position 4). Once we realized how fast this was going, it was easier to get right, and we rang it a few times. Andrew was nice and didn’t call any changes.

By this time we had been ringing for more than an hour, and decided to call it a day. But we had a great time ringing!

Ringing, 25 September 2021

Ringing, 11 September 2021

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Today there were four of us; the usual suspects: Jane, Andrew, Maggie, and Randy.

We started with a plain course of St. Clements College Bob, and succeeded! Randy on 1/2, Maggie on 3/4, Andrew on 5/6, and Jane on 7/8. A good start to the day.

And then we got ambitious, and decided to ring a touch of St. Clements College Bob. Originally, Jane thought she would just call random bobs and singles. But before we started she changed her mind, and went to look up a real composition. Not gonna lie – we struggled. The first bob is not until the 6th lead, so we need to get through almost the entire method before that first bob. You would think that, having just rung the method, this would not be a challenge, but for some reason it was. And of course, once we got to that first bob, it gave us all kinds of trouble. So we took a look at what we actually intended to do, and because we are ringing handbells, we can just jump to any point, so we started up at the point of the bob. We got through one more lead, where another bob is called, and we failed again. So we looked at what needed to happen, went back to the point of the first bob, and tried again. This time we got through that second bob, but crashed soon afterwards. OK, let’s instead ring something we know better.

So we moved to Little Bob. This is a fairly easy method, and we succeeded on the first or second try. Whew! We’re not losing it quite yet.

Next was a splice of Little and Plain Bob, with some bobs thrown in for good measure. We actually got quite far with this before we crashed. But it was fun and mind-stretching, so all in all a good time.

We finished with a fairly fast plain course of Plain Bob, rung twice in a row, and succeeded.

All in all, a good day of ringing.

We will not ring next week, as three of us are otherwise engaged. I hope we can ring on the 25th, and I will report on our progress at that point.

Ringing, 11 September 2021

Ringing, 4 September 2021

rlzack1959, 4 Comments

There were 5 of us today. Jane, Randy, Andrew, Maggie, and Erik. Erik is new, and so we didn’t ring as much as we usually do, since we were helping him out. This is the second time Erik has joined us.

We started with Plain Hunt on 6, with Randy on 1/2, Maggie on 3/4, and Erik on 5/6. Erik rang this last time he was here, and was able to ring it again.

We then added Andrew to ring Plain Hunt on 8, with Randy on 1/2, Maggie on 3/4, Andrew on 5/6, and Erik on 7/8. With some slight coaching from Jane, Erik again nailed this.

Next we added Jane to ring Plain Hunt on 10. Randy on 1/2, Maggie on 3/4, Andrew on 5/6, Jane on 7/8, and Erik on 9/10. Erik nailed this as well, after 1 or 2 attempts.

At this point, Jane and Erik retired to discuss theory (Plain Bob!!), and Randy, Maggie, and Andrew rang some minor. We started with Little Bob, and had a hard time (those leads come fast and furious!), but did ring a plain course of Little Bob a couple of times. Part of the issue is that we switched up bells, with Maggie on 1/2, Andrew on 3/4, and Randy on 5/6.

While Jane and Erik were discussing the logic behind Plain Bob, Randy, Maggie, and Andrew attempted St. Clements minor. We failed, but had fun trying. Again, we were ringing new bells – Maggie on 1/2, Andrew on 3/4, Randy on 5/6. After the second attempt, Jane and Erik returned to us.

At which point, Jane wanted to put into practice what she had just taught Erik. So we rang Plain Bob major, with Randy on 1/2, Andrew on 3/4, Jane on 5/6, and Erik on 7/8. With some coaching, We got through the method. It was the second attempt, if I recall correctly. After that attempt, Maggie stepped in to ring 3/4, and we did it again. And again we succeeded!

We ended with some speed ringing of Plain Bob major in our usual configuration of Randy on 1/2, Andrew on 3/4, Jane on 5/6, and Maggie on 7/8. Such a joy to ring something well known, and ring it fast!

There are no new methods here, so I am not linking to anything today. Previous posts should have links to the methods I listed here.

Ringing, 4 September 2021