We were 3 tonight, and so we rang Minor. Ringers were Maggie, Jane, and Randy.

Jane is not happy with the method that we have been working on. She feels that ringing a long length will be difficult, because there are no hints as to when to call a Bob or Single. I tend to agree.

So she found a method for us to ring tonight, which is more standard. (Though we won’t be able to name it, sadly.) The method is College Bob minor, and is very similar to St. Clements College Bob. The difference are the lead ends; instead of making 2nds (as in most Plain methods), we make 6ths. This has an amazing effect on the sound of the ringing!

So, let’s go. Maggie on the trebles, Jane on 3/4, Randy on the tenors. It took us only a single crash to be able to ring this all the way through with that configuration. (Maggie is amazing on trebles!) In other words, we rang the entire method on our second attempt.

Jane asked, “Do we want to switch bells? Or ring a short touch?” We decided to switch bells, and so Jane took the trebles, Randy rang 3/4, and Maggie was on the tenors. These are pairs that we are mostly uncomfortable with, and so it took quite a few more attempts before we were able to ring the entire method. And even then, it wasn’t as clean as it could have been.

By this point, it was starting to get late, but Randy wanted a chance on the trebles. And so we switched again, with Randy on the trebles, Jane on 3/4, and Maggie on the tenors. Because Maggie and Jane were ringing bells they had rung before, and Randy is fairly decent on the trebles, we were able to ring this on our second attempt. Again, maybe not as cleanly as the first configuration, but we did it. And called it a night.

We were looking forward to ringing this with more people, and it appears that there is a corresponding Major method, Crayford College Bob. We will ring this in the next few weeks, and I will report back!

All in all, a fun night of ringing.