Rounds, call changes, plain hunt and method ringing — how an English peal of bells is rung in changing patterns rather than tunes.
Each bell is attached to a beam known as the headstock, which has bearings at each end fixed to a frame so that the bell and headstock are free to swing. There is a wheel attached to the headstock, with a rope that passes over pulleys to the ringer standing below.
By pulling on the rope, the bell can be made to swing. Eventually it is rung up to a position with the bell mouth uppermost, where a wooden stay prevents it from rotating beyond 180 degrees. From this starting position the rope is pulled — the handstroke — and the bell swings in a full circle. Pulling the rope again — the backstroke — swings it back to its starting position.
Full circle ringing is not unique to the UK. Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers is the authoritative source for current information about rings of bells worldwide.
The simplest way to ring is in rounds: the bells are rung in a descending scale. The treble (lightest bell) goes first, then each bell in turn, finishing with the tenor (heaviest). On six bells, that's 1 2 3 4 5 6.
The conductor can call the bells to change the pattern of ringing — calling one bell to change place with another adjacent bell in the scale. So the pattern might change from 1 2 3 5 4 6 to 2 1 3 5 4 6. This way of ringing is therefore known as called changes, or call changes. It is a pleasant and effective way for the entire band to ring successfully.
If only ringing were that simple — there are two ways of calling a change, either up or down.
Calling up. From rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 the conductor may call "2 to 3", which becomes 1 3 2 4 5 6.
Calling down. From rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 the conductor may call "3 to 1", which becomes 1 3 2 4 5 6.
The progression from call changes is plain hunt, which is the basis of all method ringing. Bell 1 (the treble) hunts to the back and then returns to the front. Every bell changes one place on every stroke, except when it reaches first or last place where it stays for two strokes.
Follow the path of the treble (red) and the three (blue) on the diagram below. Regardless of the number of bells the method is the same: the even bells hunt to the front and the odd bells to the back. The example shows plain hunt doubles — five working bells — with bell six (the tenor) covering throughout, not hunting.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | h |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | b |
| 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 | h |
| 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | b |
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | h |
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | b |
| 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | h |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | b |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | h |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b |
Once a band can ring plain hunt confidently, the next step is method ringing. A method is a defined pattern of changes that bells follow without being called — the conductor only calls bobs and singles to vary the sequence. Methods rung at St Peter's include Plain Bob Doubles, Stedman Doubles, Cloister Doubles, Penultimus Doubles, Bastow Little Bob and Kent (Treble Bob Minor) — together with surprise minor methods such as Beverley and Bourne, rotated across the year.
Our practice-night ringing plan rotates through these and other elements over the course of six months, so that beginners can build up gradually and more experienced ringers keep their hand in across a range of methods.
If you'd like to come and watch — or come and learn — please contact our Tower Captain in advance to confirm we'll be ringing. Practice runs from 7.45pm to 9.00pm.