Following the recent publication of the well-received downloadable posters about raising and lowering in peal we were forwarded the following excellent piece by Martin Spittle of the Truro Diocesan Guild of Ringers.
Originally produced for his own ringers, it has been published on their website and circulated widely in their Guild.
As well as being a worthwhile end in itself, raising and lowering in peal really does help to hone our skills in listening and fine-control bell-handling.
The article is in four parts – detailed tips and then a brief summary which may be used as a reminder just before starting a raise or lower.
We are most grateful to Martin Spittle for permission to share his article here.
Ringing Up
Remember the tenor is a bigger bell with a longer clapper which swings more slowly than the treble and other smaller bells’ clappers. As a band the quickest you can chime in peal is at the speed of the slowest bell’s clapper. So the treble and smaller bells have to be part way up before the tenor can chime successfully in peal.
There are 2 ways to start off. Make sure you know which is being used before your first pull.
- Bristol fashion. – ie first swing just treble strikes, next swing 1 and 2, next swing 1+2+3 etc. This will quite quickly get the treble part way up before the tenor joins in. Then slow down as the tenor can’t pull up as fast as the treble.
- Devon Style – bands start all together on the 3rd ‘Scat’ (pull). Everyone pulls gently together, not enough to make a bell strike. 3 pulls are needed to get a medium or larger sized tenor swinging enough to strike when checked the first time. Although you all start together, as the larger bells swing more slowly, by the 3rd pull the bells will usually be just separated in order time wise. On the 3rd pull, make it a sharp check to stop the bell while the clapper continues to swing and strikes the soundbow.
Note for the leader – If the tenor ringer is having a struggle to keep the bell down to chime the same speed as the treble, then the treble and smaller bells needs to go up more!
Keep close to the bell in front so that there is space for the second strike to slot in.
Every bell is different so watch and listen and be prepared to adjust on nearly every stroke.
As you all ring up you should keep closer than in normal rounds ringing.
Because the tenor swings more slowly, the trebles will get nearly up while the tenor is only half way up. If it were up as far as the little bells it would be striking a lot slower.
Small bells have to stay below the balance for some time as the tenor comes up towards the balance. When bells are nearly up it takes much less effort to take them up further, and therefore slow them down compared with a bell that is only half way up. Beware, on a small bell near the balance it is easy to overdo it, zoom up to the balance and therefore slow down the striking speed too much. The tenor and other larger bells cannot follow this so the small bell can suddenly gets out of sequence.
As the tenor gets closer to the balance it’s striking will slow down so the small bells should edge up towards the balance to slow down at the same rate as the tenor.
As you get pretty close to the balance the tenor can start to back off from the other bells, so the others should space out gently into the spaces that emerge.
Ringing Down
Treble will hopefully remember to tell the band how it will end – 3 miss and catch in rounds/Queens/etc
Get good steady rounds before starting to descend. Start by closing the bells up. Do not go down untilthe treble says “downwards”.
Make sure you ring the bells down rather than letting it fall down, making sure you strike the bell accurately. Try not to overpull as this can result in irregular striking. Aim to keep your distance from the bell in front by moving up the rope 1cm at a time every 2 or 3 pulls ie small changes. Shorten the rope to control the descent.
The trebles have to stay quite high until the tenors are further down to keep their relative speeds the same. Treble beware coming down too quickly at first.
If you find you are getting too close to the person you are following, stop taking in rope and pull harder and longer to stop lowering the bell which stops the strike rate getting quicker (Think – Pull away). Unless you are way out of place, don’t try to raise the bell again – just wait for the rest to come back to you. The other bell should start to drop away from you (or catch you up if you did overtake it) at which point start taking rope in again gently, so as not to overshoot and ending up too wide.
If you are getting a gap between you and the person you are following, take in your 1cm ‘nibbles’ more frequently until you start to catch them again, at that point stop taking in so much so you don’t overtake, as they continue to take in more you should find you stop catching them before you overtake, keep adjusting things almost every blow.
Remember: – If you have to adjust you speed to change your position relative to the bell in front, you have to change it back just before you get to the right place or you will overshoot. Even when you get out of place all the other bells continue to lower so their strike speed continually gets quicker.
Keep an eye on the treble in case the bell you are following gets well out of place.
Beware taking a coil doesn’t take in any extra rope. Grab the tail tightly with the upper hand so it doesn’t change position on the rope and bring the coil making hand in below it. Keep the coil-making hand in a straight line with the rope, don’t pull off to the side. Remember to pull in a straight vertical line! This will minimise any flap in the rope.
After the second reasonable sized coil you do not need to touch the sally again till striking near the end.
Continue inching your way up the rope.
As you get near the bottom, the tenor will stop clappering both sides and start to chime. This leaves a space – 12345612345 space. The treble should start to pull into this space, and as you all go down a bit more the next bell will do the same 1234561234 space. The treble keeps pulling in, and quite rapidly all bells end up chiming.
The tenor should bring the bell down to the lowest that it can keep chiming – ie the quickest the bell can chime.
The treble will close up to the tenor and all other bells space out in between. The treble says “3, miss, catch in eg. Rounds”. When the catch comes, catch and hold the rope still a little beyond the bottom of the rope’s swing, hold it, wait for the clapper to hit the bell and then immediately gently relax the bell back to bottom dead centre (ie still). If you hold the rope downtoolong the clapper may strike the bell again.
If the chiming was well struck then so will the catch be. Well done.
~o0o~
These summaries can be used in towers prior to ringing up or down
Ringing Up Summary
Stay close
Be prepared for the treble to start off quickly then slow down.
If you start crashing on the bell in front of you – pull harder and longer to raise the bell which slows the strike rate down a bit (Think – Pull away)
After 3 or 4 harder pulls – listen to see if things have improved. Beware overdoing it.
If you get a space from the bell in front – don’t pull as hard, stay still for half a dozen blows (don’t let any more rope out), until the gap is reducing. Once you can see/hear it reducing, start to pull again because you don’t want to overshoot your place and crash into them. Small bells resist the urge to whang it straight up at the end – the tenor cant keep up. Gently up to the balance.
Perfect!
Ringing Down Summary
Keep close and change to pull less with handstroke (which will disappear) and more with backstroke – better to slightly over pull than under pull.
Control descent by edging up the rope.
Taking a coil is a danger point, hold rope firmly in upper hand and take coil below so as not to take in extra rope.
Judge your gap by listening and watching the rope in front.
If you get too close to the bell in front then firm pulls x 2-3 and take less or no rope in and review. Once you start to pull away, resume taking in rope – remember they are still going down.
If too wide a gap then bring in more frequently for few blows and review. May need more as they are still going down. Once you are getting closer again, reduce your correction to avoid overshooting. Review every pull or 2.
Watch out for the treble pulling in quicker once tenor bell loses second strike. Keep quite close.
Once striking, Get closer to bell in front by checking the sally a little earlier. If too close, pull slightly more firmly and allow bell to rise before checking it again at next striking point.
Martin Spittle, Truro
