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Introduction
Fairly recently I began to learn how to call touches for simple methods.
These pages collect together much of what I have learnt so far. I have
written this so that I have a record of what I thought as I was learning,
before I take it all for granted, and I have put it online for other ringers
because I noticed that there wasn't anything similar.
I have been adding more pages as I learn and I have tried to explain
everything fully and simply. It surprised me that calling a touch is
actually not too difficult, so I would encourage anyone thinking about
trying for the first time to give it a go.

47

 





 
  
  
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Examples of calling a plain course

Imagine you are ringing the 3 to Plain Bob Doubles...
12345 - ring rounds until everyone is steady
12345
....
12345 - "Go, Bob Doubles" at a handstroke
12345
21435
24153
.
13254 - you make 2nds
13524
.
15342 - you dodge 3-4 down
15432

14523 - you make long 5ths

14253
.
32514
23154
21345 you are about to dodge 3-4 up
12435 - "That's all!" at handstroke
12345

You can also notice that the 4 and 5 are back home
halfway through. The 4 does the same work at each
set of three Homes - In, Out, Make. You can see this
from the table of work of each bell affected at a bob:

Out In Make

I have also written about this in the quarter of Yorkshire.

The coursing order in Plain Bob is the order in which the bells come
down to lead and so is the order in which you follow them as you hunt
up and down, starting with your after bell. This means you can check
them all every time you pass them to make sure they are right. You
need to allow for where the treble will be so it is important to know
where you need to pass the treble for each approaching bit of work.
For calling the quarter you obviously also need to look at the things
you would usually, such as what your work is when the calls are
going to be made, how many leads between calls, if you come back
into the plain course at any point (you do, after the second single
wrong, as you can see from the coursing order at that point), which
bells are affected at the singles. Plus anything else you notice and
find helpful.
I found following coursing orders for this quarter really rewarding
because I could be sure that nothing had gone wrong and I had a
much better chance of keeping people right.

So, to reiterate, this is what happens as you are hunting

up to the 3-4 up dodge:
You have led, then you strike in 2nds place (the call is
coming soon), then in 3rds place (the call will be at the
next stroke), then in 4ths ("That's all!") and then you strike
back into 3rds place which is rounds.
I find it very helpful to give myself a running commentary
(such as the remarks in brackets) as I get near to any call.

45

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It is really important
to put in sufficient mental preparation before you try and call any plain
course, call changes, touch or quarter peal in the tower.
Learn the actual touch, i.e. what happens.
Look at what the work of your chosen bell will be at each call.
For each call know whether you will call it at handstroke or

backstroke.
For each call work out what place your bell will be in.
Look at how many leads there are between calls. (A lead is the
ringing between the treble leading and the treble leading again.)
Go through the touch fully in your mind. Imagine you are ringing it.
I have found this kind of preparation very useful. If it seems too much
effort, remember that once you get used to it and have called
something a few times then it will not be necessary anymore.

1250 of Cambridge Surprise Major, composed by Mark Davies:

M

H
2

Round two blows

later (i.e. at the
treble's snap)
Here are the coursing
order transpositions:
53246

52436

54326

54263

42563

42635

sW

62435

64325

sW

34625

sH

32645

sM

32546

sW

52346

43

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Calling the bells into Queens

- wait for the rounds to be
12345678
even
"2 to 3"
13245678

- ring this change a few times

"4 to 5"

13254678

- ring this change a few times

"2 to 5"

13524678
"6 to 7"
13524768
"4 to 7"
13527468

13572468

"2 to 7"
- this is Queens and sounds
particularly good, so ring this
more times
"7 to 2"

13527468
"7 to 4"
13524768

In this example we have

got back to rounds from
Queens in exact reverse
to how we got there, so
each change is repeated.
Once you get used to
calling call changes you
will be able to call
something more
complicated, ideally you
won't repeat any changes
and you will listen to try
and include a good
number of musical
changes.
Often people swap the
bells over fairly swiftly
until they get to a musical
change and then they
stay on that change for a
bit longer.

"7 to 6"
13524678
"5 to 2"
13254678
"5 to 4"
13245678
12345678

"3 to 2"
- back to rounds again

It is not compulsory to call

the bells into named
positions such as those
below. You can mix them
up as you like and also try
and find your own musical
changes.

In simple touches and quarter peals the tenors (the 7 and 8) are not
affected by calls so we can ignore them and think of the coursing
order as 53246. Now let us look at the effects calls have on coursing
orders.
We will look at the effects of bobs and singles at Home, Wrong,
Middle and bobs at Before. If you are not sure already what these
terms mean then you can find out on the Position of Calls page.
Bob at Wrong
Rotates first three bells
53246
32546

Single at Wrong
Swaps first and third bells.
53246
23546

Bob at Home
Rotates central three bells
53246
52436

Single at Home
Swaps 2nd and 4th bells
53246
54236

Bob at Middle
Rotates last three bells
53246
53462

Single at Middle
Swaps 3rd and 5th bells
53246
53642

Bob at Before
Last bell comes to the front
53246
65324

These are some musical changes that you can choose to go between:
Queens 135246 (on 6), 13572468 (on 8) - odd bells, then even bells
Tittums 142536 (on 6), 15263748 (on 8)
Whittingtons 12753468 - 1, 2, up the odds, down the evens
Kings - 531246 - Whittingtons on 6
8

41

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Calling another bell unaffected:

If you are not making long 5ths at a bob there are three options for
what you might do: run in, run out, make two blows in fourths (known
as making the bob). Calling another bell unaffected is equivalent to
calling yourself to do each of these things once.
In Out Make In Out Make In etc etc.
This means either:
You can call yourself to run in (when you would have
dodged 3-4 down), then run out (when you would have
made 2nds) and finally make the bob (when you would
have dodged 3-4 up).
These can be remembered as In, Out, Make or with
words to remember IOM such as Isle of Man.
Or:
You can run out (when you would have made 2nds),
make the bob (when you would have dodged 3-4 up)
and finally run in (when you would have dodged 3-4
down). This is Out, Make, In
Or:
You can make the bob, run in and then run out.
"Make, In, Out".
Calls in Plain Bob come when the treble pulls off in 2nds place, so
when she is just about to lead. This means that:
If you are going to run in at a bob the call comes when you are in
4ths place, just before you dodge.
If you are going to run out then the call comes at your second blow
in lead.
If you are going to make the bob then the call comes when you are
in 3rds place, just before you dodge.

Home
This means that the tenor is about to come back to its starting
position. For Bob Minor this is when the 6 is about to dodge 5-6
down. For Grandsire Triples it would be when the 7 is about to dodge
6-7 up. It is also when the tenor becomes 6ths place bell in minor. For
major it will be when the tenor is about to become 8ths place bell, and
so on. If you don't really know methods by place bells then have a
look in the Diary or some other ringing book, they will be marked
there. (8ths place bell is just the first lead that the tenor rings, 2nds
place bell is the first lead that the 2 rings, and so on.) For those
mathematically inclined, Home is when the tenor is about to become
nths place bell where n is the number of bells. If you call the 5th
unaffected in Bob Doubles this is calling three Homes.
Wrong
This means that the tenor is about to become 5ths place bell in minor,
7ths place bell in major etc. For example, 5-6 up in Plain Bob Minor
and 7ths place bell (lie, dodge, plain hunt down, dodge-lie-dodge on
the front, 3-4 places) in Cambridge S Major. That is, when the tenor is
about to become n-1'ths place bell.
Middle
This means the tenor is about to become n-2'ths place bell. You do
not really use this position in minor. In major the tenor is about to
become 6ths place bell.

The calls come at backstroke and they always come at backstroke for
Plain Bob on any number of bells.

Before
This means that if there is a bob then the tenor will run out. So in Bob
Minor it is when the 6 is about to become 2nds place bell (that is,
make 2nds over the treble). In Cambridge S Major it is also when the
tenor is about to become 2nds place bell (that is, about to make 2nds
over the treble and then do Cambridge front work). However, in
Bristol S Major it is when the tenor is about to become 3rds place bell
because in the plain course no-one makes 2nds over the treble, you
just run out whether or not there is a bob.

Just as for the 120 when you call yourself unaffected, you need to call
three bobs with these touches. The four 120s this gives are the only
ones possible for Plain Bob Doubles.

These are the main positions. The calls are put in just before you get
to the leadend in question, e.g. for a Wrong in Bob Minor make the
call when the tenor strikes in 5ths place before dodging 5-6 up.

10

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22

Calling a particular bell unaffected:

Say my tower captain asks me to call the 3 to be unaffected and I am
ringing the 5. I have a little think before we start and before I call "Go,
Plain Bob Doubles".
I know the first work of the 3 is to make 2nds, then he dodges 3-4
down, then at the end of the third lead (as his third piece of work) he
makes long 5ths. This is where the bob needs to be for him to be
unaffected and ring only plain courses. So the bob will be at the third
lead. Then I work out that from the 5 I first dodge 3-4 up, then make
2nds and as my third piece of work I would dodge 3-4 down. However
this is where the bob is going to be so instead I will want to run in.
Since this first bob makes me run in I know that I need to call myself to
do In, Out, Make. Now I start the touch and call myself to do that.
Keeping things right...
You may like to look at the page on Coursing Orders if you are
interested in learning to keep people right in addition to putting the
calls in.
You can use these touches for other methods too
For any method where you make long 5ths behind you can call
yourself unaffected. Examples are Reverse Canterbury Pleasure Place
Doubles, St Simons Bob Doubles, St Martins Bob Doubles. You can
also call In, Out, Make as you are about to dodge 3-4 down, make
2nds, or dodge 3-4 up for the methods in which this happens.

Then you can look at how

many leads there are
between each call useful
for knowing how much
time you have available to
work out what is
happening before you
need to make a call.
Work out who you are
coursing (if you're ringing
the 6 you start by coursing
the 4) useful for knowing
who you are dodging with
at the back and front and
who cuts through your
places etc.
Work out who is coursing
you for the same reasons
the 8 is always coursing
the 6 in this composition.
You can try working out
which bell does which
work at each call and the
full coursing orders.
I guess the more you know about the
method and composition the better,
but you cant expect to remember all
of it at once and some things are
more important than others.
I'd concentrate first on being
absolutely sure where the calls come
with respect to the work of your own
bell. But the most important thing by
far, though it sounds silly, is not to go
wrong yourself.

12

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2

Grandsire Doubles
In Grandsire the calls come when the treble is in 3rds place

on the way down, so at a handstroke.

If you want to make yourself double-dodge 4-5 down, then

the call is at your last blow as you lie in 5ths.

If you want to make yourself double-dodge 4-5 up, then the
call is at your first blow in 4ths before the dodge.
If you want to call a bob leaving yourself unaffected making
3rds or a single to make yourself make 2nds over the treble,
then the call comes at your first blow at lead.
If you want to call a bob to make yourself make 3rds and go
into the hunt or a single to make yourself make long 3rds,
then the bob comes when you are in 2nds place coming
away from lead.

The handstroke you need is the change before you ring backwards
rounds, which is when the 5 (in the middle of 7ths place bell) rings in
3rds place in the middle of the dodge at the end of the first set of 3-4
places. When you ring in 4ths place on your way up call "That's all"
and it should come round at the next change.
Three leads of Bristol
It is however common to ring three leads of Bristol S Major. To do this
you call a bob at the end of each lead. This works because the 5, 6, 7
and 8 all dodge at a bob and repeat the work that they have just
done. (You can also say that they repeat the place bell.)
The 2, 3 and 4 ring those place bells once each. As in Plain Bob, the
calls come the change before the treble leads full, so when the treble
dodges back into 2nds place and 2 blows before you become your
next place bell.

Calling yourself half-hunt

Just as with Plain Bob Doubles, PBPBPB or BPBPBP is a 60.
Ring the 5 or 3 respectively. When you ring the 3....
Youve just finished making 3rds so your next work is going
to be 4-5 down. But because were ringing the BPBPBP
touch, you now call a bob and double-dodge 4-5 up.
The next lead is a plain lead, so you make thirds as normal.
Then you have a bobbed lead (a bobbed lead is a lead
where there is a bob), so you call a bob and again you
double-dodge 4-5 up, instead of 4-5 down.
You have another plain lead, make thirds.
And then for the third time you call a bob and double-dodge
4-5 up. You make thirds one last time and the 60 comes
round.
All half-hunt means is that you ring this repeated pattern of
3rds and double-dodge 4-5 up. Half-hunt is special because its
the most regular pattern a bell can have in a touch of Grandsire
Doubles and so the nearest to an observation bell.
However, this is only a 60 and we really want a 120. So what
we do is replace any one of those bobs with a single and repeat
the whole thing. This gives us BPBPSP BPBPSP, or BPSPBP
BPSPBP, or PBPBPS PBPBPS you get the idea!
14

35

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With Grandsire Doubles you can also have 240's where you have each
change twice

Calling touches where the calls are not only at S, H, L or Q

You might want to look at the calling positions again.

The most commonly rung of these are called Morris' 240's after their
composer. You can find some of these in the Ringing World Diary.
For a quarter peal of Grandsire Doubles you need ten 120's and a 60,
just as for a quarter peal of Plain Bob Doubles. You can use the 240's
and other lengths too if you like.
Grandsire has a reputation of being hard to call. I do not understand
exactly why this is and do not agree with it. If you do your preparation
and work out where the calls will come as described above, there is
absolutely no reason why you should find it any harder than Plain Bob.

117
2314567
3425167

4675312

5231674

2156374

2163574

1325674

3712546

7462351

2135476

This is how the Diary gives the touch we are

going to look at. The right-hand column is the
important one.
The only bell which is not affected by a call at
the back in this touch is the 3, so this is
probably the easiest bell to call it from at first.
The Diary tells you that you make calls when
the 3 is in the positions 5, 8, 12, 13, 14, 3, 5, 8,
12 (single).
Look at where these positions are on the blue
line. Learn where these positions are!

Notice that when you call a bob at 14 you make the bob and so

miss out some of the blue line.

The touch comes round 2 blows after the single.
Once you've called this you can try working out which positions the

calls come in for another bell.

The next thing will be to be comfortable enough with the touch to
remember "1, 3, 4, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4s" and call it from this.
And after that see about learning it in the form "1, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11,
13, 16, 20s".

16

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2

A quarter peal of Plain Bob Minor:

168 changes - S or H or L or Q, all repeated once

The simplest way to call a quarter of Bob Minor is to call a 720 (an
extent, i.e. all the possible changes) followed by a 540, and to call this
from the tenor. However, for my first quarter of Bob Minor as conductor
I knew that I couldn't manage the tenor and concentrate on the calls,
so I chose this 1260 in which the 4 repeats the same work six times.

These are several simple touches which can be called from any bell
and in which you are always unaffected. One such is to call bobs at
the S positions (positions 3 and 4) and then call them again the next
time you get to these points. So four bobs in all and you ring 2 plain
courses in all. Suppose you are ringing the 4

1260 Plain Bob Minor

Composer: Glenn A A Taylor
2345

W B

5243

ss

six part
s for - halfway and end
omit ss from parts 4, 5, and 6

- means one bob

At a handstroke call "Go, Stedman Triples".

The 3 position comes upon you immediately, so

ss means two singles, a course (5

leads) apart

3 means three bobs, each a course

apart. In the 3rd and 6th parts
(halfway and end) its BBS instead of
BBB at this point.

W, B, H refer to the tenor being in

the Wrong, Before and Home
positions:

Wrong is when the tenor is about

to become 5ths place bell (in
Minor), which for Plain Bob is
when it's dodging 5-6 up.
Home is when the tenor is about
to become 6ths place bell (in
Minor), which for Plain Bob is
when it's dodging 5-6 down.
Before is when the tenor would
run out if a bob were called, which
for Plain Bob is when it's about to
become 2nds place bell making
2nds.

18

at the very next handstroke (you are dodging

into 5ths place) call "bob".
You go in slow and then the 4 position comes at
your 2nd blow in lead in your first whole turn.
You then finish the rest of the course - i.e. finish
the front work, go out, come back in and go in
quick and then back out again.
As you come down again you will be back to
your start position, so you again call a bob as
you dodge into 5ths place at the end of your
double-dodge in 4-5 and then call the last bob in
your second blow at lead in your whole turn.
Again, ring the rest of the course. As you do your
first dodge in 4-5 right at the end of this second
course (remember you have to go in and come
out quick first), you need to call "That's all!"

It works exactly the same starting from any working

bell. For example, from the 6 you do the in-and-outquick part of the plain course first, but the calls
come in the same place in your path.
Instead of using the S positions, it works just as well
with H or L or Q.
These touches are all 168 changes long.

31




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23

Plain Bob Triples

Stedman Doubles

112 changes - PBBP repeated

This means that first we have a plain lead (i.e. the treble comes back
down to lead and there is no call), followed by two bobbed leads (i.e.
you call a bob), then another plain lead and then we do that all over
again - giving us PBBPPBBP. This is called a 2-part composition
because we ring the PBBP block twice. The 6 is back home after the
first part (i.e. it is in 6th place, you can see this from the figure below),
as is the 7, so the work of these bells in the second half is the same as
in the first half. First we shall look at calling this touch from the 6.

Call 2 singles, with yourself and one other bell

Ringing the 6:

Choose your bell and choose another with whom youre going to
make the singles. As you come to double-dodge either 4-5 up or
down with this bell call a single in your first blow in 4ths place if you
would have dodged up, or your last blow lying in 5ths place if you
would have dodged down. So the calls come at handstroke.
Make the single, and remember that if you make a single it changes
the way you go back down to the front. When you meet this bell again
call the second single and do the other part of making a single (i.e. do
cats ears then anti-cats ears, or vice versa). This is a 120.

The first lead is plain, so you make long

7ths unaffected.
At the next lead end (that is, when the

treble comes back to lead) you call a bob

but since you are dodging 5-6 up you are
unaffected. Since this is Plain Bob, the
call comes when the treble is in 2nds
place and so that is when you are in 5ths
place before your dodge.
There is a bob at the next lead, but this
time you will be affected. You would have
dodged 3-4 up but call the bob when you
are in 3rds place, make 4ths and come
back to lead.
The next lead is plain, you dodge 5-6
down. You are now back in 6ths place
and we are half way through the
composition, so now you just do the same
thing all over again.
When you are doing this 5-6 down dodge
for the second time you will need to call
"That's all!" It comes the blow before
rounds, so as you are in 5ths place before
you dodge back to 6ths place.

20

In this diagram, the calling positions for these kind of

touches are marked with green circles.
The calling points for calling yourself unaffected are
marked with red circles on this diagram to the left.
The green circles mark the points where you will be
affected, as discussed above.
Choose any one of these points to call a single. You
will ring two plain courses, and call a single each time
you get to this point. Remember to bear in mind
where your plain courses will end, i.e. where the
touch will come round.
If you have looked at calling Stedman Triples then
you will see that the calls are two changes later than
they would be in triples (for example, instead of there
being a calling point when you are in 2nds as you
come out quick, there is a calling point in 4ths before
you dodge.)

29


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This is how this touch is written out in, say, the Ringing World Diary.
112

First it tells us how many changes the touch is (112).

You can see that the underlined row is rounds.

234567
352746
-

357624

356472
543267
Repeat

Each line represents a lead end, i.e. 1352746 is the

change at the treble's backstroke when it comes
back to the front for the first time after we begin.
[This change is more correctly called the lead head
with the lead end being at the treble's handstroke
lead.] We do not include the treble in the notation
because by definition it must always be at the front
of the change at a lead end.

A dash in the left column, "-", means that there is a bob at that lead
end, a blank means it is a plain lead. If it were a touch with singles
there would be an "S" against the lead ends where you needed to call
a single.
"Repeat" tells you to ring it again. If a touch has "repeat twice" that
means you ring it 3 times in total, and so on. So from this way of
writing the touch you can extract PBBPPBBP, and it's also a quicker
way to see what each bell is doing at each lead end than always
working it out from the beginning - for example, at the third lead end
the 5 has become 3rds place bell and so will make 2nds next time
(providing there is no call).

22

Bringing it all together we see...

Call a single to make the 4 double-dodge 4-5 up
Call the second single to make the 4 double-dodge 6-7 down
(with the 6)

Call a bob to do the same

Call a second bob to do the same

Then call yourself in...

... and out of the hunt with bobs (unless it is the end of the 3rd
or 6th part, when you need the second bob to be a single)

You can then have a look at what your work is at every call..
4-5 down - this is what you do at the very start
P

6-7 down

double-dodge 4-5 up

3rds unaffected

double-dodge 6-7 down

6-7 up

4-5 up

3rds unaffected

double-dodge 6-7 down

6-7 up

4-5 up

3rds unaffected

double-dodge 6-7 down

6-7 up

make 3rds, into the hunt

out of the hunt, double-dodge 4-5 down - (end of the part

and start again)

27


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The numbers to the left are how you would find

this touch written out in the Ringing World Diary.

139 changes - PPSBPBBPPP

139
234567
S

642375

536742

425673

364725

To start off, pick a bell and work

out what your work is going to be
at every call. So suppose youre
going to ring the 4:
For the first two leads (which are
plain) you dodge 6-7 down and
6-7 up.

Then youre going to call a single.

P
(325476) 3 You would have dodged 4-5 up,
but instead you will miss out this
piece of work and call yourself to make long thirds.
Since you need to put the call in when the treble is in
3rds place, this will be when you are in 2nds place
coming away from the front.
There is going to be a bob the very next lead, when
you would have done 4-5 down. Instead you call
yourself to double-dodge 6-7 down, so you need to put
the bob in when you are making your second blow
behind. (Im going to stop telling you which place
youre in when you make the call now youll need to
look at a blue line and work it out, it isnt hard.)
Then theres a plain lead, you dodge 6-7 up, and then
at the next bob you make 3rds and go into the hunt.
The next lead you come out of the hunt (this bit is like
the touch above) by double-dodging 4-5 down.
Finally you dodge 6-7 down and 6-7 up and as you are
about to dodge 4-5 up it comes round at handstroke.
When a touch comes round at handstroke you need to
call "That's all" at the backstroke before.

139

The top number, 139, is the number of changes.

234567
S 642375

536742

425673

364725

P (325476) 3

The groups of 6 numbers are the lead ends. The

treble doesn't appear in these because it will
always be the first bell - because a lead end is
the backstroke when the treble leads - and
neither does the tenor because in Grandsire
Triples it is covering. It is common practice to
leave out the back bells if they are unaffected.

The first group of 6 numbers is rounds. The last is in brackets

because this touch comes around at the handstroke before the actual
lead end, but this is the next change you would ring if you kept going.
Down the left hand side, "S" means that you call a single and "-"
means that you call a bob. The corresponding lead ends are the ones
which you get once you've made those calls.
The numbers down the right hand side indicate how many leads you
have to wait before you make the next call. So for the first one you
have two plain leads and on the 3rd you call a single. You don't have
any spare leads before the next call, it's a bob the next lead.
Tip: If a touch of Grandsire comes round at a plain lead then half way
through the last lead you will get backwards rounds (providing
everybody is in the right place!) This can be useful if you are not quite
sure when the touch ends.

Then have a go working this out for other bells. After

knowing it for a few different bells and calling it a few
times you should be able to remember PPSBPBBPPP
and work out what happens as you go along.
24

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A quarter peal of Grandsire Triples:

First note that this is a 6 part composition,
since we are told to "repeat five times".

1260
234567
S

762453

357246

573246

735246

467523

354267
1
Repeat five
times, S for B
at 3rd and
6th part ends

The sets of six numbers are the leadends for

the first part. The S's and dashes on the left
tell you whether you need to call a single or a
bob. The lone numbers on the right tell you
how many leads between calls.
So you could remember this composition as
PSPSPPPBPPPBPBB x6 (if that looks a bit
daunting try thinking of it as PSPS PPPB
PPPB PBB x6).

Note also that at the part end (which is the

row 354267) the 4, 6 and 7 are back in their
home positions (that is, about to dodge 4-5 down, 6-7 down and 6-7 up
respectively). This means that there is less to learn if you call this
quarter from one of these bells and so it is easier. It is bells 2, 3 and 5
which rotate round to give us different changes in each part. Also the
singles at the end of the 3rd and 6th parts swap over the 2 and 3.
Now we will look at the work of different bells in more detail
Looking at the lead ends we can see that after the second call the 4
is in the place that the 6 was when we started. Since the 6 dodges
6-7 down to begin with, this means that the 4 has double-dodged 67 down at this call.
Similarly, the 6 has double-dodged 6-7 up at this call. Look and see
that the same thing happens at the third and fourth calls.
At the fifth call the 4 takes the place that the 2 begins in - so the 4
must be in the hunt. The last call of the part (which could be a bob
or single) comes the next lead and calls the 4 back out of the hunt.
We haven't look at what happens at the first call. Here the 4 doubledodges 4-5 up. So the 4 rings a fairly regular pattern.

26

Grandsire Triples
168 changes - In and out three times
The simplest touch is to call yourself in and out of the hunt three
times. You can do this from the 4, the 6 or the 7. (You can also call it
from the 2. Then it becomes "out and in three times" because the 2 is
in the hunt at the start.)
You start off ringing until you reach the place where you would go into
the hunt if a bob were called, that is you are coming away from lead
and you are preparing to
dodge 4-5 up. But if you go
into the hunt you miss out
your 4-5 up dodge and
instead make thirds and lead
again. Since you want to go
into the hunt you call a bob
when you are in 2nds place,
as you come away from lead.
(Remember that in Grandsire
the calls are made when the
treble is in 3rds place, which
is always at handstroke.)
You then hunt up to the back
but on your way down you
will want to get out of the
hunt, which you do by
double-dodging 4-5 down. So
call a bob as you first ring in
5ths place on the way down
and do the double-dodge as
required.
Do this twice more. At 168
changes this touch is the
length of two plain courses.

23

 
 

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Further things you might like to do are

Ringing the 3:

Work out the exact position of the calls, there is no point putting

The first lead is plain, so you make

them one or two blows early or late.

Note that after your last call that makes you double-dodge 6-7 down
the 7 is in the hunt - handy if you've lost count of how many times
you have double-dodged 6-7 down.
Work out and learn which bell you dodge with at each part end then you can use this to check that everything is still right.
Find your own pointers in the composition to get an idea of what is
happening.
Look at the work of the 6 and 7.

2nds unaffected.
At the next lead end you would have

I find it incredibly helpful to run through a quarter peal composition in

advance with a more experienced conductor, just to check that I have
understood properly what is going on.

dodged 3-4 down, but you call a bob

when you are in 4ths place before the
dodge and run in instead.
The same happens at the next lead
end, call a bob in 4ths and run in.
The next lead is plain, so you get to
dodge 3-4 down at last.
The next lead is also plain, you dodge
5-6 down.
Then there is another bob, you will be
making long 7ths unaffected, and the
bob comes at your first blow in 7ths.
At the next lead you call the last bob,
before you dodge 5-6 up, so when you
are in 5ths place.
The touch comes round the next lead.
You will be dodging 3-4 up - call "That's
all!" when you are in 4ths place before
you dodge back to 3rds place.

You can learn and call this touch from these bells and work it out for
other bells until you are comfortable with it. So long as you know
where the calls come for each bit of work you are about to do, soon
you can try taking any bell and just working out what happens as you
ring. Then you will just need to remember "PBBP repeated".

28

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3

Stedman Triples
Unlike Plain Bob and Grandsire, Stedman is not built up from leads but
from sixes. A six just means six changes. A six can be a quick six or a
slow six, depending on whether the bells on the front are right hunting
or wrong hunting. (Right hunting is normal hunting as in Plain Bob, it
means when you come down to the front you are leading at
handstroke and then at backstroke. Wrong hunting is the other way
round, so when you come down to the front you are leading first at
backstroke and then at handstroke.) Away from the front all bells
double-dodge and a double-dodge fills up a six.
The relevance of this for calling touches is that you put calls in at the
5th change of a 6 and so the first step is to learn where these points
are. A slight further complication is that we actually start ringing
Stedman at the 4th change of a six, so there could be a call
immediately.
To the left is a diagram of the line, with the calling points
and the starting points marked. The calling points are
marked with a red dot and are numbered.
The starting points are less obvious but are numbered
with the numbers in circles. To begin with you will only
need the calling points which have letters after them
(these are explained below).
There is a calling position at the last dodge of every
double-dodge.
All calls are at handstroke.
The pair 3 and 4 is called S (for slow).
The pair 5 and 6 is called H (for half-turn).
The pair 7 and 8 is called L (for last whole-turn).
The pair 12 and 13 is called Q (for quick).

Its a 6 part, so we ring the line given to us above 6 times.

In full we get:
2345

W B H

5243

ss---

3542

ss---

3245

ss--s

5342

---

2543

---

2345

--s

The numbers down the left are the lead

ends at the end of each part, i.e. the part
ends. The lead end is the change at the
trebles backstroke lead. (Actually, this
change at the treble's backstroke is called
the "lead head", and it is the change at the
treble's handstroke lead which is the "lead
end". But it is common usage to refer to the
backstroke as the lead end.)

I worked the part ends out when I went through the lead ends for
each part. The tenor doesnt appear in these because she is
unaffected throughout and so always at the end of the change at the
part end. As you can see, the 4 is also back home at the end of
every part, i.e. in fourths place which is why I chose to call this
composition from the 4.
The next thing is to work out the lead ends in at least the first part and
also to note how many leads between calls and the work of your bell
at each call (which is obviously easiest for the 6 and 4). Also look at
which bells make the singles in the first 3 parts and which bells are
unaffected at the other calls.

In easy touches especially, bobs often come in pairs in

Stedman. This means that none of the bells change the
way (quick or slow) that they were going to go in.
You can call touches by counting the sixes or by
learning at which calling positions the calls come for
your bell. I shall start by describing the latter method.
30

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168 changes - SL or SQ or LQ, all repeated once

You can go on to use eight bobs in total. Three
touches that do this are SL, SQ and LQ and these
are also 168 changes since your bell rings 2 plain
courses again. Let's look at SL from the 4
Begin putting calls at positions 3 and 4.
As you get to the end of the slow work position 7

is the first blow of your last whole turn, and

position 8 is your first blow in thirds as you go out
slow. Positions 7 and 8 are the positions for which
L is shorthand, so put bobs in at these two points.
Then you can go to sleep for a little (only don't go
wrong) until you are about to go in slow again.
As you've just done, put bobs in at positions 3, 4,
7 and 8.
Call "That's all!" the change before the touch
comes round.
84 changes - SLQ
For 84 changes you can call bobs at the S, L and Q
positions, the touch comes round after one course.

Personally I found it quite

hard to drill the calling
positions for Stedman
Triples into my memory,
so I don't think you should
worry if it takes you ages
to get the hang of this
stage.
32

Plain Bob Minor

These pages describe the basics you need to know to take your very
first steps in calling a touch. Learn when to call "Go", "That's all" and
"Stand". Including which stroke to call them on and some examples of
calling a plain course of Plain Bob Doubles, Plain Bob Minor and
Grandsire Doubles. There are some ideas on how you can prepare a
touch before you get into the tower. You can also learn how to call
changes.
Calling yourself Wrong and Home twice
Wrong and Home is terminology which is generally used with
respect to the tenor but can be used to describe the position of any
bell.
Wrong means that you call a bob as you are about to become 5ths
place bell, (for any method Wrong is when the tenor becomes n-1th
place bell), which is as you dodge 5-6 up in Bob Minor.
Home is as you are about to become 6ths place (nths place in
general), in Bob Minor this is when you are about to dodge 5-6 down.
You can read more about Wrongs and Homes and other common
positions where calls come on the Calling Positions page.
So to call this touch you need to call a bob every time you approach a
dodge in 5-6. If you are dodging up then call it as you are in 5ths
place before the dodge (remember you make calls when the treble is
in 2nds place in Plain Bob). If you are dodging down then make the
call as you ring your second blow in 6ths when lying behind. This will
give you a touch of 120 changes which lasts about 5 minutes.
Calling yourself Three Homes
From any bell, call a bob every time you are about to dodge 5-6
down. 180 changes, about 7 minutes.
Calling yourself Three Wrongs
From any bell, call a bob every time you are about to dodge 5-6 up.
180 changes, about 7 minutes.
Calling yourself In, Out, Make
As in Bob Doubles you can call yourself, or any other bell, to do "In,
Out and Make". This is also 180 changes.

17

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Surprise Major

Calling the other bell half-hunt

Half a course (4 leads) of Cambridge, Yorkshire, Superlative,

Lincolnshire or Pudsey

If you're ringing the 3 then to call the 5 halfhunt you might like to call PSPBPB x2.
The first lead you dodge 4-5 down as
usual. Then you call the single when you
are in seconds place coming away from
lead. So make long thirds.
Your next work is dodge 4-5 down and the
following lead you will make thirds and go
into the hunt. Make the call at your first
blow in lead.
Hunt for two leads - when you get to the
back the second time you need to call a
bob at your second blow behind and
double-dodge 4-5 down.
Now dodge 4-5 up. At the next call (the
second single) make seconds and go back
into the hunt. The call will be at your first
blow in lead.
Again, hunt for two leads - when you get to
the back the second time you need to call
a bob at your second blow behind and
double-dodge 4-5 down.
Dodge 4-5 up. Finally you will make 3rds
unaffected at the last call, call the bob
when you strike your first blow at lead.
"That's all" comes the blow before you get
rounds, so when you are in seconds place.

People seldom call touches of Surprise methods at a practice night or

for service ringing, but it is quite common to ring half a course of a
Surprise Major method. A course is simply a plain course. For Surprise
Major this is 7 leads. Since 7 is not divisible by 2, half a course can be
4 leads.

"Go, Cambridge!"
Ring 4 leads
"Plain hunt"
"That's all!"

Suppose you are ringing the 3 for Cambridge S

Major. You ring 3rds place bell, 4ths place bell,
8ths place bell, and begin 5ths place bell. The lead
end at the end of this fourth lead would be
13527486. Instead you want this to be 12345678
(rounds). To get this, you want everyone to plain
hunt instead of dodging at the lead end.

Taking your own work (ringing the 3), you are doing Cambridge front
work - "dodge, lead, dodge, 2nds, lead, dodge" and then you would
make 2nds, which would force everyone behind you to dodge. But you
want to hunt into 3rds place so as you dodge back into lead before
making seconds call "plain hunt", you run out and then call "That's all!"
at the next blow, when you are in 2nds place. Then ring in 3rds place
and it should have come round!
You can of course call this from any bell.
Half a course (3 1/2 leads) of Yorkshire, Superlative, Bristol
In these methods you get backwards rounds (87654321) exactly
halfway through the plain course, i.e. after 3 1/2 leads. So from this
point you can ring 8 changes of plain hunt and get back to rounds.
So you start the method as usual and ring 3 and a bit leads of it.
Suppose you're ringing the 5 for Yorkshire: You ring 5ths, 2nds and
6ths place bells and start 7ths place bell. You call "plain hunt" at
handstroke because it is a change of method (i.e. it is like when you
call "Go, Yorkshire" at the beginning of the touch).

34

You may like to work out the touch you are going to call beforehand,
in fact I would strongly recommend this the first few times you call a
touch in any method. Once you have got used to it you will probably
be able to work out what happens as you go along.
Another common 120 of Grandsire Doubles is SBSP twice repeated...
i.e. SBSP SBSP SBSP. You can also have all rotations of this, so
then you would start with another lead - say the plain lead, which
would give you PSBS PSBS PSBS.
15

  
   

 


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Quarter Peal 1250 Yorkshire Surprise Major

A quarter peal of Plain Bob Doubles:

HHWWHHsW (two homes, two wrongs, two homes, single wrong)

You need to call ten 120s and a 60 to give you 1260 changes. Your
120s can be any you like, but it is probably a good idea to ring them
in some kind of order (such as 2 unaffected, 3 unaffected, 4
unaffected, 5 unaffected, then repeat all of that and ring two bells
unaffected again), so that you dont lose count!

This traditional quarter peal, probably the simplest of Yorkshire S

Major, uses just 7 calls. You can also call it for Lincolnshire S Major.
First work out what work your bell will be doing at each call. Which

bell you choose to ring depends on how difficult you want to make it
for yourself. Here we will look at it from the 6, which is unaffected
(so are the 7 and 8).
First there is a bob at Home, so when the tenor is about to become

8ths place bell again (i.e. at the very end of the plain course). The 6
is about to become 6ths place bell. For a method where the treble
treble-bobs, like Yorkshire, you make calls at the blow before the
treble leads full, i.e. when it dodges back into 2nds place.

You also need to call the 60 to make up the changes. There are two
possible 60s: PBPBPB or BPBPBP. What that notation means is that
PBPBPB you have a plain lead (i.e. you ring as usual) and then you
have a bob lead i.e. you call a bob! And you do this 3 times.
If you are ringing the 4 then it is sensible to call PBPBPB because
this means you make 5ths, make 4ths (i.e. make the bob), make
5ths, make 4ths, make 5ths, make 4ths.
If you are ringing the 5 then its sensible to call BPBPBP because
then you make 4ths, make 5ths, make 4ths etc.
If you ring another bell youll need to work out what you do

Then you ring another course and call a bob just as you are about

to become 6ths place bell again.

Next comes a Wrong. This is when the tenor will be 7ths place bell

so since the order of place bells is 8, 5, 2, 6, 7, 3, 4, this will be

after 4 leads and when you are about to be 8ths place bell.
Then another Wrong youre going to be 8ths place bell again.
Then 2 Homes as before when you were going to become 6ths

place bell.
Finally there is the last call a single this time. This is at the Wrong

(about to be 8ths place bell) and then it comes round at the

Trebles backstroke snap (i.e. when the treble dodges back into
lead for one blow when dodging 1-2 up coming away from lead).
Make sure you think very carefully about the details of how this
works (I would definitely recommend writing out the last few
changes in full) so that you are prepared for it and know exactly
where to call "That's all!"

36

You can ring the 60 when you like. An argument for ringing it first is
that if it goes wrong its very easy to start again. An argument for
planning to ring it last is that if you end up ringing one too many 120s
because something goes wrong then you can just miss out the 60.
If you miss a bob all is not necessarily lost
You can nest 120's inside each other - so suppose you have begun to
ring an extent with the 3 unaffected, but then you miss the second
bob. So you wanted to ring PPBP PPBP PPBP, but you've actually
got to PPBP PPP... You can call a bob the next lead and begin a new
extent before you've finished the last one. So you will get PPBP PP
(PBPP PBPP PBPP)BP PPBP.
You could instead nest a 60 inside the 120 which had the mistake.
You can do something similar when any bell is unaffected except with
the 5 unaffected because in this case you will have already had 4
plain leads and so had a plain course.
Hopefully you won't miss a bob in the first place - but it's nice to know
there might be a remedy!
13

  

  


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Quarter Peal 1250 Yorkshire Surprise Major, an affected bell

An example

HHWWHHsW (two homes, two wrongs, two homes, single wrong)

You are ringing the 3.

You are going to call yourself Out, Make, In.

You may wish to call this quarter from a bell that is not the 6, the 7 or
the 8. To work out how easy the work of each bell is to remember, you
can work out the coursing orders for the quarter. I have done this and
explained it on the Coursing Order page. Here they are again:
5324
H

5243

5432

4352

3542

3425

3254

sW

5234

At a bob three bells are affected.

You first hunt to the back and then down to the front, you are
about to make 2nds. So the first call is at this lead end. You
will be running out so the call will come at your second blow
at lead. (As soon as I start hunting down to the front I start
preparing myself for the call.)

At our first bob here it is bells 2, 3 and 4.

The 3 runs in, the 2 runs out and the 4 makes the bob.
After the bob the order of these bells is 2, 4, 3.

Then you have a small break before the next call. Having run
out you make 2nds next time. Once I've done this I start
thinking about where the next call will be.

This generalises to any bob at any

position. Just label the bells A, B, C
and their work at the bob is Out, In,
Make respectively.

Out In

Make

For a single the first affected bell in the resulting

coursing order is the one which has made 3rds and the other affected
bell is the one which has made 4ths. For example at the last call here
the 5 makes 3rds and the 3 makes 4ths.
Now we can read off the work of any bell...
Just look at the coursing orders now and see if any of the bells have a
regular pattern. I like the look of the 5. It is unaffected by the first two
calls (Homes) so these calls come when you are about to become 5ths
place bell again. For the next 4 bobs its work is Make, In, Make, In.
Finally for the single the 5 itself makes thirds.
Calling Positions
Positions of calls in compositions are most often given for the tenor (or
the heaviest working bell if you are ringing a method with a cover bell).
Home, Wrong etc describe different leadends in a course of a method.
They generally refer to the tenor. Sometimes you might "call yourself to
do 3 Homes" - this would mean that whatever bell you were ringing
you would call three bobs just before you dodged 5-6 down.
38

You want to make the bob next time, so this will be when you
were about to dodge 3-4 up. So you dodge 3-4 down, then do
long 5ths, then you hunt up and are about to dodge 3-4 up.
"Bob" comes at your blow in 3rds place. You make 4ths.
Then you have another break. You go up and make long 5ths
as you always do after making a bob. Once I've got to here I
think about the next call. This time you want to run in, so this
will be when you were about to dodge 3-4 down.
So you dodge 3-4 up, make 2nds and then you are about to
dodge 3-4 down. But you don't quite get this far because you
call the third and last bob when you get to 4ths place and so
you run in.
Now you are almost done. You will need to call "that's all" at
the blow before you get rounds. This is when the 3rd has just
dodged 3-4 up so after the last bob you dodge 3-4 down next
time, then make long 5ths and put the "that's all" in when you
strike in 4ths place at handstroke before you dodge back to
3rds place.

11

 
      

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3

Coursing Orders

Plain Bob Doubles

Knowing coursing orders can help you understand and learn a quarter
peal or touch better, follow what is going on and check other bells are
right.

The easiest touch to call is to call yourself unaffected. You can also
say "call yourself observation" or "ring the observation bell". You can
choose to ring the 2, 3, 4 or 5.

This will tell you what coursing orders are and how to work them out.

You will call three bobs in total. Each comes just as you start your
long fifths. As you know, when you make long fifths you are
unaffected by bobs, so these bobs will not affect you, and in all you
will ring 3 plain courses. Each bob cycles the other three working
(inside) bells around.

For Plain Bob and Surprise methods such as Cambridge and

Yorkshire the coursing order before any calls have been made is
always 7532468. That is, the odd bells first and then the even bells.
Any coursing order is just a list of numbers like that one. It can be
useful because it is fundamental to the structure of the method.
Here I will deal with Major but if you want to look at another stage of
method then you just need to miss out or add bells (so for Doubles you
have 5324 and for Royal you have 975324680). Think about it for a
moment and you can see that this is the order you would follow the
bells if you were ringing the treble to Plain Bob, only you would start
with the 2 of course which gives 2468753 (you can write a coursing
order as any rotation of it, but it is conventional to write it as 7532468).

In Plain Bob you make all calls when the treble is in 2nds place on the
way down, so the blow before she leads. If you are calling yourself
unaffected, as you are here, then this means that you call "bob" as
you are about to strike your first blow in 5ths. This is at backstroke.
So call a bob each time you get to this point. When you've done this
three times you are done, except to call "That's all" at the blow before
you get back to your starting place. And that's all there is to it.
Calling yourself unaffected:

This is also the order you follow the other bells from any bell in Plain
Bob, allowing for slight blips when you dodge or make seconds. The
treble also appears at different points in each lead.
Say you are ringing the 5. Then you can look at the coursing order and
see that in Plain Bob you will follow the 7 down to lead and then the 3
will follow you down to lead. The 7 and 3 are your coursebells. In fact,
you can say that the 7 is your coursebell and the 3 is your afterbell.
In Surprise methods the coursing order is not so clear to see but it is
there all the same. For example in Cambridge and Yorkshire you
dodge with your course bells every time you are at the back so this is a
pointer which is good to know. In Yorkshire you often dodge with them
on the front too.

40

12345
21435
24153
42513
45231
54321
53412
35142
31524 Bob!
13254
12354
21534
25143

Here is an example of where to call the first bob

when calling yourself unaffected from the 4. The
principle is the same for any bell.
So you just do that three times and call Thats All
when you finish (which will be as you dodge 3-4
down from the 4, just as in a plain course.)
This touch is 120 changes long and it takes about 5
minutes to ring. It is the standard length to call.
120 changes is the length of the extent for doubles.
What this means is that 120 different changes is the
maximum number that it is possible for doubles.



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Now let us look at some examples

Call Changes

1250 Yorkshire Surprise Major

Call changes is one way to start calling and conducting

First the quarter peal of Yorkshire that I have talked

about elsewhere. It honestly doesn't matter whether H
you can ring Yorkshire because this is a warm-up
H
exercise for the Plain Bob composition anyway.
W
HHWWHHsW
W
First note that the calls are only at the Home and
H
Wrong positions. Now try and write this out for
yourself.
H
sW

53246
52436
54326
43526
35426
34256
32546

Choose to ring any bell.

Once the band has started ringing wait for the rounds to settle.
How long this is will depend on the convention in your tower.
Then swap the bells, one pair at a time.
Say you want to start by swapping the 2 and 3 over; if your tower
calls "up" then you need to say "2 to 3" or "2 over 3".If your tower
calls "down" then you need to say " 3 to 1" or "3 over 1".
Some places call "2 and 3 swap", just "2 and 3" or the whole of the
new change "1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6".

52346
123456

1344 Plain Bob Major

W
H
H
H
sW
H
H
H
W
H
H
H
sW
H
H
H

42

5324
3254
3542
3425
3254
5234
5342
5423
5234
2354
2543
2435
2354
5324
5243
5432
5324

Here is another quarter peal composition with only

Wrongs and Homes, this time for Bob Major. As we
saw above, a composition with only Wrongs and
Homes will leave the 6 unaffected, so I have left the
6 out of the coursing order this time.
W H H H sW H H H repeated
"Wrong and 3 Homes, Single Wrong and 3 Homes.
Repeated."
You can notice here that we return to the plain
course coursing order - 5324 - at the end. This is
normally the case but it isn't the case in the
Yorkshire composition above because we get
rounds at the snap after the Wrong instead of at the
Home.

up

down

"2 to 3" or "2 over 3"

"3 to 1" or "3 over 1"

132456
Make your calls at handstroke and then the bells change over at the
following handstroke. More exactly, the calls come when the treble
pulls off at handstroke, so if you are ringing a back bell then you
either need to watch the treble or call just that bit before you pull off.
Wait a little between each call. Long enough that the band is ringing
the new change as evenly as they can but short enough that you do
not all get bored! Generally you should get back to rounds at the end.
After a few more rounds at the end call "Stand" at a handstroke.
A piece of advice I found helpful when first trying to call changes is to
actually write out every change you are going to call to make it easier
to see what is happening. I have done this here for the simple
example of calling the bells to Queens and straight back to rounds:

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 A 
 B


C  
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-(

#

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#

-(

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Plain Bob Major - following the coursing orders

Imagine you are ringing the 6 to Plain Bob Minor

Once you have found out how to work out the coursing orders for a
quarter peal of Plain Bob Major you can try calling it with more of an
idea of what the other bells should be doing. This may be your first
step to conducting as opposed to bob calling.

...
231546
213456
124365 "That's all!"
123456

Here is the quarter composition:

1344 Plain Bob Major
W H H H sW H H H repeated
"Wrong and 3 Homes, Single Wrong and 3
Homes. Repeated."

2345

5243

3245

Here are the coursing orders:

7532468
W
H
H
H
sW
H
H
H
W
H
H
H
sW
H
H
H

44

3254
3542
3425
3254
5234
5342
5423
5234
2354
2543
2435
2354
5324
5243
5432
5324

Suppose you are going to ring the 7. Notice that

the 8 is always your coursebell - that is, it is the
*
bell you take off the lead. The 6 is fixed as well as
the 7 and 8, and the 6 is the coursebell of the 8.
* Then look at which bell is your after bell. For a
long stretch after the first call it is the 3, then the
*
5, then the 2 and then the 5 again.
The remaining three bells rotate round due to your
* bobs at Home. Learn these coursing orders.
*
When you are used to transposing coursing
orders in your head while ringing you won't need
to go to the hassle of learning them all by heart,
* but you will probably just have to do it to start with
* I'm afraid. To help, you can think of the starred
coursing orders as being more important because
they come up twice and if you know these really
well then they will help you to work out the other
* ones if you forget them.

The last thing you do will be your 5-6 down

dodge. You need to be in 6ths place for rounds
and rounds comes after the dodge so "That's all"
comes as you strike in 5ths place.

Imagine you are ringing the 3 to Grandsire Doubles

...
35142
31524
13254 "That's all!"
12345

Since your first piece of work is to

make thirds, the plain course comes
round at your first blow making thirds.
So when you strike in 2nds place over
the treble you need to call "That's all".

Make sure that your calls are loud enough, clear and polite.
If the ringing becomes too choppy, with too many people
lost and if there is no-one to put them right, then it is your
responsibility to call "Rounds please" or something similar
and then either "Stand" or "Go again" depending on what
the person running the ringing indicates to you.
If at all possible you should try and have rounds before you
stand the bells, unless there is an emergency such as a
stay or rope breaking or a learner losing control of their
bell. Not to do this is bad manners and also it does not
sound good to anybody who might be listening outside.
Tip: There is no shame at all, particularly when you are
learning, in calling something very easy -- even if it seems
too easy to you. Nobody will mind, and it is much better to
have a successful, short and simple burst of call changes
than one where you get yourself muddled up in the middle.
The band will have more confidence in you and you will
have more confidence in yourself next time you are asked
to call something!
5

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Further Resources

Preliminaries

Web Links

These pages describe the basics you need to know to take your very
first steps in calling a touch. Learn when to call "Go", "That's all" and
"Stand". Including which stroke to call them on and some examples of
calling a plain course of Plain Bob Doubles, Plain Bob Minor and
Grandsire Doubles. There are some ideas on how you can prepare a
touch before you get into the tower. You can also learn how to call
changes.

Michael Williams' Call Change Collection lists some of the most

musical changes.
You might try Mark Banner's Standard 8 pages for touches.
The touches section of the Cambridge District of the Ely Diocesan
Guild website has some touches for doubles, minor and major.
Don Morrison's site contains lots of quarter peals and peals.
Roger Bailey's Ringing Resources links to most of the ringing
pages on the web.

Go, That's all, Stand

For any touch you call, you will need to start and stop the ringing.

Book Links
The Ringing World Diary has a selection of touches. This is

published by the Central Council which also publishes lots of other

books on calling and conducting. You can try getting hold of these
through your home tower or the bookstall at ringing meetings. A list
and ordering details can also be found on the Central Councils
Website.
Pam Copson's "The Follow-On Book" has details of simple
touches. It is mostly less advanced than these pages and it
particularly contains details of calling touches for a variety of
Doubles and Minor methods less common than Plain Bob and
Grandsire. It can be ordered from the Sherbourne Teaching Aids
website.
John Longridge's book "Quarter 500" has a wealth of quarter
compositions and his "Conducting and Coursing Order" explains
using coursing orders to conduct. These books can be ordered from
John Longridges website.

A good way to start to learn to call is to ask your tower captain to let
you say "Go and Stop" to a plain course of any method.
Wait for the rounds to settle down and become fairly regular.
As you pull off on a handstroke say "Go, Plain Bob Doubles", or

whatever method it is.

"That's all" comes at the change before rounds. Work out what

work your chosen bell will just have done and which precise place
the bell you are ringing will be in.
For plain courses "That's all" comes at a handstroke. Some
touches e.g. Grandsire and Stedman come round at handstroke
and so "That's all" is at a backstroke. We shall go through three
examples of where to say "That's all" in the following pages.
Wait for a few more rounds before you call "Stand" at handstroke.

Text : 2003-2007 Laura Duncan

Method Lines : PealProver v5.0
Booklet by Heather Peters
46