Thelwall Bob Minor

About Thelwall Bob Minor

Thelwall Bob Minor builds on the complexity of Double Oxford Bob by adding backward leading into the frontwork.

Thelwall Bob Minor is highly structured with double court places, intriguing frontwork and triple dodging at the back.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
X 14 X 36 .12. 56, 12, Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

Diagram: Thelwall Bob Minor, plain lead, change-rows and grid.

Plain Course structure
Thelwall Bob Minor is a static method with backward leading in the frontwork and long backwork joined by double court places.

Learning Thelwall Bob Minor.

The Structure

This is a static method. Individual bells progress from two leads of frontwork via places to two leads of backwork.

Whilst 5-6 dodge together in 5-6 and work together in 1-2, there is only ever one of the pair in court places.

The Rules

Thelwall Bob Minor - the rules
Ring Double Oxford Bob Minor except the frontwork which is rung as per Childwall Bob Minor

Double Blue Lines

Thelwall Bob Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Thelwall Bob Minor, 1-2.

Double Oxford Bob Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Thelwall Bob Minor, 3-4.

Thelwall Bob Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Thelwall Bob Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

Single bell Blue Line features have been noted above. Some Double Blue Line Features have also been noted. However, this is a method rich in structural features and will repay time spent studying the way bells work together, or work apart as the case may be.

Place Notation and Grid

Learning Thelwall can be approached via the visual grid.

Pictels

A glance at the grid will reveal the treble hunting up and dowwn through 4-bell "cages". The associated frontwork is best approached via blue lines rather then pictels.

Ringing Thelwall Bob Minor.

Track the treble

Awareness of the position of the treble is a key skill for most bellringing methods, and a significant help in ringing Double Oxford Bob Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

The best approach to Thelwall Bob is to learn Double Oxford Bob thoroughly and then ring Thelwall as a variation.

Positional Awareness

The backward leading makes for interesting juxtapositions.

Place Notation Elements

Double Oxford contains 5 elements X, 14, 36, 56, 12.
Thelwall introduces 36.12.56.12.36, the 12 elements being "Back and Hand".

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Staging posts

e.g. For 3-4 pair, the pivot point is when they dodge together in 3-4 under the treble.
For 5-6 pair, the pivot point is when the pair work together in 1-2.

Awareness of other bells

The relaxation available in Double Oxford is wiped out by the backward leading in Thelwall.

Coursing Order in Thelwall Bob Minor

Natural coursing order is well preserved in Thelwall Bob Minor. The doubly symmetrical nature of the method means that the half lead is rung in pure coursing order as much as the lead end.

Apart from the frontwork, this is a very helpful method.

Ringing the Method

Thelwall Bob Minor is too hard to ring just for "fun". However, the backward leading practice is valuable, so take this method to performance level .

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs and singles are much the same as in Single Oxford Bob Minor, the court places make life interesting.

Bobs cause the dodging in 3-4 to become hunting in 2-3 and 4ths place. Consequently three bells in succession make 4ths and turn round. However, the first of these has just made thirds, so the bob takes the dodge off the end of the places. The second has just finished the frontwork and goes back to repeat the frontwork. The bell that ran out makes 4ths and 3rds and dodges 3-4 up at the half lead.

Singles The interesting bell is the one that makes thirds at the single. The affect of the single is to cut out all of the difficult work on the front.

Touches of Thelwall Bob Minor

As per Double Oxford, it is normal to use the tenor as the observation bell .
5ths place bell is the pivot bell and hence the first lead end is 142635

The calling positions for the tenor are:
In, Before, 4ths, Wrong, Home.

The following touches are imported directly from Double Oxford Bob Minor.