Netherseale Surprise Minor

About Netherseale Surprise Minor

Netherseale is one of the 10 regular right-place Surprise minor methods; it has Norwich above the treble and a 2nds place lead end. Below the treble the woork is almost pure Cambridge Surprise, the exception being the half lead where thirdds place is made.

As with many minor methods, a small change at the half lead makes a massive difference to the look and feel of the method. In Netherseale, the bell that passes the treble 2-3 (as treble is coming down through 3-2), stays in 3rds and 4ths places by linking Norwich places with Cambridge places and reflecting at the half lead symmetry point.

Surprise Minor methods are worth ringing in their own right, and as with all method learning the techniques relevant to Netherseale Surprise Minor should be used with a view to their application to the more complex Major methods. The most important related skill is to follow the course of the treble and hence to associate the method structure with the work of the treble. Further details of this are noted below.

Netherseale Surprise Minor combines both the static part of Norwich with the fluid part of Cambridge and the longest series of places and dodges in 3-4 of any Minor method.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
X 34 X 14 X 12 X 36 X 14 X 36; 12 Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

Diagram: Netherseale Surprise Minor, plain lead, change-rows and grid.

Learning Netherseale Surprise Minor.

The Rules

Netherseale Surprise Minor - the rules
Ring 2nds place Norwich S. above the treble.
Ring Cambridge S. below the treble with 3rds at the half lead.

The Structure

Familiarity with the grid is very valuable. Use of the grid is helped enormously by an ability to see the position of treble. This method is very fluid, especially for 3rds, 5ths, and 6ths place bells as they "fly" from one end of the change rows to the other, and cross with each other in 2-3, and in 4-5 at the half lead.

Counting the dodges in 5-6.

Ringers of Norwich will recognise that the 7-pull dodge in 5-6 needs to be thought of as:

• 3 dodges for the method
• 1 dodge for the lead-end, to become 5ths & 6ths place bells
• 3 more dodges for the method

The treble has 7 pieces of work between dodges in 5-6 down and 5-6 up (hunt - dodge - hunt - dodge - lead - dodge - hunt - dodge - hunt) and each of the 7 dodges by the working pair in 5-6 can (and should) be associated with them.

Further assistance in knowing when to stop dodging is given by the treble; the handstroke of the last 5-6 down strikes over the treble, then that bell (6ths place bell), hunts down, passing the treble in 5-4.

Use of the grid is helped enormously by an ability to see the position of treble.

Double Blue Lines

The Double Blue Lines give a useful overview of the method, adding context which is helpful for overcoming trips.

For each pair, the double place bell sequence should be learned.

Netherseale Surprise Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Netherseale Surprise Minor, 1-2.

Netherseale Surprise Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Netherseale Surprise Minor, 3-4.

Netherseale Surprise Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Netherseale Surprise Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

The Blue Line features worth noting are:
The coursing pair (5-6) does work together in 1-2 and does the dodging together in 5-6.

Place Notation and Grid

The choice here is personal preference. The author’s preference is the visual nature of the grid, but after a lot of practise the numbers and the pictures merge and become interchangeable.

Pictels

The 4-bell hunting boxes generate the flying bells.

Section by Section

The (Surprise Minor) structure relating to the treble's work above 1-2 is standard (14X12X36). See the Rules (above) for a description of the work beow the treble.

Ringing Netherseale Surprise 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 Netherseale Surprise Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

Hang your hat on the 4ths place bell long places, associated with the treble this is a key to the structure.

Positional Awareness

Place Notation Elements

The method only contains 5 elements (X, 34, 14, 12, 36), all of which should already have been rung.

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Staging posts

4ths place bell is the pivot bell.

The 7 dodges together for 5-6 is a staging post (a.k.a. handrail).

Awareness of other bells

The rules basis of ringing the method helps with being aware of the other bells.

Coursing Order in Netherseale Surprise Minor

Natural Coursing Order is preserved very well in 5-6.

4ths place bell between the dodges in 3-4 sees the 4 bells following it in the coursing order, in order but with the middle two swapped over. e.g. Plain Course, first lead 4 is pivot bell, sees bells 6, 3, 5, 2.

Ringing the Method

Just enjoy it, it’s easier than expected, especially if you have rung Norwich and Cambridge Surprise.

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs replace the 2nds place at the Lead End with 4ths, just like Plain Bob.

Touches of Netherseale Surprise Minor.

There are over 100 touches for Netherseale S. on Complib.