Morpeth Surprise Minor

About Morpeth Surprise Minor

Morpeth is a member of the small select group of methods having 6ths place Carlisle Surprise Minor above the treble, the group being:

• Whitley S. (6ths place Carlisle over Ipswich, or 6ths place Northumberland)
• Wooler S. (6ths place Sandiacre, or Whitley over Bourne)
• Canterbury S. (6ths place Alnwick, or Wooler over London)
• Morpeth S. (6ths place Newcastle, or Wooler over Wells)

4ths place bell is the pivot bell and with the 6ths place lead end, the calling sequence for 6ths observation is as per Sandal Treble Bob Minor.

Morpeth Surprise Minor is one of a group of 6 Surprise Minor methods all having identical work below the treble.

• Wearmouth Surprise Minor
• Stamford Surprise Minor
• Durham Surprise Minor
• Newcastle Surprise Minor
• Morpeth Surprise Minor (Ibid)
• Wells Surprise Minor

In September 2025 Bellboard had 10 handbell performances that included Morpeth Surprise Minor.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
34X36. 14 X 12 X 36.14 X 14. 36, 16; Bob 14, Single 1456.

Grid:

Diagram: Morpeth Surprise Minor, plain course, change-rows and grid.

Plain Course structure
Morpeth Surprise Minor is a tricksy method combining the spiky, asymmetric nature of 6ths place Carlisle with the spiky asymmetric, backward nature of Wells.

Learning Morpeth Surprise Minor.

Learn and ring Carlisle and Wells before starting on Morpeth.

Concerted study of the 5-6 sections will pay dividends. The pairs are roughly equally difficult, including 1-2.

The Structure

The position of the treble can be used to define the work of the other 5 bells. Dodging in 1-2 relates to asymmetric Carlisle work
Dodging in 3-4 is standard for all regular Treble Bob, Delight and Surprise methods and has the essential structure of a Plain Bob Lead end (X 12 X). Dodging in 5-6 relates to the asymmetric work of Wells below.
The 16 Lead End completes the structure of Whitley or Wooler above the treble.
The 16 Half Lead completes the structure of Wells below the treble.

The transition of the treble between dodging places is the standard (internal) places for a Surprise minor method, 14 for hunting in 2-3, and 36 for hunting in 4-5.

4ths place bell is pivot bell, combined with a 6ths place lead end, the resultant row is 156342.

The Rules

Morpeth Surprise Minor - the rules
This is not a method that can be encapsulated in a simple, easily memorised, language statement other than "6ths Place Carlisle over Wells".

Double Blue Lines

Morpeth Surprise Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Morpeth Surprise Minor, 1-2.

Morpeth Surprise Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Morpeth Surprise Minor, 3-4.

Morpeth Surprise Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Morpeth Surprise Minor, 5-6.

Pivot bell

4ths place bell passes treble in 3-2 and transitions into and out of right place work via a Stedman Whole Turn. The backward lkead of the Stedman whole turn is linked via point 2nds to the pivotal right way lead of the half lead. The reflection takes the pivot bell to 5ths place at a plain lead.

Ringing Morpeth Surprise Minor.

All of the foregoing memory techniques are aimed at enabling the ringer to know, with certainty, in which pair of places his or her bells are intended to be rung. The skill in handbell ringing is putting the bells into those places.

Notes and suggestions will follow in due course.

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs For the bells affected by the calls Morpeth feels a bit like Kent Treble Bob in that the 4ths places links together two pairs of places. However, 4ths place bell is the pivot bell.

Singles. Singles!: you don't need this website to tell you what to do at singles in Canterbury S Minor.

Touches of Morpeth Surprise Minor

4ths place bell is the pivot bell, and hence the first lead end is 156342 giving calling positions from the tenor as:
Out, Home, 4ths, In, Wrong.

Morpeth Surprise Minor has the same lead end as Double Court Bob Minor (16:156342), hence bobs-only touches of Double Court can be called to Morpeth Surprise Minor. These can be found at: Group h compositions.