Hitcham Delight Minor

About Hitcham Delight Minor

Hitcham is a member of the group of methods having Kent Treble Bob above the treble, but with a 3rds place half lead making 5 the pivot bell. The 1236 cross-sections make Hitcham non-compliant with the ancient regulations for regular methods and hence does not appear in the table of 147. The extra places make this one of the easier 3rds-place Delight Methods.

Below the treble, the structure is a simple variation on Wath Delight Minor.

Hitcham Delight, description.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
34X34. 16 X 12 X 1236 X 12 X 36, 16; Bob 14, Single 1456.

Grid:

Diagram: Hitcham Delight Minor, plain lead, change-rows and grid.

Goals and learning approach

What you are trying to achieve needs to drive your approach.

Ringing by structure

Get going:.
Use whatever learning approach you like most to acquire enough knowledge to ring a plain course. Ring a few and see what aspects of the method spring out, and study these. Practice until courses and simple touches are ringable.

Performance Level

If you are wishing to achieve 720s, Quarters, or peals:
start with the "get going" as above, add in the bits that are natural to you.
Study the Double Place Bell sequences, and the lines.
Practice a lot.
Achieve some performances .

Method Mastery Level

It is unusual for a band to wish to achieve mastery in a method like Hitcham.

Learning Hitcham Delight Minor.

The Rules

Assuming that Wath Delight has already been learned: (NB. It might be preferable to learn Hitcham Delight before learning Wath Delight).

Hitcham Delight Minor - the rules
Ring Wath Delight Minor except at the 4-5 cross-sections, when the structure is 1236.

The Structure

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.

The Double Place Bell sequences are identical with Wath Delight.

Hitcham Delight Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Hitcham Delight Minor, 1-2.

Hitcham Delight Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Hitcham Delight Minor, 3-4.

Hitcham Delight Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Hitcham Delight Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

The Blue Line features worth noting are:

Place Notation and Grid

The choice here is personal preference. The author’s preference is the visual nature of the grid.

Pictels

Section by Section

(To follow once more practise has been achieved).

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

Awareness of the position of the treble is useful as a checking mechanism for the frontwork, with standard X12X when treble is in 3-4, and the dodge in 1-2 aligns with the Half Lead..

Positional Awareness

Location 3rds and 4ths can be tricky in fluid methods, however, in Hitcham Delight, the static nature of the frontwork of great assistance.

Place Notation Elements

The method only contains X, 36, 12, 1236, 16, 34X34.

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Staging posts

5ths place bell is the pivot bell, see notes above.

Awareness of other bells

Coursing Order in Hitcham Delight Minor

Hitcham Delight preserves the Natural Coursing Order very well. The bells above the treble maintain Natural Coursing Order as per Kent T.B. The bells in 1-2 are a coursing pair, they arrive in coursing order, and leave simlarly. The trio of bells making dodge - thirds - dodge do so in the order that naturally follows on from the bells pair 1-2.

Ringing the Method

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs replace the 2nds place at the Lead End with 4ths as per Plain Bob.

Touches of Hitcham Delight Minor.