Oswald Delight Minor

About Oswald Delight Minor

Oswald is a member of the group of methods having Kent Treble Bob above the treble.

Oswald Delight Minor is one of a group of Treble Dodging methods all having identical (Cambridge Surprise) work below the treble.

• Barham Delight Minor
• Oswald Delight Minor (Ibid)
• CAMBRIDGE Surprise Minor
• PRIMROSE Surprise Minor
• Carlisle Surprise Minor

At of July 2025 Bellboard had 12 performances that included Oswald Delight Minor including 6 720s.

Method Structure.

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

Grid:

Diagram: Oswald 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 Oswald. But this is a valuable method for developing the ability to associate structure with the treble's position, whilst also developing the skill of continuously following the coursing order.

Learning Oswald Delight Minor.

The Rules

Assuming that Kent TB and Cambridge S have already been learned):

Oswald Delight Minor - the rules:
Ring Kent Treble Bob Minor above the Treble and Cambridge Surprise below.

The Structure

Familiarity with the grid is very valuable owing to the separation between the pair in 1-2 versus the other 4 bells. 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.

Oswald Delight Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Oswald Delight Minor, 1-2.

Oswald Delight Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Oswald Delight Minor, 3-4.

Oswald Delight Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Oswald Delight Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

The Blue Line features worth noting are:
Alternate dodging and places in 1-2.
"Treble Bob Hunting" in 3-4-5-6 when the treble is above 2nds.

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

Positional Awareness

In Wath Delight, the static nature of the frontwork is of some assistance.

Place Notation Elements

The method contains 34X34, X, 36, 12, 14, 16, 56.

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Staging posts (Handrails)

135264 LE 16: Reverse Bob; Nelson T.B.; Primrose Surprise

1-2: 1-2, 1-4, 1-6, 1-5, 1-3, 1-2
3-4: 3-4, 2-6, 4-5, 6-3, 5-2, 3-4
5-6: 6-5, 5-3, 3-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-5

3rds place bell is the pivot bell.

2-4 to 4-6, and 6-5 to 5-3 are interesting and easy, relax here.

Awareness of other bells

Coursing Order in Oswald Delight Minor

• Natural Coursing Order is well preserved above the treble.
• Below the treble, the Coursing Order is harder to use.
• The bells either side of the pivot bell (5ths pb & 2nds pb) in the coursing order dodge together in 1-2 at the half lead.

Ringing the Method

Bobs and Singles.

As per Kent TB.

Touches of Oswald Delight Minor.

6ths place lead end 135264 is unusual, with 6th observation, the calling positions are 4ths, Out, In, Home, Wrong.