Berkeley Delight Minor

About Berkeley Delight Minor

Berkeley is a member of the group of methods having 2nds place Kent Treble Bob above the treble.

Below the treble, the method is purely Surfleet Surprise Minor .

Berkeley Delight Minor is one of a group of 5 Treble Dodging methods all having identical (Surfleet Surprise) work below the treble.

• Berkeley Delight Minor (Ibid)
• Kentish Delight Minor
• Surfleet Surprise Minor
• Hexham Surprise Minor
• Munden Surprise Minor

At of September 2025 Bellboard had just 3 performances that included Berkeley Delight Minor.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
34X34. 16 X 12 X 36 .14X12. 56, 12, Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

Diagram: Berkeley 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 Berkeley. 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 Berkeley Delight Minor.

The Rules

Assuming that Kent TB and Surfleet Surprise have already been learned):

Berkeley Delight Minor - the rules:
Ring Kent Treble Bob Minor above the treble, and Surfleet Surprise below, and with a 2nds place Lead End.

The Structure

The work above the treble is very much like Kent Treble Bob except that the 2nds Place Lead End double up the Kent places and adds a dodge in 5-6 at the Lead End. However, 3rds place bell is the pivot bell and hence the Lead eds are presented in Double Bob / Cambridge Surprise sequence.

Double Blue Lines

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

Berkeley Delight Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Berkeley Delight Minor, 1-2.

Berkeley Delight Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Berkeley Delight Minor, 3-4.

Berkeley Delight Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Berkeley Delight Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

3Surfleet below generates backward leading in 1-2 (Surfleet = flatfeet), which in turn generates backward dodging in 3-4.

Place Notation and Grid

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

Section by Section

(To follow once more practise has been achieved).

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

Positional Awareness

In Berkeley Delight, the transition into backward working needs careful learning, but once absorbed becomes easily ringable.

Place Notation Elements

The method only contains 34X34, X, 12, 14X12. 16, 36, 56.

Place Bells, Pivot Leads.

156342 LE 12: Double Bob; Chadkirk T.B., Cambridge S.

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

3rds place bell is the pivot bell.

Awareness of other bells

3-4 only ever dodge together once in the plain course, whereas the coursing pair(s) dodge together 6 different times.

Coursing Order in Berkeley Delight Minor

Natural coursing order is perserved both above and below the treble., at the Half Lead and at the Lead End.

Ringing the Method

Just enjoy it, it’s easier than expected.

Bobs and Singles.

As per Kent TB.

Touches of Berkeley Delight Minor.

2nds place lead end 156342, with 6th observation, the calling positions are 4ths, In, Wrong, Out, Home.

Use touches of Cambridge Surprise.