Melandra Delight Minor

About Melandra Delight Minor

Melandra Delight Minor is a member of the Cotswold group of methods, a class which has backward hunting above the treble. Below the treble the work has moved away from Kent and Oxford but with 5ths place at the Half Lead, and backward (Kent style) places in 1-2 across the 5-6 sections..

Chepstow Delight Minor is one of a group of 3 Treble Dodging 3rds Place Delight methods all having identical work below the treble.

• Rostherne Delight Minor
• Chepstow Delight Minor
• Melandra Delight (Ibid)

In August 2025 Bellboard had just 4 handbell performances that included Melandra Delight Minor, including 1 peal.

3rds place bell is the pivot bell and with the 2nds place lead end, the calling sequence for 6ths observation is as per Double Bob / Cambridge S.

Method Structure.

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

Grid:

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

Plain Course structure
With 3rds Place Bell being the pivot bell (5ths at the Half Lead), and 2nds place Lead End, the leads are presented in Double Bob / Cambridge S. Lead End order.

Goals and learning approach

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

Get Started - use the structure

Above the treble the "Hills Group" work needs to be learned and practised. Below the treble the members of the method grouup are well suited to using the skill of associating method structure with the work of the treble. It would be worth the effort to become familiar with Rostherne Delight Minor before tackling Melandra.

Performance Level

If you are wishing to achieve 720s, Quarters, or peals:
start with the structural ringing as above, add in the bits that are natural to you.
Study 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 Melandra. Attempting to achieve mastery would give insights towards surviving trips which would be a re-usable skill in other methods.

Learning Melandra Delight Minor.

The Structure

Like all Cotswold Group Methods, Melandra Delight is an interesting challenge, the difficulties lie with the 1-2 section, whilst the work below the treble, in the case of Melandra, has its own challenges. The spacings and touch points in Cotswold above are critical to success.

The Rules

Ring Cotswold Treble Bob Minor above the treble, and Rostherne Delight Minor below the treble.

Double Blue Lines

Melandra Delight Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Melandra Delight Minor, 1-2.

Melandra Delight Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Melandra Delight Minor, 3-4.

Melandra Delight Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Melandra Delight Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

Point 6ths occurs on Treble's first and last blows at lead, this marks a transition between forward hunting and backward hunting above.

Place Notation and Grid

The pictorial grid emphasises the structure of the method better than the Place Notation.

Pictels

Splitting into individual elements is of no value.

Ringing Melandra Delight Minor.

Track the treble

Awareness of the position of the treble is a key skill for most bellringing methods, and is the major key to ringing dodge together in Treble Bob Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

See Cotswold Treble Bob Minor for notes on learning the asymmetrical 1-2 section for handbells.

Positional Awareness

Place Notation Elements

The method contains 7 elements (36X34, 16, X, 12, 36, 12X12, 56).

Double Place Bells

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

Pivot Leads

3rds Place Bell is the pivot bell.

For 3-4 pair, the pivot point is when they work together in 1-2 at the Half Lead.
For 5-6 pair, the pivot point is when they dodge together in 3-4 at the Half Lead.

Staging posts (a.k.a. Handrails).

The nearest thing to a handrail is the 3-pull in 3-4 at the Half Lead.

Awareness of other bells

Coursing Order in Melandra Delight Minor

Melandra Delight Minor exhibits just glimpses of natural coursing order.

Tracking the coursing order above the treble can start with the transitions associated with calls.

Ringing the Method

Melandra could be a valuable entry method for the Cotswold Group via Rostherne Delight.

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs replace the 2nds place at the Lead End with 4ths. This causes the bell that has just made point 6ths to make the bob and become 4ths place bell.

Singles Singles are rarely used in Melandra Delight Minor.

Touches of Melandra Delight Minor.

Bobs only touches of Double Bob will work for Melandra Delight Minor. If you dislike 65s at backstroke check your compositions carefully, even 600: W W W H H H has 4 65s at backstroke.