Rochester Treble Bob Minor

About Rochester Treble Bob Minor

Rochester Treble Bob Minor preserves Oxford Treble Bob Minor above the treble with the addition of a 2nds place Lead End. Within the confines of Treble Bob, Rochester incorporates the maximum amount of Plain Hunting below the treble.

5ths place bell is the pivot bell and with the 2nds place lead end, the calling sequence for 6ths observation is as per St. Clement's.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
X 34 X 16 X 12 X 16 X 14 X 16, 12, Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

Diagram: Rochester Treble Bob Minor, plain lead, change-rows and grid.

Plain Course structure
This method is pure Oxford Treble Bob until Treble reaches the 5-6 section.

Goals and learning approach

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

Ringing by structure

If you are ringing Rochester to gain the skill of associating method structure with the work of the treble (valid goal), DO NOT learn the lines, learn the structure, ring, make mistakes and learn from them. Track-the Treble skills, Place Notation skills, coursing order skills can all be developed in this manner

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 Rochester.

Learning Rochester Treble Bob Minor.

The Structure

Learning Rochester Treble Bob Minor after Oxford Treble Bob and, for example, Sandal TB is an interesting challenge, While Oxford and Kent incorporate Plain Bob Lead End tructures (X 12 X), Rochester has, effectively two Plain Bob bobs, one either side of a plain hunting half lead.

The Rules

Rochester Treble Bob Minor - the rules
Ring Oxford Treble Bob above the treble.
Ring Oxford Treble Bob below the treble except when treble is dodging in 5-6 when you ring a Plain Bob Bob (X14X). When Treble leads, 2nds place is made, and the bells in 3-4 and 5-6 dodge.

Double Blue Lines

Rochester Treble Bob Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Rochester Treble Bob Minor, 1-2.

Rochester Treble Bob Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Rochester Treble Bob Minor, 3-4.

Rochester Treble Bob Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Rochester Treble Bob Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

Place Notation and Grid

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

Pictels

As with Oxford Treble Bob Minor, the rules are a good approach to the method, and splitting into individual elements is of no value.

Ringing Rochester Treble Bob 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 Rochester Treble Bob Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

Positional Awareness

Rochester Treble Bob Minor aids the development of awareness of turning round in 4ths uder the treble.

Place Notation Elements

The method only contains 5 elements (X, 14, 34, 16, 12), all of which will already have been rung.

Double Place Bells

1-2, 1-3, 1-5, 1-6, 1-4, 1-2
3-4, 5-2, 6-3, 4-5, 2-6, 3-4
5-6 Pair in coursing order: 6-5, 4-6, 2-4, 3-2, 5-3, 6-5
NB: This sequence is also found in St. Clement's College Bob Minor.

Pivot Leads

5 is the pivot bell.

For 3-4 pair, the pivot point is when the pair cross in 2-3.
For 5-6 pair, the pivot point is when they cross in 4-5.

Staging posts (a.k.a. Handrails)

For 1-2 and 3-4 pairs, there is little time to rest.
For 5-6 pair, the Lead End 3-pull in 5-6 is a momentary break.

Awareness of other bells

Coursing Order in Rochester Treble Bob Minor

The Oxford places and half lead structure make coursing order quite difficult to apply to Rochester Treble Bob above the treble. However, coursing order is maintained by the pivot bell triplet (6-5-3) across the half lead. The Half Lead coursing order needs careful study.

Ringing the Method

Rochester Treble Bob Minor makes excellent use of the skill of following the treble in combination with a simple structural variation on a standard method. It demands the level of concentration that is needed for a simple surprise method.

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs replace the 2nds place at the Lead End with 4ths. This causes the bell that has just made 3rds to make the bob and become 4ths place bell. The bells in 5-6 are unaffected by calls.

Singles Singles are rarely used in Rochester Treble Bob Minor.

Touches of Rochester Treble Bob Minor.

Bobs only touches of St Clement's will work for Rochester TB.