Chiltern Treble Bob Minor

About Chiltern Treble Bob Minor

Chiltern Treble Bob Minor is a member of the Cotswold group of methods, a class which has backward hunting above the treble.

4ths place bell is the pivot bell and with the 2nds place lead end, the calling sequence for 6ths observation is as per Little Bob.

At May 2025 there were just 4 performances including Chiltern Treble Bob Minor on handbells.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
36X34.16 X 12 X 16.34 X 14.36, 12, Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

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

Plain Course structure
This method has Little Bob Lead End order.

Goals and learning approach

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

Ringing by structure

If you are ringing Chiltern 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 Chiltern.

Learning Chiltern Treble Bob Minor.

The Structure

Learning Chiltern Treble Bob Minor is an interesting challenge, the difficulties lie both with the 1-2 section and the 5-6, both of which needs to be learned in detail. The spacings and touch points are critical to success.

The Rules

Chiltern is too complex to be defined in a simple rule.

Double Blue Lines

Chiltern Treble Bob Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Chiltern Treble Bob Minor, 1-2.

Chiltern Treble Bob Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Chiltern Treble Bob Minor, 3-4.

Chiltern Treble Bob Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Chiltern Treble Bob Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

4ths place bell is probably the most extreme example of fluid pointy work in all of the regular TD Minor methods. Coursing pairs have echoes of Stedman slow sixes.

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 Chiltern 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 dodge together in Treble Bob Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

Positional Awareness

Chiltern Treble Bob Minor demands thoroughness, accuracy, and a crystal clear brain.

Place Notation Elements

The method contains 5 elements (36X34, 12, 34X14, 16, 36).

Double Place Bells

164523 LE 12: Little Bob; Duke of Norfolk T.B., Bourne Surprise

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

Pivot Leads

4ths Place Bell is the pivot bell.

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

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

None.

The method is tricky, period.

Awareness of other bells

Coursing Order in Chiltern Treble Bob Minor

Natural coursing order is not preserved.

Ringing the Method

The tricky nature of the work above and below the treble combined with the absence of natural courding order demands high levels of concentration.

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 Chiltern Treble Bob Minor.

Touches of Chiltern Treble Bob Minor.

Bobs only touches of Little Bob will work for Chiltern TB.