Call changes with attitude

I have always been a fan of call changes and have tried to bang the drum to encourage others to see them as a rewarding activity, rather than something one does on a Sunday because the band cannot manage anything more “advanced”.  Far better, some well struck changes than some poorly struck plain hunt, or worse still, an attempt at plain bob doubles which crashes around in a well-meaning but nasty sounding manner.  As far as most of the public are concerned “bells is bells” and the complexity or otherwise of the patterns is lost to them.

I appreciate that not everyone shares my view and, with some important geographic exceptions, the tendency to point learners in the direction of method ringing is far reaching, but what if we showed learners the very best that call changes have to offer and then let them make up their own minds?

When I first discovered Devon Call changes I was blown away – blasted right out of the water. It was similar to when I first heard the trickle of handbells.  “I want to do that” I said to myself. It was March 2020, so not a good time to discover something so marvellous. Towers were closed. Bands were on hold. Life was on hold. I came across some Devon call changes on Youtube. In my case, it was Stannary which is rung on 8 bells. They lifted my heart in a way that method ringing never has (https://dingdong887180022.wordpress.com/2020/03/28/music-to-my-ears/) but there was no opportunity to investigate much further.

Call changes do not lend themselves to private practice with a simulator such as Abel because, once you have grasped the theory, it is all in the striking.  How good can the band make it sound? Some of the West Country bands can make it sound very good indeed. I had to wait a further 2 years for my opportunity to learn to ring these elevated sorts of call changes – call changes performed with a band that knows what they are doing, as opposed to a band the majority of whom are near novices. Eventually my chance came when a Proper Devonian call change ringer came up to East Anglia for a football match and offered a master class in 60 on 3rds. I was lucky enough to be invited along for the fun. The following day, he rang with us for Sunday service and we rattled through the changes, dropping the ropes to the floor on the stamp of his foot at the end of the lower. I found it exhilarating, but was very aware that my striking is not up to the standard of the Grown-ups and needs practice, especially since we were eschewing the handstroke gap and cartwheeling along in the traditional fashion.

Sadly, the necessary practice is short on the ground. A dedicated Devon Call Change session at MRDC attracted precisely one eager volunteer – namely me. Whereas usually 10 or more turn up to develop their method ringing, no-one was interested in developing their call change ringing. Occasionally, the tower will rattle through 60 on 3rds – the last occasion was for a 60^thbirthday , but in the main, if a method can be rung, then a method will be rung . Others prefer it.

Therefore, I was pleased to be involved with the recent Saturday morning Ring4theKing sessions in Norwich.  Most of the learners have been ringing for around a year and are beginning to plain hunt, but each week we come up against the same issue – it is hard for 10 or so newbies to learn plain hunt together with insufficient strong support. We were particularly short of help the past few weeks and the session leader decided to introduce the learners to Devon Call Changes. The group can manage familiar call change patterns such as Rounds to Queens and back. They understand the theory of call changes and can move their bells reasonably accurately, but what would they think of sustained ringing of changes?

I am happy to report that they loved them. There was a real appetite to try something that sounded meaningful and beyond Kaleidoscope type patterns. The ART patterns have taught the skills to be able to perform the changes, and now it is time to put these skills to good use.

Week 1, 8 of them managed the first 30 changes of 60 on 3rds, with the conductor calling from outside the circle and me trying my hardest to keep wanderers and the less confident on track. Some running around was required.  Week 2, we had an additional helper and, by the end of the 90 minute session,  3 newbies had rung the entire sequence with 3 covering bells, and everyone else had rung through 30 changes 2 or 3 times each. The buzz of excitement was palpable. One could feel the sense of achievement.

I believe if learners are introduced to “advanced” call changes at an early stage, they may very well decide “yes – this is how I want to ring”.  There is an advanced call change scheme that runs alongside the Learning the Ropes method route, but I am not sure that many people know about it. There is also a National Devon Call Change competition, which was started during lockdown in the virtual world.  It moved to a real tower, Moseley, in 2023. Method ringers test their striking skills against traditional call change bands.  Last year a Devon band won, but perhaps this year it will be the turn of a method band.  The 2024 competition will take place on 1^st June at The Lord Mayor’s Chapel, Bristol.

Some of us appreciate this style of ringing more than others, but it seems only fair to introduce the idea to learners from an early stage and then let them decide which route they might prefer to follow.  I had to wait nearly 2 years to even know such riches exist, and another few “down years” before I enjoyed the opportunity to try for myself.