The first rule of the standard 8 is no one talks about the standard 8.
This is how it often feels about this mysterious group. So to shed some light on them I ask the pertinent questions.
What is the Standard 8?
The Standard 8 are a group of surprise major methods that are generally rang together, they are:
Cambridge
Yorkshire
Lincolnshire
Superlative
Pudsey
Rutland
London
Bristol
They are often grouped into the Cambridge-like ones:
Cambridge (unsurprisingly), Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Superlative
The 'difficult' ones:
Bristol and London
and the other two:
Rutland and Pudsey
Why are they the Standard 8?
Principally, they are the standard 8 because that is what people learn to ring and ring together with other ringers, the 2011 peal analysis shows that the number of each type of peal:
Cambridge - 120 (6%)
Yorkshire - 187 (9%)
Lincolnshire - 50 (2%)
Superlative - 59 (3%)
Pudsey - 19 (1%)
Rutland - 48 (2%)
London - 64 (3%)
Bristol - 220 (11%)
Could they change?
Certainly they could, indeed there was a movement to have an alternative group of 8 methods to include less Cambridge like methods, these became known as the Nottingham 8 and had:
Cambridge
Superlative
London
Bristol
Lessness
Cornwall
Cassiobury
Glasgow
Monday 25 March 2013
Monday 11 March 2013
Visiting (Like A Pro!)
One of the first thing that gets asked to ringers when visiting is "What do you ring?". On the face of this it is an obvious question with a similarly obvious answer, since we all know what we can and can't ring.
But this is quite a minefield and it seems to get worse the better you are. A person who can ring rounds and call changes is would say quite easily that they ring rounds and call changes, similar with Plain Hunt, Plain Bob and Grandsire. But is is beyond this that it starts to get a bit tricky as different things are rung dependant on your tower and normally resorts to the phrase "the usual".
Quite often in 8 (or more) bell towers the progress is from Plain Bob Doubles to Minor then Kent, Oxford Treble Bobs, Cambridge Surprise Minor, Cambridge Surprise Major rest of the Standard 8. But if you visiting a 6 bell tower they may ring all sorts of surprise minor, or doubles and variations, which are hardly the "usual" as far you are concerned.
Similarly, if you announce that you ring Surprise Maximus in a tower that has not even heard of surprise let alone 12 bell methods you end up sounding a little arrogant indeed.
The next important thing I would suggest is to mind your manners. I have been to a practice as a visitor and been thanked for "not shouting at us". This astounded me.
Imagine you are at a practice and you shout at the person leading that they are leading too slowly, while that may be perfectly true, what you as a visitor do not know is what that person ringing usually does. If they always lead too slowly, then yes fair enough, though realistically it should come from within the band, but if they teacher of the person leading has just managed to get them to slow down, their foray into leading slower would be a negative one.
The other thing to consider is how this is taken, from a member of the band they know what their person in need of correction is like, and know how to talk to the person and correct them without putting them off.
But this is quite a minefield and it seems to get worse the better you are. A person who can ring rounds and call changes is would say quite easily that they ring rounds and call changes, similar with Plain Hunt, Plain Bob and Grandsire. But is is beyond this that it starts to get a bit tricky as different things are rung dependant on your tower and normally resorts to the phrase "the usual".
Quite often in 8 (or more) bell towers the progress is from Plain Bob Doubles to Minor then Kent, Oxford Treble Bobs, Cambridge Surprise Minor, Cambridge Surprise Major rest of the Standard 8. But if you visiting a 6 bell tower they may ring all sorts of surprise minor, or doubles and variations, which are hardly the "usual" as far you are concerned.
Similarly, if you announce that you ring Surprise Maximus in a tower that has not even heard of surprise let alone 12 bell methods you end up sounding a little arrogant indeed.
The next important thing I would suggest is to mind your manners. I have been to a practice as a visitor and been thanked for "not shouting at us". This astounded me.
Minding ones manners
For the most part this is common sense, I will keep quiet in teh band I am ringing in unless I am specifically asked to call something, then I will of course conduct it, and I know the band that I ring with so can make comment on someone's striking as I know consistently what they are like.Imagine you are at a practice and you shout at the person leading that they are leading too slowly, while that may be perfectly true, what you as a visitor do not know is what that person ringing usually does. If they always lead too slowly, then yes fair enough, though realistically it should come from within the band, but if they teacher of the person leading has just managed to get them to slow down, their foray into leading slower would be a negative one.
The other thing to consider is how this is taken, from a member of the band they know what their person in need of correction is like, and know how to talk to the person and correct them without putting them off.
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