The idea of a "rating system" for ringers, like a handicap for golfers, has risen to the top of the Bellringers facebook page again. Like some particularly unpleasant floater that appears in the toilet bowl, it is back. In a similar vein, although less divisive, there is a question on Ringing Forums about peal ringing and what percentage of ringers have rung a peal/ 50 peals/100 peals etc.
What is this obsession with who has done what? How good am I compared to my neighbour? Who is top of the leader board? What is expected of me?
Have the experienced ringers any idea of just how alienating such discussions can be to some of us who may never ring a peal? Our meagre offerings feel so puny that is it even worth bothering? I don't want to be ranked and compared to others. I do not ring in order to tick off methods, towers or lengths. Some people like ringing peals. A handful of people like ringing double peals or even longer lengths. I regularly ring with such people but, thankfully, they do not bang on about their achievements. Some people think that a quarter peal is pushing their luck and 720 changes would be preferred. Some people might quite fancy trying a half peal, but such things do not seem to carry any kudos whatsoever and therefore are not worth bothering with.
It appears to a newbie that one should aspire to ring quarters or peals and if one does not, then one is a bit of a lightweight. The jump from 120 changes to a quarter peal (around 10X that length depending on composition) is enormous for many of us. A staging post in between is not mentioned and should we succeed with a quarter, the next step seems to be "now multiply that by 4" (over 5000 changes and 3 hours solid ringing). What other activity expects such huge leaps in achievement? No wonder people drop out of ringing or retreat to their home tower and ring familiar touches of plain bob every Sunday. Only a minority of ringers live and breathe their hobby. Most of us do not and we can be both intimidated and overwhelmed by such expectations.
I checked on Bell Board and there were 3285 peals rang in the last 12 months and 2 longer lengths (1 double peal last week and 1 triple peal on handbells). Assuming that most ringers who appear in one peal also appear in at least one other, that is a very small percentage of the ringing population indulging in Proper Peal Ringing. Admittedly, there were more peals scored in 2017 (just under 4700) and 2018 (just over 4700), but still only a handful of longer lengths and it is the same names cropping up again and again. It could be that a higher number of peal attempts were made last year but that people are a bit out of practice and did not manage to score. Good luck to all the peal ringers. It is great that they want to push the boundaries and attempt, what to less accomplished ringers, seems "the impossible", but is it something that we need to be worrying about when all over the country there are struggling bands that would be delighted to field a team able to ring all their bells for 45 minutes on a Sunday morning?
If certain ringers want to rank themselves and their peers, perhaps they should form an elite group open only to others that share the same attitude. Communicate in private and leave the rest of us out of it. I could think of a few choice names for such an exclusive fellowship and none of them are very flattering. The suggestion that the ringer who underperforms on any occasion should wear a piece of soap on a rope around their neck to underline their shame and encourage them to work harder/discourage their peers from slacking (as it is reported happens in at least one tower) is a clear example of bullying and should be reported to the safeguarding officer. Individuals might smile and join in, but I bet a few of them are shrivelling inside at being thus humiliated. I certainly would never set foot through that particular ringing room door again. I probably would not fit anyway because my dunce's hat would get in the way.
Unless of course, the best ringers actively want to drive more modest achievers away, in which case, carry on attempting to rank and order us. However, don't then moan when towers fall silent because loyal ringers feel that they have insufficient to offer to make it worth bothering to turn up to practice.
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