It is now nearly three weeks since I threw away the training wheels and resolved to accept that looking for ropes was not happening for me and that learning the order of bells to follow was a thankless and fairly miserable task. I would have to trust myself or give up trying to ring methods because just looking at the number of possible permutations I would have to learn or work out on the hoof was enough to make my brain sizzle and smoke emerge from my ears. I had to try another strategy, even though people doubted whether it could work for me. I ignored the "but that will be difficult to do well…" comments (yes it will, but not nearly as difficult as memorising the order of the bells for even a plain method once a bob is called), "the conductor will not be able to help you" ( no she won't but at the moment there is nothing to help me with because I am stuck in a swamp and see no way of moving forward), "you would have to be a very good ringer to make that work…" (implication " that will never work for you"). I was at a stage where it felt like I had nothing to lose because if the attempt to ring effectively blind was beyond my capabilities, then clearly I am not cut out for this method lark, because nothing else works for me.
So I held my breath and risked making a complete and utter fool of myself by switching off the eyes and relying on feel and sound. Nearly 3 weeks and 3 opportunities to try it out on easy–to-handle training bells and well targeted sessions - how effective as a strategy is it?
Week 1 – Plain bob and Grandsire session - "just" hunt and hope for the best. Do not calculate anything. Do not look. Ask people not to suggest "follow the 3 at handstroke" but merely indicate quicker or slower ringing required. I managed to treble to unfamiliar touches making no attempt to work out the order of the bells and to ring inside to a touch of Grandsire with my bell unaffected except for a bit of an extra dodge at the back. No worse than my usual offering and a lot less fraught.
Week 2 – Ring on 8. We met short so reverted to minor. Ring inside to something simple but unfamiliar - Forward Minor. I had no idea of order of bells and "just" hunted as instructed or made 4ths and turned round at a bob. Easy stuff. Ring Plain Bob Minor inside because there were not enough experienced ringers to go round and really, if you follow the pattern and not the bells, it becomes a much less stressful undertaking
Week 3 – Treble bob week. Trebled to Oxford Treble Bob and then rang 5 bell to a short touch of Kent Minor (3 bobs). Treble Bob hunted on 8 bells.
Of course none of it was perfect. There were lurchings and "you are in 2-5 rather than 3-4 place" type comments. Fair enough, I was, but the important thing was that I knew I was trying to be in 3-4 place and although a lot of rows were bumpy, I was able to keep retrieving myself and re-setting the path if/when I managed an even strike. I understood what I was trying to do, rather than attempted to remember what I was trying to do in relation to anyone else. Furthermore, I could have trebled in my rough and ready way to Cambridge or London or 8 -minor spliced. I do not think that it would have made much difference to me. Perhaps next treble bob session we can try?
But most important of all, it felt as if an enormous stone had been removed from my neck and I actively enjoyed the experience. I would have happily kept going for another hour or two, trying to refine, polish and improve. I recognise that there is a long way to go, but if I can crack this then I see that I can ring anything that I can learn. It may be that the polishing is never going to be enough to allow me to strike decently, but at least I will have given it my best shot, and my best shot has absolutely nothing to do with spotting ropes or transposing orders. I have only used this approach with a "real band" for 3 hours in total, and in that time have confidently tackled stuff that would have been an absolute car crash of panic before.
Thank you as always to those patient people who form a solid band around me and allow me to feel my way towards the light. I appreciate that it must be very hard to bite you tongues and not spoon- feed me ("dodge with the 5 at backstroke" or whatever), but you are getting better and better at allowing me to trust myself and not distracting me with well-meant advice which most people would find helpful, but which tends to make me lose track as I work out what on earth you are saying. A friendly wave in my general direction can be useful, and if I am dodging with you, and by some miracle happen to be looking in your direction, and it looks like I might never stop dodging, clearly switching your eyes to look somewhere else (anywhere else, I am not fussy) makes it clear that my time is up and I need to get moving again.
It is going to take time but I promise that I am never going back to that excessive learning of orders again. I had not appreciated that method ringing does not have to be hard mental work. It can just be ringing!
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