Taxal Delight Minor

About Taxal Delight Minor

Taxal Delight Minor is a member of the Old Oxford group of methods, a class which is characterised by the 7-pull dodging across the Lead End, and which can also be found in Westminster Surprise.

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.

Taxal Delight Minor is one of a group of 4 Treble Dodging methods all having identical work below the treble. Taxal is the most straightforward method within the group and is suggested as a stepping stone from Old Oxford above the Treble, to Canterbury Delight having London work above the treble.

• Chiltern Treble Bob
• Taxal Delight (Ibid)
• Humber Delight
• Canterbury Delight

At June 2025 there were just 5 performances including Taxal Delight Minor on handbells on BellBoard.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
X 34 X 14 X 12 X 16.34 X 14.36, 12, Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

Diagram: Taxal Delight 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 Taxal Delight Minor 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 Taxal Delight Minor.

Learning Taxal Delight Minor.

The Structure

Learning Taxal Delight Minor is an interesting challenge, the difficulties lie mainly in the asymmetrical 5-6, which needs to be learned in detail. The spacings and touch points are critical to success, and across the Half Lead it's almost like a slow 6 in Stedman.

The Rules

Taxal Delight is too complex to be defined in a simple rule.

Double Blue Lines

Taxal Delight Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Taxal Delight Minor, 1-2.

Taxal Delight Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Taxal Delight Minor, 3-4.

Taxal Delight Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Taxal Delight Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

The pivot bell is 4ths place bell and it displays the pointy work of the symmetrical bell in a Stedman Slow 6. 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 Taxal Delight 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

Taxal Delight Minor demands thoroughness, accuracy, and a crystal clear brain, especially for the work below the treble.

Place Notation Elements

The method contains 6 elements (34, 12, 14, 16 34X14, 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).

Use the long dodging in 5-6 to relax, especially on a coursing pair.
Use Structured Counting to count to 7 using the position of the treble.

Awareness of other bells

The structured counting technique of the handrail above is based on awareness of the position of the treble.

Coursing Order in Taxal Delight Minor

Natural coursing order is preserved well above the treble, use of the coursing order under the treble is a step too far for most people.

Ringing the Method

The tricky nature of the work above and below the treble 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 Taxal Delight Minor.

Touches of Taxal Delight Minor.

Bobs only touches of Little Bob will work for Taxal Delight.