Ely Delight Minor

About Ely Delight Minor

Ely Delight Minor has the fluid hunting work above the treble of the Chadkirk Group, while retaining a comfortable 2nds place Lead End. Below the treble the work is very similar to Kent and Oxford but with a disruptive 3rds place at he 4-5 cross-sections.

6ths place bell is the pivot bell and with the 2nds place lead end, the calling sequence for 6ths observation is as per Plain Bob.

Ely Delight Minor is one of a group of 3 Treble Dodging methods all having identical work below the treble.

• Evening Star Delight Minor
• Coventry Delight Minor
• Ely Delight Minor (Ibid)

At of June 2025 Bellboard had just 4 performances that included Ely Delight Minor.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
X 36 X 16 X 12 X 36 X 12 X 16, 12, Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

Diagram: Ely Delight Minor, plain lead, change-rows and grid.

Plain Course structure
The essence of this method (as a progression beyond Oxford TB) is the hunting work above 1-2 for the 1-2 sections combined with the thirds when treble passes thriough 4-5.

Goals and learning approach

What you are trying to achieve needs to drive your approach.
It is worth tackling Chadkirk Treble Bob
and Nelson Treble Bob
as a step towards using the treble to drive your memory of the method structure, then step up to Ely with 3rds at the 4-5 cross-sections. Hence have a shot at ringing by Structure.

Ringing by structure

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 Ely but don't dismiss it out of hand.

Learning Ely Delight Minor.

The Structure

The essence of the method is Oxford Treble Bob, but with significant differences.

The Rules

Ely Delight Minor - the rules
Ring Chadkirk Treble Bob Minor
except:
At the 2-3 sections, 3rds place is made (causing a dodge in 1-2), and the Half Lead is 1-6.

Tenor leads at the half lead causing Plain Bob sequence Lead ends.

Double Blue Lines

Ely Delight Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Ely Delight Minor, 1-2.

Ely Delight Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Ely Delight Minor, 3-4.

Ely Delight Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Ely Delight Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

The pivot point for 3-4 is where they cross in 4-5; this is the centre of a "Double Christmas Cracker".

Place Notation and Grid

The pictorial grid emphasises the structure of the method better than the Place Notation.

Pictels

As with Oxford Treble Bob Minor, the rules are a good approach to the method, and splitting into individual elements is of no value.

Ringing Ely 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 Ely Delight Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

Positional Awareness

Ely Delight Minor like Chadkirk Treble Bob Minor is highly fluid, extensive practice is needed if this is the first Chadkirk Group method to be learned.

Place Notation Elements

The method only contains 5 elements (X, 36, 16, 12), all of which will already have been rung.

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Handrails

135264 LE 12: Plain Bob; Morning Star T.B.; Westminster S.

1-2: 1-2, 1-4, 1-6, 1-5, 1-3, 1-2
3-4: 3-4, 2-6, 4-5, 6-3, 5-2, 3-4
5-6: 6-5, 5-3, 3-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-5

The pivot bell (Tenor) leads at he half lead. For 5-6 pair, the pivot point is when the pair crosses over in 2-3.
For 3-4 pair, the pivot point is when they cross over in 4-5 at the Half Lead.

Awareness of other bells

Most ringers on encountering Chadkirk Treble Bob find it quite tricky to ring well, at least to begin with, and have little spare mental capacity for considering other bells, Ely Delight Minor is ximilar in this aspect.

Coursing Order in Ely Delight Minor

Ely Delight Minor exhibits glimpses of natural coursing order. An experienced ringer will pick out the parts that are valuable to them, others should concentrate on features that are more helpful

Ringing the Method

Ely Delight Minor makes excellent use of the skill of following the treble in combination with the structural variation on Oxford TB.

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs replace the 2nds place at the Lead End with 4ths. This causes the bell that has just made 3rds to make the bob, make thirds once more.

Singles Singles are rarely used in Ely Delight Minor.

Touches of Ely Delight Minor.

Ely Delight Minor has the same lead-end order as Plain Bob Minor, so could be a valuable practice method to ring before tackling the more complex structures.