CAMBRIDGE Delight Minor

About CAMBRIDGE Delight Minor

CAMBRIDGE Delight Minor has the fluid hunting work above the treble of the Chadkirk Group, exacerbated by the 6ths place Lead End. Below the treble the work has moved away from Kent and Oxford but with a disruptive 3rds place at the 4-5 cross-sections and Plain Hunting at the Half Lead.

3rds place bell is the pivot bell and with the 6ths place lead end, the calling sequence for 6ths observation is as per Reverse Bob Minor.

CAMBRIDGE Delight Minor is one of a group of 6 Treble Dodging methods all having identical work below the treble.

• FRANCIS GENIUS Delight Minor
• CAMBRIDGE Delight Minor (Ibid)
• IPSWICH Surprise Minor
• NORFOLK Surprise Minor
• Northumberland Surprise Minor
• Whitley Surprise Minor

In June 2025 Bellboard had just 3 performances that included CAMBRIDGE Delight Minor.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
X 36 X 16 X 12 X 36 X 14 X 16, 16, Bob 14, Single 1456.

Grid:

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

Plain Course structure
This is a highly fluid method both above and below the treble. With 3rds Place Bell as the pivot bell, and a 6ths place Lead End, the leads are presented in Reverse Bob sequence.

Goals and learning approach

What you are trying to achieve needs to drive your approach.
Cambridge Delight is quite closely related (in structure) to Cambridge Surprise, there being Lead End, Half Lead and 2-3 cross section variations. Cambridge Delight and Cambridge Surprise are excellent methods for becoming familiar with 4-bell hunting boxes or cages. This aspect is developed most strongly on the page relating to CAMBRIDGE Surprise Minor

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

Mastery of Cambridge Delight is perfectly feasible, if unusual.

Learning Cambridge Delight Minor.

The Structure

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

The Rules

Cambridge Delight Minor - the rules
Ring CAMBRIDGE Surprise Minor except:
At the 2-3 cross-sections, half lead and lead end, ring Plain Hunting.

Supplementary Rules based on Oxford TB

Ring the maximum amount of Forward Plain Hunting commensurate with a 3rds place delight method..

Double Blue Lines

Cambridge Delight Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Cambridge Delight Minor, 1-2.

Cambridge Delight Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Cambridge Delight Minor, 3-4.

Cambridge Delight Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Cambridge Delight Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

1-4, 1-6, and 3-6 hunting boxes as necssary..

Place Notation and Grid

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

Pictels

See CAMBRIDGE Surprise Minor for an exploration of the use of pictels.

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

Positional Awareness

Cambridge Delight Minor is highly fluid and needs good concentration.

Place Notation Elements

The method only contains 5 elements (X, 12, 14, 16, 36).

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Handrails

135264 LE 16: Reverse Bob; Nelson T.B.; Primrose Surprise

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 (3rds pb) leads at the half lead. For 3-4 pair, the pivot point is when they cross over in 2-3 at the Half Lead. For 5-6 pair, the pivot point is when they cross over in 4-5 at the Half Lead.

Handrails
It's a fluid method with no obvious handrails.

Awareness of other bells

3-4 dodge together 4 times in the plain course.

Coursing Order in Cambridge Delight Minor

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

Ringing the Method

Cambridge Delight Minor gives good practice at associating a piece of structure with a piece of Treble work..

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs replace the 6ths 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 Cambridge Delight Minor.

Touches of Cambridge Delight Minor.

Cambridge Delight Minor has the same lead-end order as Reverse Bob Minor, use bobs-only touches.