Points from Long Length Tower Bell Peals - Revision history

MJW: To update peal totals to date

2022-10-31T13:14:03Z

To update peal totals to date

MJW: /* Methods */

2022-02-20T12:58:22Z

Methods

GACJ at 11:37, 16 February 2022

2022-02-16T11:37:16Z

GACJ at 11:26, 16 February 2022

2022-02-16T11:26:47Z

MJW: /* Methods */

2022-02-16T09:06:21Z

Methods

MJW: /* References */

2022-02-15T13:09:28Z

References

MJW at 13:07, 15 February 2022

2022-02-15T13:07:59Z

MJW: /* References */

2022-02-15T13:04:48Z

References

MJW: /* Putting flesh on the bones */

2022-02-15T12:38:52Z

Putting flesh on the bones

MJW: /* Putting flesh on the bones */

2022-02-15T12:37:15Z

Putting flesh on the bones

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 <big>'''by Martin Whiteley'''</big>
 == Introduction ==
-I’ve always enjoyed reading Andrew Craddock’s occasional articles entitled 'Points from Peals' in which he makes interesting observations using ''PealBase'', his unrivalled compilation of peals that have been rung since 1923. As I have a particular interest in long length peals, which are peals of 10,000 changes or more, it occurred to me that it would be possible to investigate them in a similar way. The obvious starting point was to compile a list of all the long lengths rung on tower bells and this amounted to 551 peals, the first of which was rung in 1727. Then it seemed appropriate to enter all the peal details onto ''BellBoard'', so that anybody with an interest could access the information quickly and easily. This exercise is now complete and what follows is a brief description of the database and some comments about this enduring yet rarefied aspect of peal ringing.
+I’ve always enjoyed reading Andrew Craddock’s occasional articles entitled 'Points from Peals' in which he makes interesting observations using ''PealBase'', his unrivalled compilation of peals that have been rung since 1923. As I have a particular interest in long length peals, which are peals of 10,000 changes or more, it occurred to me that it would be possible to investigate them in a similar way. The obvious starting point was to compile a list of all the long lengths rung on tower bells and this amounted to 552 peals, the first of which was rung in 1727. Then it seemed appropriate to enter all the peal details onto ''BellBoard'', so that anybody with an interest could access the information quickly and easily. This exercise is now complete and what follows is a brief description of the database and some comments about this enduring yet rarefied aspect of peal ringing.
 == The long peal database ==
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 == Major trends ==
-Not surprisingly, long peals generally follow several trends that are evident in the much larger population of normal length peals. The obvious difference is that long peals are rarer events, not quite in the hen’s teeth category, but on average for every 650 peals rung, just one is a long length. That said, I’m still surprised by the sheer numbers; 544 true long peals have been rung since 1727 and there are very few decades that feature fewer than five performances.
+Not surprisingly, long peals generally follow several trends that are evident in the much larger population of normal length peals. The obvious difference is that long peals are rarer events, not quite in the hen’s teeth category, but on average for every 650 peals rung, just one is a long length. That said, I’m still surprised by the sheer numbers; 545 true long peals have been rung since 1727 and there are very few decades that feature fewer than five performances.
 [[Image:graph1.png|center|thumb|750px|Frequency and length of true long tower bell peals rung over time; the red bars are mini-rings. Graphic kindly produced by Richard Knights from the new database]]

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 [[Image:composition1.png|center|thumb|400px]]
-Since the 1960s there has been an evident shift in method choice. Stalwarts such as Plain Bob and Double Norwich linger on, but Kent and Oxford no longer feature strongly. Instead, there is an increasing focus on ringing multi-method peals, particularly on six and eight bells. This has been facilitated by a growing number of very inventive compositions and the realisation that it possible to ring complex peals of spliced given a band with sufficient skill levels and experience.
+Since the 1960s there has been an evident shift in method choice. Stalwarts such as Plain Bob and Double Norwich linger on, but Kent and Oxford no longer feature strongly. Instead, there is an increasing focus on ringing multi-method peals, particularly on six and eight bells. This has been facilitated by a growing number of very inventive compositions and the realisation that it is possible to ring complex peals of spliced given a band with sufficient skill levels and experience.
 [[Image:graph3.png|center|thumb|500px]]

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 My focus was only on long tower bell peals and the criteria for their inclusion were that they must be 10,000 or more changes long and assumed to be true. There are of course, several very well-known long peals that have subsequently been shown to be false, so those are listed separately. I also chose to include those peals that were rung by a relay of men or were perhaps conducted from a manuscript, because they were perfectly acceptable practices in their day. In passing, it’s worth mentioning that long peals are not the same as record peals; record peals are a tighter sub-set that have the greatest number of changes in any given method and also meet other criteria that have been set from time to time by the Central Council.
-[[Image:database.png|center|thumb|1000px|Long Length Database]]
+[[Image:database.png|center|thumb|1000px|Long Length Database|An excerpt of the long length tower bell peal database compiled by Martin Whiteley]]
 The database is a spreadsheet that simply lists the long lengths in date order and each peal location is hyper-linked to ''BellBoard'' so that the details can be seen in a consistent fashion. A flag highlights mini-rings, here defined as rings with a tenor <1cwt. The number of changes and method rung are given, and the composition (if available) can be accessed via the ''BellBoard'' entry or ''CompLib''. The primary reference for the information is given and for some of the older peals this includes verbatim extracts from contemporary sources. About 95% of the entries are complete, but some of the early peals are known only in summary form, reminiscent of the entries we make in our Ringing World diaries.
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 Other themes can be recognised. Long peals of Major, Royal and Maximus have been rung by all-ladies bands, silent and non-conducted peals of considerable complexity have demonstrated all-round talent, and a plethora of friendly rivalries between different bands, towers or Associations have driven ambition forward. At the root of all these achievements is almost invariably an astute organiser, for it’s undoubtedly true that the major challenge presented by long peals lies in assembling an appropriate band in the first place.
-[[Image:graph5.png|center|thumb|600px]]
+[[Image:graph5.png|center|thumb|600px|Leading long length peal ringers on tower bells – 58% of the peals were on mini-rings (shown in
 The list of leading long length ringers on tower bells is dominated by those who have rung regularly on the Pig-le-Tower mini-ring. The constancy of that band has already been mentioned and the frequency of the peal attempts (almost monthly during 2000-2004) is not ever likely to be exceeded in a church tower. Brian Woodruffe and David Brown emerge as the leading long length conductors, having been doing so for 58 years and 41 years respectively, but in the company of different bands.

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 Other themes can be recognised. Long peals of Major, Royal and Maximus have been rung by all-ladies bands, silent and non-conducted peals of considerable complexity have demonstrated all-round talent, and a plethora of friendly rivalries between different bands, towers or Associations have driven ambition forward. At the root of all these achievements is almost invariably an astute organiser, for it’s undoubtedly true that the major challenge presented by long peals lies in assembling an appropriate band in the first place.
-[[Image:table3.png|thumb|400px]]
+[[Image:graph5.png|center|thumb|600px]]
 The list of leading long length ringers on tower bells is dominated by those who have rung regularly on the Pig-le-Tower mini-ring. The constancy of that band has already been mentioned and the frequency of the peal attempts (almost monthly during 2000-2004) is not ever likely to be exceeded in a church tower. Brian Woodruffe and David Brown emerge as the leading long length conductors, having been doing so for 58 years and 41 years respectively, but in the company of different bands.
 It seems almost invidious to highlight just one long length from the list, but I’m going to champion the incredible performance in 1761 when a relay of 14 men rang the extent (40,320 changes) of Plain Bob Major on the tough-going 18cwt eight at Leeds in Kent. The context for this peal is that it took place less than 50 years after the first ever peal was rung, when long lengths were in their infancy, and the notion that ringing could be sustained non-stop for 27 hours must have seemed completely fanciful. The visionary and conductor for the peal was probably James Barham and whilst we know the names of the other ringers, we don’t know which bells they rang or how they arranged their shifts. In a previous failed attempt James Barham is said to have rung for nearly 15 hours continuously, ''‘called all the bobs and drank two glasses of wine’'' so he was clearly a ringer of some pedigree and panache. It would be 200 years before this performance was matched, and then by eight men ringing the much lighter bells at Loughborough Bell Foundry for 18 hours. Brian Woodruffe, who rang at Loughborough, notes that it was relatively effortless compared to the challenges presented at Leeds and that having more ringers involved does not belittle their performance at all.

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 Peals in single methods (83%) have proved to be far more popular than multi-methods (17%) over the centuries. This is because it’s easier to ring just one method accurately for hours on end, particularly if it’s really well known and comparatively straightforward. The musical possibilities provided by classic methods are rarely exhausted, even in long lengths, so a successful outcome is typically provided by selecting a strong band, a musical and/or satisfying method, and rewarding bells.
-Kent TB Major has an interesting history of performances. The second most popular method, it was first rung as a long length at Keighley in 1813 and within about 50 years the record length had been pushed up to 15,840 changes. Then a new composition was produced by William Harrison, a very neat and musical 3-part comprising 10,176 changes, and it quickly attracted attention. First rung to Oxford TB Major in 1871, it was repeated 13 times by different bands and conductors around the country, and it was clearly the long peal of choice during the late nineteenth century. These performances provide the clearest evidence that many long peals are simply rung for the intrinsic challenge and enjoyment that they provide, rather than for establishing new records. By the 1930s Kent was falling out of favour, but not before it had left a rich legacy of 38 peals rung in little more than a century.
+Kent TB Major has an interesting history of performances. The second most popular method, it was first rung as a long length at Keighley in 1813 and within about 50 years the record length had been pushed up to 15,840 changes. Then a new composition was produced by William Harrison, a very neat and musical 3-part comprising 10,176 changes, and it quickly attracted attention. First rung to Oxford TB Major in 1871, it was repeated 13 times by different bands and conductors around the country, and it was clearly the long peal of choice during the late nineteenth century. These performances provide the clearest evidence that many long peals are simply rung for the intrinsic challenge and enjoyment that they provide, rather than for establishing new records. By the 1930s Kent was falling out of favour, but not before it had left a rich legacy of 37 peals rung in little more than a century.
 [[Image:composition1.png|center|thumb|400px]]

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 * [https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/issues/5781 ''The Ringing World''], No 5781, 11 February 2022, pg 123-126.
 * [https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/search.php?length=long&bells_type=tower ''BellBoard - Tower bell peals of 10,000 changes or more'']
-* [https://www.pealbase.co.uk/pealbase/ll.php?s=2 ''Pealbase - Peals of 10,000 changes or more'']
+* [https://www.pealbase.co.uk/pealbase/ll.php?s=2 ''PealBase - Peals of 10,000 changes or more'']
 * [http://cccbr.org.uk/felstead/ ''Felstead database of tower bell peals'']
 * [https://complib.org/report?name=longlengthsbymethod&handbells=off ''Composition Library - Towerbell Long Lengths By Method'']

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 * [https://www.pealbase.co.uk/pealbase/ll.php?s=2 ''Pealbase - Peals of 10,000 changes or more'']
 * [http://cccbr.org.uk/felstead/ ''Felstead database of tower bell peals'']
-* [https://complib.org/report?name=longlengthsbymethod&handbells=off ''Composition Library - Tower bell Long Lengths by Method'']
+* [https://complib.org/report?name=longlengthsbymethod&handbells=off ''Composition Library - Towerbell Long Lengths By Method'']
-* [https://complib.org/report?name=longlengthsmultimethod&handbells=off ''Composition Library - Tower bell Multi-Method Long Lengths'']
+* [https://complib.org/report?name=longlengthsmultimethod&handbells=off ''Composition Library - Towerbell Multi-Method Long Lengths'']
 [[Category: Performances]]

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 Some of the more interesting aspects about long peals are provided by the human stories that lie behind them. Often these come in the form of footnotes or reports from contemporary sources and a common theme is the extent to which the peal required high levels of commitment or physical strength. Inflated claims that the peal ''‘was beyond compare’'' and ''‘the finest ever rung’'' were not unusual in the nineteenth century and this rousing report from the ''Cheltenham Chronicle'' in May 1817 followed a peal of 12,312 Grandsire Caters at Painswick:
-'''… perhaps so striking an example of true British strength, and determined perseverance has seldom been witnessed. During the whole time every man stood to his bell, nor did any one discover the least inclination to shrink from the inconceivable exertion, which amusement, and the spirit of emulation only, had imposed on them. We are no friends of those brutal contests, by which it has been sometimes said, that the martial valour of our country is encouraged; but we have always the sincerest pleasure in announcing to our readers any manly and innocent exploit, which may remind them of the long-attested superiority of British nerve and heart …'''
+''‘… perhaps so striking an example of true British strength, and determined perseverance has seldom been witnessed. During the whole time every man stood to his bell, nor did any one discover the least inclination to shrink from the inconceivable exertion, which amusement, and the spirit of emulation only, had imposed on them. We are no friends of those brutal contests, by which it has been sometimes said, that the martial valour of our country is encouraged; but we have always the sincerest pleasure in announcing to our readers any manly and innocent exploit, which may remind them of the long-attested superiority of British nerve and heart …''‘
 Long lengths have periodically provided an attractive challenge for bands of young ringers. In 1888, 10,304 Bob Major was rung on the one-ton eight at Leiston by ''‘single men’'' with an average age of 21, while in 1957 a 10,000 of Double Norwich CB Major was achieved at Fairfield, Buxton by a band aged just 17. Four of the ringers at Fairfield featured again when they rang 16,920 Yorkshire Royal on the chunky ten at Worsley in 1961, with a band that had an average age of less than 23. Those four youngsters (Neil Bennett, Bernard Groves, Bob Smith and Brian Woodruffe) would go on to establish themselves as the leading long length ringers of their generation. Skipping forward in time, youngsters are still making a name for themselves with impressive performances, particularly on handbells, but also with an enterprising peal of 10,040 Bristol Royal at St Thomas, Oxford in 2019.