Grandsire Triples

168 changes - In and out three times…
The simplest touch is to call yourself in and out of the hunt three times. You can do this from the 4, the 6 or the 7.
(You can also call it from the 2. Then it becomes "out and in three times" because the 2 is in the hunt at the start.)

You start off ringing until you reach the place where you would go into the hunt if a bob were called, that is you are coming away from lead and you are preparing to dodge 4-5 up. But if you go into the hunt you miss out your 4-5 up dodge and instead make thirds and lead again. Since you want to go into the hunt you call a bob when you are in 2nds place, as you come away from lead. (Remember that in Grandsire the calls are made when the treble is in 3rds place, which is always at handstroke.)
You then hunt up to the back but on your way down you will want to get out of the hunt, which you do by double-dodging 4-5 down. So call a bob as you first ring in 5ths place on the way down and do the double-dodge as required.
Do this twice more.

At 168 changes this touch is the length of two plain courses.

139 changes - PPSBPBBPPP…
To start off, pick a bell and work out what your work is going to be at every call. So suppose you’re going to ring the 4:

139

234567

S 642375 3

- 536742 1

- 425673 2

- 364725 1

P (325476) 3

For the first two leads (which are plain) you dodge 6-7 down and 6-7 up.

Then you’re going to call a single. You would have dodged 4-5 up, but instead you will miss out this piece of work and call yourself to make long thirds. Since you need to put the call in when the treble is in 3rds place, this will be when you are in 2nds place coming away from the front.

There is going to be a bob the very next lead, when you would have done 4-5 down. Instead you call yourself to double-dodge 6-7 down, so you need to put the bob in when you are making your second blow behind. (I’m going to stop telling you which place you’re in when you make the call now – you’ll need to look at a blue line and work it out, it isn’t hard.)

Then there’s a plain lead, you dodge 6-7 up, and then at the next bob you make 3rds and go into the hunt.

The next lead you come out of the hunt (this bit is like the touch above) by double-dodging 4-5 down.

Finally you dodge 6-7 down and 6-7 up and as you are about to dodge 4-5 up it comes round at handstroke. When a touch comes round at handstroke you need to call "That's all" at the backstroke before.

Then have a go working this out for other bells. After knowing it for a few different bells and calling it a few times you should be able to just remember PPSBPBBPPP and work out what happens as you go along.

Tip: If a touch of Grandsire comes round at a plain lead then half way through the last lead you will get backrounds (providing everybody is in the right place!) This can be useful if you are not quite sure when the touch ends.

139

234567

S 642375 3

- 536742 1

- 425673 2

- 364725 1

P (325476) 3

The numbers to the left of the above explanation and to the left here are how you would find this touch written out in, for example, the Ringing World Diary. The top number, 139, is the number of changes. The groups of 6 numbers are the lead ends. The treble doesn't appear in these because it will always be the first bell - because a lead end is the backstroke when the treble leads - and neither does the tenor because in Grandsire Triples it is covering. It is common practice to leave out the back bells if they are unaffected (look at how the 6 is missed out in the quarter peal of Plain Bob Minor). The first group of 6 numbers is rounds. The last is in brackets because this touch comes around at the handstroke before the actual lead end, but this is the next change you would ring if you kept going.
Down the left hand side, "S" means that you call a single and "-" means that you call a bob. The corresponding lead ends are the ones which you get once you've made those calls.

The numbers down the right hand side indicate how many leads you have to wait before you make the next call. So for the first one you have two plain leads and on the 3rd you call a single. You don't have any spare leads before the next call, it's a bob the next lead. And so on.

I've also explained this on the Plain Bob Triples page, so look there for another example.

Other touches can be found in the RW Diary, by asking other ringers or on other websites.

On to Quarter Peal of Grandsire Triples.

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