Treble's Going

• Edwin Higginbotham first became aware of change-ringing when watching The Nine Tailors on PBS--this four-part miniseries is available on Amazon!
• It took decades, though, until Edwin would get his hands on a bell-rope. You can hear that story in episode 12 with Candace Higginbotham.
• Here, we discuss the three-year project that brought bells to St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Shreveport, Louisiana.
• Finally, Edwin lets us in on a little secret: he can ring methods on the tower's bells from his desk at home!

Thank you, friends.

• Marjorie Winter is a mathematician and ringer in the Cambridge district of the Ely Diocesan Association.
• Marj's exposure to ringing came as a student at National Cathedral School, where she was hooked not only by the musical and physical aspects of ringing, but also by its suitability to mathematical analysis.
• Marj's path took her through Smith College's mathematics department and eventually to Cambridge University, where she advised Master's students and developed the Cambridge Mathematics Placement program while pursuing her own research.
• In this part we talk mostly about schools, schooling, being a student, and being a teacher; part II (episode 020) is devoted to ringing!

Thank you, friends.

• Douglas Kitson is a teacher and ringer in Quebec City, whose first awareness of ringing came during his childhood in Australia.
• Douglas first learned to handle in Quebec, but rang his first two quarters on the same day after a week of intensive practice in London!
• Mostly, though, we talk about the ringing at Holy Trinity Cathedral and at St. Matthew's Bell Tower; about how it started and about how it's progressed through the years.
• These days, Douglas is ringing plenty of minimus/covered singles or singly chiming for services, as restrictions on congregating allow. But as thing ease up, be sure to clear Memorial Day weekend for a trip to Quebec City, and perhaps study up on ringing "Sixty on Thirds" (no relation).

Thank you, friends.

• This episode comes from a session recorded at the North American Guild of Change Ringers Annual General Meeting, held October 9-11, 2020.
• Cathy Booth and I talk at length about her podcast, Fun With Bells and about Treble's Going.
• We talk about starting our podcasts, about the planning-recording-editing-publishing process, and about our mutual admiration for each other's work.
• And, in a first for this podcast, we take listener questions!

Many thanks to the North American Guild and to the Honolulu StARS for hosting the AGM, and to you for listening, friends.

• Fr. Alban Riley is a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict, at Westminster Abbey in British Columbia.
• We discuss living in religious community, guided by the Rule of Saint Benedict: prayers, work, and recreation devoted to one's God and fellow man.
• We also discuss how change ringing came to the Abbey and how it features in the monks' daily lives.
• Lastly, I put in a little plug for the North American Guild of Change Ringers Annual General Meeting, running October 9-11. You can find more information at the NAGCR website.

Thank you, friends.

• Linda Woodford learned to ring in Boston, as part of the "Geoff Davies crew," and apprenticed as a hanger at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
• We discuss what makes one a likely ringer, ringing heavy bells, and enjoying the physicality of ringing and steeplekeeping.
• Along the way Linda reminds us of a few things to keep our eyes and ears on, and advises us on taking care of our bells.

Thank you, friends.

• Dan Beaman studied architecture at Clemson University; before that, he studied Golden Books, as we all should.
• Dan's long career in the design and restoration of sacred spaces brought him to change-ringing via the 1989-1993 restoration of St. Michael's Church following hurricane Hugo.
• We talk about learning to ring, building a band, and planning ringing tours for teenagers.
• Mostly, though, it's talk about towers: their design, their acceptance of bells, and their maintenance.

Thank you, friends.

• Candace Higginbotham studied political theory at Louisiana State University and went into a fulfilling career in public service.
• But we know she was just biding time until a ring could be installed at St. Mark's Cathedral in Shreveport.
• We discuss building a band from scratch, and all the guidance and assistance given that band by ringers from Little Rock, Housoton, Dallas, Texarkana; from across North America and from the North American Guild; and from around the world.
• (And if you only have two minutes to spare today, please skip ahead to 40:00 in the recording: you'll hear my favorite two minutes of the series so far.)

Thank you, friends.

The title says it all. Couldn't leave this bit on the cutting-room floor!

• Don Morrison is a prolific ringer and composer who learned to ring in Boston and currently rings in Pittsburgh. He'll always have a soft spot for St. John the Baptist in Peterborough (website, Dove's listing), though, as you'll hear.
• If you'd like to read up on composing, Don recommends:
  • Leary, John. Handbook of Composition.
  • Wilson, Wilfrid. Change Ringing. [scattered snippets, in surprising amount]
  • Trollope, J. Armiger. Variation and Transposition. [possibly out of print, online at https://www.ringing.info/v-and-t.html]
  • Longridge, John. Conducting and Coursing Order.
  • Price, Brian. A "fistful of interesting papers" at ringing.info [most easily found by searching "Price" in-page]
  • Chant, Harold and Giles Thompson. Method Splicing parts I and II (Minor Methods and Major Methods, respectively).
  • Pullin, Richard. Ongoing series "Notable Composers of the Past" in Ringing World.
• For the truly curious, here is a listing for that first (rung) peal composition of Don's, conducted by Geoff Davies: number 22 in the list of peals rung at Groton School.
• Rod Pipe's series can be found in Ringing World in 1985 at pp. 636 and 1084; and in 1986 at pp. 60, 168, 232, 304, 460, 576, 642, 728, 840, 912, 1020, and 1080.
• We also manage to squeeze in some talk of Project Pickled Egg and the notion of "bumping up" Cornwall in the standard progression of treble-dodging methods one learns.
• If you'd like to see a "grab bag of things of interest to ringers to which things have been added and subtracted over the years," you're in luck: Don hosts such a resource at ringing.org!

Thank you, friends.