Twice a year at the 10-bell tower of St. Goodenough, Great Blicester, we hold an annual recruitment event and as a result we have several learners. As usual, when a group of ringers gets together, they start talking about ringing and sharing their understanding of the subject. Learners are particularly prone to this because the excitement of ringing is too much for them to bear alone. One night, when Rusty Dingler and Bob Doublesday were learning, they were talking in the pub. Since ringers in the pub always shout at each other I couldn't help overhearing it:

RD:    "It's your round again Bob. Mine's a pint of Spotty Duck."
BD:    "These are always the best rounds of the night but some of the rounds in the tower tonight were good as well."
RD:    "Yeah, your leading is much better now. Your backstroke gaps are just right; perfect to fit two extra bells in."
BD:    "That's because I always look for the tenor sally coming through the hole in the ceiling. Anyway, your covering sets a good rhythm these days."
RD:    "That's because I have managed to learn the order of the bells that I have to follow. You should do it that way; its easier than this ropesight they go on about."
BD:    "I don't think I'll ever get ropesight. I find that ringing a bit quicker when moving up a place and a bit slower when moving down a place works for me."
RD:    "I find that the best way to speed up is to pull harder to make the bell swing quicker. Sometimes it's best to bounce the bell on the stay."
BD:    "I like to hold the tail end with about a foot sticking out but the ropes are too short; I always need a box."
RD:    "You should try some of that glycerine gunk that Bert Headstock uses. Gudgeon says that it damages the ropes and makes them stiff but I can't see that."
BD:    "That's right. Glycerine is hydrophobic and should soften the ropes. Anyway, do you understand those Call Changes yet?"
RD:    "Yes."
BD:    "Oh!"
RD:    "They're easy - if the call is "2 to 3" then 3 follows 2 and 2 follows 3. The bell that was following 3 but was not itself called out goes to follow the bell that was following it. The bell that was called out and which was following the other bell called out goes to follow the bell that the other bell that was called out was following."
BD:    "I see. So if "2 to 3", "4 to 5", "2 to 5" were called then that would give Tittums?".
RD:    "Er... I though Tittums was 531246?"
BD:    "So if "2 to 3" is called and I'm ringing no. 2 I turn to face no. 3?"
RD:    "I suppose so, otherwise your arm would be in the way. Anyway, you should always keep the same visual gap between you and the bell you are following, and if they go wrong you need to change speed."
BD:    "That Plain Hunt looks hard. I've had a couple of goes. It took me a while to realise that "go Plain Hunt" is called two whole pulls before starting."
RD:    "Me too but I found that if I slow down the last backstroke lead before setting off it was easier to balance the bell. The other thing is that when you follow the bigger bells you should leave a smaller gap because bigger bells turn faster."
BD:    "I think that I'm starting to understand what "green lines" are. They tell you which position you are in. When the line moves to the right you are "hunting in" and when it moves to the left you are "hunting out"."
RD:    "That's right. When the line moves to the right you ring quicker and when it moves to the left you ring slower. They help you to learn which bells to follow. Anyway, how about that pint then?"
BD:    "Coming up..."

Can you help these two poor misguided souls? There are 31 odd statements on this page. Can you find them?

Gudgeon Pynn.

Answers.

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