We often discuss rule-based ringing, but what about exception-based ringing?

There are lots of examples. Ipswich is Cambridge with plain hunting at the half lead; Quedgeley is Yorkshire with far-dodge-near in 5-6; New Cambridge is Cambridge with dodge and lead in 6th place bell; Maypole is Bristol with the treble plain hunting through 5-6-7-8; and so on. You have to know the underlying method thoroughly and then remember when and how to apply the exceptions.

This week should have been the long-awaited quarter of Fermanagh, but we were struck by illness once more and had to find an eight-bell alternative at the last minute. One option was to ring Nottinghamshire again, but we decided to try Lugana and see how the roll-ups on the front worked out.

Recall that Nottinghamshire is a variation of Cornwall, and Lugana is a further variation with 1st and 2nd places instead of a dodge in 1-2. This swaps 2nd and 4th place bells, so the main part of the work of 2nd place bell (in the diagram below) is reversed with respect to Nottinghamshire.

We had digested the difference between Cornwall and Nottinghamshire, but we were then trying to deal with the further difference between Nottinghamshire and Lugana. It turned out to be an exception too far!

Probably we would have done better if we'd had time for more preparation, but anyway, we had a couple of attempts lasting a course or two, and eventually settled for a plain course.

Returning to the general theme of exception-based ringing, eventually the exceptions sink in and you know the method properly in its own right. I don't think we'll be sticking with Nottinghamshire or Lugana long enough for that to happen, though.

Next week we'll be ringing on eight again because of availability, not illness, and we're planning to ring Bristol with no exceptions.