The Most Popular Handbell Methods on 10

Submitted by simon on

Here is the Top 20 list for 10-bell handbell peals from 1954 to 2010, based on data from www.pealbase.co.uk. The comments about Spliced vs. Spliced Plain, from the 8-bell post, also apply here.

Rank Method Peals %
1 Plain Bob Royal 722 15.6
2 Kent Treble Bob Royal 608 13.2
3 Cambridge Surprise Royal 507 11.0
4 Stedman Caters 437 9.5
5 Spliced Surprise Royal 332 7.2
6 Yorkshire Surprise Royal 265 5.7
7 Grandsire Caters 263 5.7
8 London No.3 Surprise Royal 248 5.4
9 Oxford Treble Bob Royal 210 4.5
10 Bristol Surprise Royal 188 4.1
11 Lincolnshire Surprise Royal 148 3.2
12 Little Bob Royal 51 1.1
13 Pudsey Surprise Royal 42 0.9
14 Rutland Surprise Royal 41 0.9
15 Spliced Plain Royal 37 0.8
16 Littleport Little Surprise Royal 33 0.7
17 Spliced Royal 30 0.6
18 Superlative No.2 Surprise Royal 27 0.6
19 Spliced Treble Bob Royal 26 0.6
20 Swindon Surprise Royal 18 0.4

In comparison with the 8-bell list, Plain Bob is still top but with a lower proportion. Stedman is much further up – of course Stedman Caters is much easier than Stedman Triples. It’s interesting that the relative positions of Cambridge and Yorkshire are reversed with respect to the Major methods.

Handbell Statistics
Royal (10 bells)