Grandsire Doubles
Grandsire Doubles
When I set out to learn Plain Bob Doubles I realised that I would have to start learning to count my places. If this is your first method and you do not count places then now is the time to start.
In my case I learned Plain Bob Doubles before Grandsire Doubles which may have affected the learning process in ways that I can not identify. In September 2008 I started to learn Grandsire Doubles "properly"! I had done it a couple of times in the past but did it by learning the bells I had to follow, now I'm doing it by counting my place.
This page only describes a "Plain Course", if you are ready for a "Touch" see Grandsire Doubles - a Touch.
There are other sites on the web that describe Grandsire Doubles [e.g. 1] but they mostly assume you are an expert and understand the various method diagrams they use and spend most of the space describing the more complex effects achieved with Bobs and Singles.
Grandsire Doubles - work elements
As with any Doubles method there are only five working bells. I learned this method on 6 bells and in this case the Tenor (bell #6) is always in 6th position.
The Treble (bell #1) performs a sequence of Plain Hunts, in a plain course the treble performs three Plain Hunts. In a Touch of 120 changes there are 12 Plain Hunts.
In what is called a plain course (i.e. no Bobs or Singles) of Grandsire Doubles bell #2 also performs a sequence of three consecutive Plain Hunts.
In Grandsire Doubles three bells perform the same three variations in the same sequence but they each have a different starting point. In a plain course the three bells doing the variations are #3, #4 and #5.
The following illustrates the three variations, or pieces of work, in sequence as applied to bell number 3:
- 3rds
-
3 5 1 4 2 6 h 3 1 5 2 4 6 b 1 3 2 5 4 6 h 1 2 3 4 5 6 b 
2 1 3 5 4 6 h 2 3 1 4 5 6 b 3 2 4 1 5 6 h 3 4 2 5 1 6 b The lead up to 3rds is by leading as usual with a handstroke and backstroke, this is followed by a handstroke in second place then two strokes in third place (backstroke then handstroke) then a backstroke in second place and then back into the lead with another handstroke and backstroke.
This is actually a little trickier than it looks. If you look at the plain course, you will see that for bell #3 3rds spans the beginning and end of the method. It is only really apparent when one course of Grandsire Doubles follows another without a gap. - dodge 4-5 down
-
5 1 4 2 3 6 b 1 5 2 4 3 6 h 1 2 5 3 4 6 b 2 1 5 4 3 6 h 2 5 1 3 4 6 b 5 2 3 1 4 6 h This is a dodge down, i.e. while hunting from 5th place towards the lead and involves taking 4th place and then back to 5th place before continuing down towards the lead.
- dodge 4-5 up
-
4 1 3 2 5 6 b 1 4 2 3 5 6 h 1 2 4 5 3 6 b 2 1 4 3 5 6 h 2 4 1 5 3 6 b 4 2 5 1 3 6 h This is a dodge up, i.e. while hunting towards the back you take 5th place then back to 4th place then back up to 5th place.
Plain Course of Grandsire Doubles
The complete plain course is illustrated below.
Also illustrated is the cycle of work
associated with this method.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b | |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | h | |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b | |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | h | |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 | b | |
| 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | h | |
| 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | b | |
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | h | |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | b | |
| 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 | h | |
| 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | b | |
| 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | h | |
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | b | |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | h | |
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | b | |
| 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | h | |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | b | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 | h | |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | b | |
| 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | h | |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | b | |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | h | |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | b | |
| 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 | h | |
| 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | b | |
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | h | |
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | b | |
| 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | h | |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | b | |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | h | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b |
As mentioned earlier, in a plain course bells 3, 4 and 5 follow the same cycle of work but start in a different part of the cycle. To show the work of a particular bell choose from the following:
So that seems clear enough! I have given up on the approach of learning the sequence of bells that need to be followed and only worry about "counting places". For Grandsire Doubles this basically involves plain hunting and interspersing the relevant piece of work, of which there are three, at the right point. The only trick being to know when to insert the correct piece of work! Using bell #3 as the example you would proceed as follows where the number represents your position in the sequence 1 to 5:
3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3
3rds -- dodge dodge -- 3rdsAs you study the method there are cues which remind you that something needs to be done and when to do it.
Passing the Treble
There is a cue that will help you know what piece of work to do next. I've come to know this as passing the treble. After leading and hunting towards the back you will "pass" the treble in one of four different places. If, for example, you are in second place and the treble is leading, then you are passing the treble in second place. The following table shows what your next piece of work is for each of the four possible places that you can pass the treble.
| passing the treble in: | next piece of work |
|---|---|
| 2nd place | 3rds |
| 3rd place | dodge 4-5 up |
| 4th place | dodge 4-5 down |
| 5th place | Shouldn't happen! |
Reminder: this only applies when hunting out to the back!
While there are four possible places that you could pass the treble you only do so in three of them. Why? I suspect that it is because a Plain Course of Grandsire Doubles only involves three plain hunts. And why not in 5th place? Once again, just a suspicion, but there are always two bells in the hunt with the treble always being followed by whichever bell is also in the hunt (in a Plain Course this is bell #2).
In Plain Bob Doubles you will find that whenever the treble is leading the four working bells are performing some piece of work. In Grandsire Doubles things are a little different, the three working bells start their piece of work when the treble is leading for the second stroke at backstroke. This means that the work, which is only two strokes, are performed backstroke then handstroke.
A Touch of Grandsire Doubles
I am just working towards a Touch and as I get familiar with the issues I will update this based on my experience. Unlike Plain Bob Doubles you cannot perform a Touch just using Bobs, you will also have to get to grips with Singles.
