The Pealing of Jill Poole

Wild bells (but perfectly controlled) rang out last week from the spire of Leicester Cathedral. For four solid hours campanologists* listened critically and with delight to the Cathedral's bashing, bonging bells hammering out the 5,280 changes of the Cambridge Surprise Maximus. A cause of further delight to those in the know was the fact that one of the twelve bell ropes was pulled by a 15-year-old girl.

It was the first time in history that anyone as young as Jill Poole had even attempted a Stedman Caters or a Plain Bob Royal, let alone anything so ambitious and exhausting as a whole Cambridge Surprise Maximus. As Jill descended, fresh and glowing, from the belfry, the campanologists gave her a solemn nod of approval. She had qualified as an expert in Britain's ancient and honored profession of change ringing.

Change ringing is the most athletic of musical techniques. It consists in ringing three or more bells in a series of variations. Three bells are mathematically capable of only six "changes" (i.e., 1, 2, 3; 1, 3, 2; 2, 3, 1; 2, 1, 3; 3, 1, 2; 3, 2, 1). But four bells admit of 24 changes, and twelve bells can ring no less than 479,001,600. Such a job would require the continuous services of twelve ringers for 30 years.

Treble Bob and Stedman. Change-ringing teams of virtuoso quality have been known to ring faultless sets of 21,000 changes over a period of twelve hours. But such feats are rare because of the enormous physical strain. There are four main methods of change ringing (differences are chiefly in the choice of the sequence of notes and combinations). To campanologists they are known as the 1) Grandsire, 2) Plain Bob, 3) Treble Bob and 4) Stedman. Alterations in the order of changes are indicated during the performance by one of the ringers, who acts as conductor.

Jill Poole came by her skill through heredity as well as by application. Her father, tall, burly Police Inspector Harold Joseph Poole, has been ringing changes ever since World War I, today is Ringing Master of Leicester Cathedral.

Campanology is the art or science of bell ringing.

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