There are plenty of ringers who love ringing quarter peals, but it means someone has got to call (or conduct) them, otherwise we’d only ever ring plain courses!

If you’d like to attempt calling a quarter peal, you’ll usually find plenty of willing volunteers to support you as you develop your conducting skills. Start with a method that you know really well and try to assemble a strong band of ringers who are not likely to go wrong in the method, so that’s one thing less to worry about.

Have a plan for your composition – if you’re ringing doubles, think about who is going to be unaffected in each extent – by rotating the extents, you’ll more easily keep tabs of how many extents you have rung. If you’re ringing minor, keep the composition simple, with calls at Wrong and Home – conducting takes a surprising amount of extra brain power and concentration, so the less you have to think about, the better!

Explain to your band that this is your first quarter as conductor, they’ll be very supportive (and secretly very impressed), also probably quite happy to have several attempts at it if you don’t succeed first time.

Some ringers never attempt conducting, so even if you’re able to call simple touches and quarter peals, you’ll discover it’s a handy skill to have. Nobody will expect you to put the band straight when you start out, just putting the calls in is enough – you won’t be an expert to start with, but like all aspects of ringing, the more you do it, the easier it will become …

 

Once you’ve scored your first quarter peal, don’t forget to celebrate in the pub or cafe afterwards and start planning the next one

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