Norman Smith’s All the Work Spliced Surprise Major
Handbell Crib Sheets

In Norman Smith’s series of all the work spliced Surprise Major peal compositions, for 13 to 23 methods, the tenors get parted by a bob at the first lead end. So, for a handbell band, the ringer of bells 7-8 needs to be able to ring some of the place bell pairs rung in a plain course by 3-4 and 5-6. And, of course, the ringers of 3-4 and 5-6 need to be able to ring some of the place bells rung by each of the other inside pairs in a plain course. With seven leads in the plain course and three inside pairs (3-4, 5-6, 7-8) there are a possible 21 place bell pairs to learn for each method. However, for a peal of 23 spliced all the work, each lead is only rung once, so each ringer needs to be able to ring only 7 of the possible 21 place bell pairs for each method; but the question is, which ones? For the ringer of the trebles, the answer is trivial as there are only seven possible leads. For the other pairs, the place bells for each method are given in the following tables. The tables start at 17 methods, which is where Whalley, the first new wrong place method, is introduced. The new method in each subsequent peal is highlighted in yellow, and it may be comforting to note that it will not be necessary to ring any new leads of these methods as further new methods are introduced.

Click on the links below to see the tables:





Peter Blight
Revised 31st October 2014