The blue line for Cambridge can appear rather daunting at first sight, but most ringers think of it in terms of a few chunks:
Frontwork
Two and One Behind
Lead and Dodge
3-4 Places up
Backwork3-4 Places Down
Dodge and Lead
One and Two Behind
Frontwork
Frontwork: this is in two symmetrical halves, joined by making seconds
over the treble. Each half begins and ends with a dodge, but the problem most
people have is which way round the middle bit goes; is it "seconds and
dodge" or "dodge and seconds"? One way to remember is to know
that the seconds comes near the seconds over the treble. So 2nds place bell,
having just done seconds over the treble is:
"Dodge, lead, seconds, dodge, lead dodge"
But if you're just starting the frontwork, it's:
"Dodge, lead, dodge, seconds, lead, dodge"
before making seconds over the treble.
The other work on the front, "dodge and lead" or "lead and dodge" is what fits into the middle part of the frontwork, and similarly has to be done the right way round. The dodge in 1-2 is next to the dodge in 3-4; the leading is next to the hunting to or from the back.
Another common quandry is reaching the front and not knowing what to do. If you've just passed the treble in 2-3, then lead and dodge and go up to 3-4 places. Otherwise dodge and lead; if a bell makes seconds over you while you're leading, then you must go straight out to the back. Otherwise you must be starting the long frontwork.
Backwork: every time you get to the back, you will either dodge once in 5-6 up and twice in 5-6 down, or vice versa. But again, the question is: "which way?" One way to remember is that having just done long work (either in 1-2 or in 3-4), you do the double dodge first; if you've just done the short dodge-and-lead, then it's the single dodge first. The long backwork in 3rds place bell is Two and One, make 5ths under the treble, then One and Two. Always watch for the treble to do the single dodges with here.
As in Plain Bob Minor, for instance, in a plain course you will always meet
the same bells at the back; your course and after bells, so you should know who
to look out for to dodge with.
Warning: of course, this will change at a Bob, and
is not, unlike Plain Bob, true on the front.
3-4 Places: The first thing is that (in Minor) you never dodge 3-4 without making the whole set of "Cambridge Places" - all the other times you hunt straight through to the back or front.The places are the hardest part of the method in terms of rope sight, but the main pointer is that the middle dodge is with the treble.
Even experienced ringers go wrong in even the simplest methods. There is quite a lot of different work in ringing Cambridge, so a key skill is being able to get yourself back on the right bit of blue line if you get lost. Typically, you might be told "up at the back, One and Two" - but do you know what comes next? This will also be a useful skill when you come to ring Bobs.
The next page tells your more about ringing Bobs.