[r-t] FCHs

[Robin Woolley]

I have every sympathy with Alex Tatlow. Most literature is out of print, and 
there is never anything on the subject in the Ringing World - as there used 
to be when I started ringing.

First - a literature review.

Wilson. No! No! No! No! No! The description is impenetrable and the grouping 
letters he uses is his own. Today, the system we use is primarily due to 
Roger Baldwin. The book purchased for this purpose would be a waste of 
money. He deals with neither singles or split-tenors.

Maurice Hodgson published a pamphlet which is good for the 1st half - but 
loses its simplicity about half-way through. Does not deal with 
split-tenors. (Out of print).

The best I have found was by John Segar. It does not deal with 
split-tenors - but allows FCHs to be extracted with facility. It is so old, 
by the way, that it was printed on two pages of Foolscap (!!).

Leary is good, as had been mentioned.

Because of the poor quality of most literature, I wrote a book on it myself. 
Anyone who has done some **simple** group theory should be able to cope. A 
more algebraic approach enables you to, inter alia, prove that a method 
starting x3x has the same initial falseness as one starting 3x3 for example.

BUT

By far the best solution is to have it explained by someone face-to-face you 
know in your own area who knows how to do it first! Choose someone who 
teaches Mathematics at, say A-level, if you can. There must be someone local 
to you who can put you in touch with the most appropriate person. It is an 
essentially simple topic - which therefore makes it most difficult to 
explain in print!

Yours in hope(!)
Robin

PS - I might get around to scanning Segar's paper.