Do not confuse the adjective callous, as in feeling or showing no sympathy for others; hard hearted, with the noun callus, as in a hard area of skin that usually develops from friction over time.

I am proud to announce that I am callused (from the noun). The blisters are no longer.  The need to carry a tin of plasters at all times is reduced, although I did need to whip the tin out last week at practice, but that was for an injury unrelated to bells. I now have little areas of hard skin in very particular places on both hands.  I think this proves conclusively that I DO use both hands, not just the right one to ring with, whatever it may look like to a suspicious teacher.

I see these epidermal imperfections as testaments to the hours that I have spent hauling away in an effort to improve my ringing.  In the past year I have pulled brand new and scratchy ropes, stiff ropes, soft and floppy ropes, ancient ropes, cold and damp ropes, dry ropes, sweaty ropes, unhygienic ropes, long ropes, ridiculously short ropes  (where did the number 3 rope disappear to?  One week it was there, the next it had retreated 18 inches or so), familiar ropes, strange ropes, reassuring ropes, mis-matched ropes, scary ropes and other sorts of rope inbetween.  Sometimes my hands hurt afterwards and sometimes my hands hurt during and I had to stop and apply plasters.   Although I am no stranger to manual labour (gardening used to figure prominently on my CV), I was not used to rubbing the exact same spot over and over and over again. But now I am.

 No doubt an expert could look at the precise location of the calluses and make a suggestion as to what I am doing wrong, and recommend that if I were only to hold the rope properly and not grip so tightly etc all would be well. But I have looked at the hands of proper ringers and they have calluses. They are not referred to as “gnarly old tower captains” for no reason.

Therefore, I regard my calluses (callusi?) not as marks of shame, but as badges of honour, and I intend to treasure them.

(Is it also normal to have a permanent groove ground in to the fingernail of your right thumb, or do I need to see a doctor?)