English change ringing is an art performed using bells, with a ringer controlling either a single tower bell, or a pair of hand bells; one in each hand. The aim is not ring tunes, but rather to "ring the changes" and change the order in which the bells ring in a very methodical way. In each change every bell rings once, and once only. In the next change the bells need to be rung in a different order, but again every bell ring once and only once.
On 3 bells there are only 6 possible permutations of the bells: 123, 213, 231, 321, 312, and 132, so it does not take very long to ring all of them. There are very few different ways to ring all 6 of these different changes. As the number of bells increases the number of different methods for changing the permutation of the bells increases, as does the maximum number of changes that can be rung. Ringing all of the possible changes on a particular number of bells is called ringing the full extent.
On 7 bells there are 5040 different possible arrangements of the bells in different orders, and it generally takes about 3 hours to ring them all. This is considered a major feat, and is called a peal (or sometimes a full peal). There are strict guidelines about not repeating or missing out any particular change, and the compositions for achieving the true peal are nowadays checked by computer to make sure they are correct.
With 8 bells there are 8 times that many changes, and ringing them all takes about 8 times longer too. A full of extent of major was first rung at Leeds in Kent, UK by 14 ringers on April 7 and 8, 1761. The only full extent so far rung on 8 tower bells by one band of ringers was at Loughborough Bell Foundry on Saturday 27 July 1963, who rang 40320 changes in 17 hours and 58 minutes. This is the greatest number of changes ever to be rung to a tower bell peal and was the ninth attempt in as many years. 8 umpires monitored the performance.
On a massive day of ringing to ring the changes for the new millennium, ringers from different towers in Northamptonshire successfully completed the full extent on 8 bells (after a false start of 90 changes), 3 full extents on 7 bells and a further 3 full extents on 6 bells. Four of the smaller towers even joined in the celebration and rang an extent each on their 5 bells.
In Westmorland, which is a little more remote, the tally was 5 peals on 7 bells (one of which included an encore of 98 changes for the press who arrived too late to record the actual ringing) and 5 full extents on 5 bells.
After all these exertions it is customary to retire to the nearest pub to enjoy the rewards of a job well done. If you can change this report into something more useful, you too can enjoy the rewards of a job well done.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.