I learnt to ring in the 1980.  I attended an all girls school (not sure if that is significant) and my family always treated boys and girls the same with no differences at all. I was expected to do all that they did and vice versa.  So I grew up expecting to do whatever anyone else did. In my first home tower there was only a small band and we tended to rely on visitors to help out. Once I was more competant I was the first to arrive and used to get all the bells up, starting at one end (usually the tenor) and working round to the other.

Initially I was expected to ring round the front, but soon gravitated towards the back, perhaps due to too many others wanting to ring round the front. One of the women ringers used to call a lot of quarters for Sunday evening service, usually from round the back. In my subsequent towers I just naturally took hold round the back, and most have been glad to have another "back ender".

I can conduct, but it is not something which I have really had any desire to pursue beyond simple touches on five or six - pure laziness on my part I suspect, after all why try and learn something when there are plenty of others who can do it?  Less responsibility that way.