Production of Bellropes

It is not possible to do justice to the art of making a bellrope in a written description. We are very happy to arrange our production schedule to allow visiting bands of bellringers to watch a rope being made if they give us sufficient notice of an intended visit. Alternatively we have a short video of the ropeworks which shows a bellrope being made, amongst other aspects of our work.

Making a bellrope

Three strands, consisting of several flax yarns in each, are laid out along the ropewalk. One end of each strand is attached to a separate hook (on the twisting head) that can be rotated, whilst the other end comes together (with the other two strands) on a single, freely rotating, hook (on the sledge).

Rotating the hooks on the twisting head inserts twist into the strands. After some twist has been inserted, the machine is stopped and the short lengths of sally wool are tucked across each strand over a length of about 4 feet.

After more twist has been inserted to 'harden' the strands and fix the wool in position, the three strands are allowed to twist together, or 'lay', to form the rope. This extra twist shortens the sally to the standard 36" or 3 feet.

Finally, the sally wools have to be expertly 'sheared' to give the smooth cylindrical form.