[Bell Historians] Deadrope Ringing

[Chris Pickford]

Yes, Steve - correct on both counts! 
1. Tying a cord round at "ten to" (modern garter-hole position) is what we used to do - and what Tintinnalogia recommends.
2. The half-wheel in the Wiki diagram is based on an ancient wheel (at Dunchideock, Devon) illustrated in C19 books by Lukis and Ellacombe, and the rope does indeed come off past the 12 o'clock position - but still with enough draw on the pulley to give a small handstroke pull

To elaborate a bit more on my point about the need for more research, the key thing is this. Even by the C19 half-wheels were already very rare - and noted as of special interest and significance - and much of what we know about the evolution of wheels and full-circle ringing come from literary (Tintinalogia) and documentary sources (as discussed in detail in Change Ringing, The History of an English Art and in the Jennings book on British Bellfittings). But there hasn't been enough research based on field-work, and largely because people like me have failed to take adequate note of how bells with old fittings are roped!

My feeling is that a) too much emphasis has been placed on part-wheels, and b) not enough has been made of the surviving evidence of full-wheels with "top garter holes". It's certainly worth looking out and studying the remaining deadrope installations before too many more of them disappear. 

CP           
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