Ringing Forums

Does anyone know an approved way of tying bells that are "up"?

I would normally not condone the practice as I am unaware of any accepted process of doing so, but I thought I'd ask to see what the response is. I dare say it's not uncommon for ringers to do it throughout the country.

I'm aware there's at least one tower that has padlocked 'steel bolt type systems' holding the stays against the sliders, and another with gate hooks on the frame that goes into eyes screwed into the stay to hold the bell 'up'. All of these systems rely on the stay and slider holding the bell up but I'm not specifically talking about these systems, more the roping type tied by ringers.

Do bells get tied 'up' very often, has it reduced the risk/hazard, or has it increased others by doing so, have there been situations where it's caused damage? Do you tie the rope around the spokes and to the frame to one side or the end of the pit, do you tie the bell to the frame, tie the stay to something, or tie one wheel to another bell wheel (that may be up)?

Does it give an actual improvement in reducing the hazard, or is it a perceived reduction that when tested fails and allows the bell to break free?

In many industrial applications, a fail-safe mechanism with a secondary backup is required particularly if someone is put to work below the supported load. I.e. it's a system that doesn't just rely on one system or rope etc. For example, double isolation (two valves) are required in pressurised systems for 'safe isolations'. A single tied-off rope around some part of the bell/wheel/stay doesn't fulfill that.

Logically if you step back and look at the situation, to even go and start tying a rope around an 'up' bell, would probably be a higher risk than not doing it at all, so is this something that's done that really shouldn't be nowadays?

If it isn't an accepted way of doing it, how does one go about distributing information about this practice?