Ringing Forums

I’ve never specified sally parameters when ordering a rope. I don’t know whether firmness can be varied but thickness presumably could. The rope markers I’ve dealt with, most recently Avon Ropes, have always been very helpful so you could try asking what is possible.
However be warned, in my experience ringers will complain about Sallie’s being too thick as well as too thin.

Thanks John, I'll heed your warning. Was just intrigued if there was any purposeful variation out there.

The plump-nosity of a sally seems to be related directly to the manufacturer's quality control and rope specification. Our original ropes made in 1972 by the late Peter Minchin have retained their plumpness rather better and are still wearing better than a spare set that we bought from another supplier about a decade ago. I guess the shape and firmness of the sally is determined by the density of the wool spun into the rope.

I prefer thin sallies when referring to bell-ropes!

Ringers like bell ropes that are perfect at day one, with no bedding in process; soft and flexible tail ends and sallies that feel like the ones someone has just got rid of are about the level of expectation. I know some suppliers may meet those requirements which has driven interest in having sallies that are not too fat at day one, but one has to look further than the first year at what is required of a bell rope. A bell rope sally that meets those requirements tends to only ever get a thinner, and the tail end only gets looser, reducing the amount of friction between the fibres and eventually disintegrates. Is it therefore better to have a bell rope that needs a bit of a bedding in process that is right for the time it spends in service afterwards?

It's a bit like asking a carpet manufacturer to replicate the nice firm short pile with the new carpet, when the old one has taken years to bed in like that.

So whilst I run Avon Ropes, and John Harrison has spoken highly of our work we have a slightly different approach. Our sallies are manufactured with the aim to give a good long service and not end up feeling too thin in a short term. Therefore, they start life approximately 1 7/8" in diameter, and with use, they slim down slightly from there to be something fairly firm and reasonable to hold onto. Likewise, our tail ends are slightly tighter at day one, but with use and time they free up so they retain enough friction in them that they serve a good term in service. We can trim them to be slightly thinner if required.

As far as I'm aware, we're the only supplier using 100% British Wool via our accredited supply chain for our full sized bell ropes.

Another effect that happens is that where bell ropes are not used from new, but stored, as the twist of the rope is akin to a spring, the sally shrinks slightly in length, but at the same time, gets thicker too. Once a bell rope is put into service and starts to be used again, it will revert back to the diameter it was when it was trimmed by the manufacturer.

I hope that helps.

Thanks Philip, good to know so much thought goes into your product.