Ringing Forums

If you hadnt acess to the key, and you thought the stay could have broken soon, you could (and arguably should in such a circumstance) still have rung the bell down and continuted the practice. The key let you confirm the stay was broken, but didnt actually help much from a safety perspective...

From a purely saftey point of view, Im not sure how having a key helps if a rope / stay clapper / breaks? There is nothing having a key does to make the situation safer in the imeadiate moment, and once the saftey of any ringers / bystanders has been dealt with, presumably the bell ropes etc. can be secured in the normal way. There may need to be an additional sign saying "broken stay" (or similar), but that would probably be the case even if you had a key, as spare stays (or ropes or clappers) arnt useually readiily available. There may be an argument that there needs to be an inspection after such an incident, but presumably informing the church authorities (whomsoever they might be) would eventually procure access to the tower, if necesary, and wouldnt need to be an urgent thing.

While there can be a balance between rope time for the students and having as steady a band as possible for the students, and the best mix will depend on the students and helpers and topic, I think it is usually going to be more beneficial to the student (who are after all paying the most), if the balance is towards "one at a time". As you noted, they can practice with less good bands at almost any practice in the country!