Bell and rope maintenance requires skills completely different to those needed to ring a bell. It has an appeal all of its own. Whipping the end of a rope is a task that you can learn quite quickly and will always be of use.
Whipping keeps the ends of the rope tidy and prevents the ends unraveling particularly after the rope has been cut. A piece of twine is bound neatly around the rope to prevent it unfurling.
Courtesy of the ODG
The trick is in securing the ends of the twine so that the whip doesn’t unravel – a knot is not sufficient. When starting the whip, a loop is made in the twine and laid along the rope. The twine is then bound around the rope over the top of the loop, for about half to three quarters of an inch, working from the end inwards. When this binding is complete, the end of the twine is tucked through the original loop. By pulling the loop, the end will be drawn under the whipping. When it is halfway through, cut off the ends and your whipping is done.
If you’ve noticed the end of your rope is starting to unravel, it’s worth checking for frays in the rest of the rope (especially near the garter hole and pulley) – why not complete another challenge and help perform a maintenance check of the belfry whilst you’re at it?
The Miami Guild of Bell Ringers has some very good photos of how to use whipped ends when a rope becomes frayed at the tail-end, and an internet search will throw up a lot of examples of different types of rope whipping.
Tip – arrange to be instructed by someone with a lot of experience in belfry maintenance especially as you’ll be working with sharp tools
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