Hello Mike:

 

Maybe I can shed some light here.

 

The bell was the same one as in the tower.  The rope descended all the way down the spiral staircase to the bottom floor.

 

It had to be yanked EVERY HOUR to mark the end of the class period. 

 

The person on duty most times was Bruce Ward, but when he was not available, any prefect or even Gerry himself would do the honours.  Sometimes the prefects would dish out rope duty as punishment.

 

Cheers

 

Mabz