The cable from the Gutta Percha Company was armoured separately by wire rope manufacturers, as was the usual practice at the time. In the rush to proceed, only four months were allowed for completion of the cable. As no wire rope maker had the capacity to make so much cable on that timescale, the task was shared by two English firms – Glass, Elliot & Co., of Greenwich, and R.S. Newall and Company, of Birkenhead. Late in manufacturing it was discovered that the respective sections had been made with strands twisted in opposite directions. This meant that the two sections of cable could not be directly spliced wire-to-wire as the iron wire on both cables would unwind when it was put under tension during laying. The problem was easily solved by splicing through an improvised wooden bracket to hold the wires in place, but the mistake subsequently became magnified in the public mind.