Andrew McCall wrote in message ...
I think I need an empty
roll from a previous film to load it correctly, but I am not too sure,
and I think this is where I am going wrong as I don't have one.

Exactly. How do you think is the film pulled forward WITHOUT a spool?

However, almost all 120 film cameras I ever bought came with an empty
spool. If you can't find any, buy the cheapest roll of 120 film you
can find and dump the film.

Winfried