The craft
The ropewalk
Two hundred and eleven metres under one roof. Rope is laid by walking, and the walk is the whole trade.
A rope begins as yarn spun from fibre, then the yarns are twisted into strands, and the strands are twisted the other way into the rope itself. That counter-twist is what makes rope hold its shape instead of unlaying. On a ropewalk it happens in one long pass.
One end of the walk holds the jack, the frame of hooks that spins. The other end holds the closing plate. Between them, the walk-boys carry the strands out on a wooden former while the spinner turns the jack. Two hundred and eleven metres later, the strands close into rope behind them, and the rope draws itself tight the whole length of the shed.
It takes eleven people to lay a nine-strand mooring line: three spinners, four walk-boys, two on the forming top, the foreman and one person keeping the tar pot hot. The yard runs three walks a day, six days a week.
One pass, in order
What happens on the walk
Yarn bobbins are hung and the strands are hooked to the jack, each to its own hook so the twist runs even.
The walk-boys carry the former down the length, paying out strands behind them at a pace the spinner sets.
On the forming top the strands are guided into their grooves. This is the only job that cannot be rushed without wrecking the lay.
The jack turns, the counter-twist closes the strands into rope, and the rope gathers itself up the walk as it hardens.
Down to the quay, onto the crane, loaded to a quarter over working figure and held. The number goes in the ledger and the rope goes in the yard.