3-100-951 - "Royal Academy of Arts, London"/Heritage Images

A Rope Walk, 1887. Man making rope for sailing boats. A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. Rope was essential in sailing ships and the standard length for a British Naval Rope was 1,000 feet (300 metres). A sailing ship such as HMS Victory required 31 miles (50 kilometres) of rope. From "Wild Life on a Tidal Water : the adventures of a house-boat and her crew" by Peter Henry Emerson, [London, 1890]. Emerson's book focused on Great Yarmouth, the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea.