Ropery Bike

This is a bike that only goes in straight lines.  Some girls would like that...

This is for Monomonday bike.

Today we went to Chatham docks and had a great time going round a Destroyer, a submarine and a much older sloop that became a training ship eventually.  The submarine in particular was fascinating.  

Then we went to the Victorian Ropery which still produces rope made by traditional methods in what was the longest brick built building of its time - it's a quarter of a mile long in order to make ropes long enough for Royal Navy boats to drop anchor.  So once they start twisting the strands, a man has to cycle down to the far end of the shed to make sure that the tension on the rope does not get too high. Once the rope is finished, he hangs onto it and is towed back to the starting point as it is coiled up ready to be taken wherever it is going.  This is the only place where ropes are still made like this and they produce rope to go all over the world.

This is the bike!  The strands in front of it are what go into making the finished rope.  The extra shows the length of the building.