Meet the ropemakers helping to keep the 'endangered' craft alive in Yorkshire

Heather had already set up an online retail store selling textile-based homeware using rope they brought in a few years earlier, and now they began manufacturing their own rope from their base on a business park in Melsonby, just outside Richmond.

They bought the bulk of Outhwaites’ machines and started supplying most of their old customers which gave the fledgling business a solid start. “They supplied a lot of the UK’s rope so there was a natural transfer of trade customers across to us. Some of the main retailers in the UK were with Outhwaites and we still supply them,” says Heather.

Ropemaking has a rich heritage but increased mechanisation has seen the number of UK ropemakers dwindle in recent years. “You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who still make rope in this country commercially,” says Andrew. “If you rewind 200 years, there would have been a ropemaker in every town and even most villages, but since then the need has changed. What we can turn out in a day here on one of these machines is the same as what somebody would have done by hand in a week. We have 25 machines and if they’re all set up, that would take the work of 20 or 30 ropemakers.”

Andrew and Heather aren’t just the owners of the business, they’re the only employees and do everything themselves (Andrew even built their website from scratch). “If you’re having a bad day you can’t go home to your partner and complain about your workmates,” jokes Andrew. Given they are now the standard bearers for Yorkshire ropemaking, what makes their story particularly interesting is they fell into it by happenstance. Andrew comes from Wales and is an engineer by trade, while Heather grew up in the North-East and her background is in children and youth services work.

They moved to the Yorkshire Dales to be closer to Heather’s family a decade ago. Heather got a job in a local primary school and Andrew joined Outhwaites, looking after the machines and running the braiding section.

When Outhwaites closed, the couple decided to start making their own rope to run alongside the online retail business that Heather, who had left her job to spend more time with their four children, had started. “I never thought we would become ropemakers, but we just didn’t want it to come to an end in Yorkshire,” she says.

It was a big decision and Heather admits she was a novice. “I was starting from scratch when we took over the machines, so there was a lot of practice to the point where it became instinct and muscle memory.”

Andrew uses Formula One motor racing as an example. “The teams might not seem to make much progress but they knock off a tenth of a second by doing one thing and then another and eventually a team like Red Bull can change four tyres in one-and-a-half seconds. It’s similar to working out how all these machines work and balancing how to run 20 of them at once.”

As well as using modern machinery they also have a traditional ropewalk in the middle of their workshop. This involves making rope by hand and twisting it until they get the exact thickness they are after – a process that dates back centuries.

Andrew and Heather produce two main different types of rope – braided rope, which is used for everything from light pull cords to dog leads, and twisted rope, associated with mooring and towing.

The trade side of the business, Kefi supplies some of the main UK retailers and is their bread and butter, but they also have their own online range of products including doorstops, banister ropes, skipping ropes and wreaths. “We’ve tried to diversify because if we were more niche and just focused on one thing, there wouldn’t be enough demand, so we’re always on the lookout for something different,” says Heather.

The couple believe they are the only business in the UK that produces coloured cotton rope and are keen to support farmers in Swaledale and Wensleydale. “We make a lot of wool ropes and we really want to support farmers and the use of British wool. We spent a lot of time in Wensleydale and there’s a lot of sheep farmers there, but they often have to burn their fleeces because they don’t really get anything for them. So the more uses people can find for British wool, the greater the demand, which means farmers will get a better price,” says Heather.

As well as their regular customers, they have also had some interesting commissions including supplying cotton cord to a design agency for a macramé display used inside Harrods and splicing the braids on ropes used for flagpoles outside the Houses of Parliament.

One of their latest projects is for an arm amputee wakeboarder who they are helping with a custom-made harness. “It’s about using skills that have existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and applying them in different ways,” says Andrew.

By not having all their eggs in one basket, they hope to avoid fluctuations in demand. “During the pandemic, the lockdowns helped because people were buying more locally from small businesses, but now retail habits have changed again and a lot of small retailers have struggled with the economy the way it is,” says Heather. They also have to contend with cheap imports, which is why they focus on quality and provenance. “For us, it’s about making the best product we can at the lowest price possible,” she adds.

Ropemaking dates back thousands of years and it’s a craft the couple are keen to help preserve. “I think because there are so few ropemakers it feels like more of a responsibility on our shoulders to do this,” says Heather. It's clearly something they are both passionate about. “I enjoy the creative side but I didn’t see any appeal in making rope and now I love it,” adds Heather. “I think it’s the process of taking that yarn and turning it into something completely different that people can use. There’s something very nice about the rhythms involved.”

Andrew agrees. “If you look at mindfulness apps, they get you to do fairly repetitive things and it’s a bit like that with ropemaking – it’s repetitive but you still have to use a bit of brainpower. You don’t just press start and leave it to the machine, you’re always making little adjustments.” Having found their feet, the couple hope to keep growing the business in the coming years. Who knows, they could even follow in the footsteps of Outhwaites and create a new ropemaking dynasty. They’re certainly not lacking when it comes to passion, skill and old-fashioned elbow grease.

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