User:T14UPS/Barton on Humber Ropewalk

Hall’s Ropery dated back to 1767 when the Halls, a wealthy ship-owning family from Hull, first became involved in rope making in Barton as the town already had a workforce of skilled dressers, spinners and rope makers. Ropemaking on the Maltkiln Road site is believed to have begun in 1800 when Thomas Hall and his son William bought land to the east of Barton Haven and buildings, including the characteristic “ropewalk”, were constructed. Thomas’s eldest son, John, began the development of ropemaking in earnest after the business was transferred to him around 1802 With a wealth of nautical and trading experience behind him, John began the development of ropemaking in earnest and the works expanded steadily. The whaling and fishing fleets of Hull and the shipbuilding yards provided a rich and diverse market for Hall’s products, including ropes, sailcloth, twine and tarpaulins. Gas lighting was introduced and sometime around the mid 19th century steam power was first used on the site. His son, John Edward, continued the expansion of Hall’s Ropery but the company suffered with the advent of steam fishing so it was reborn in 1890 as Hall’s Barton Ropery Ltd. The works were extended in the early twentieth century, in time to meet the war-time demands between 1914 and 1918 when there was a greater involvement of women workers at the factory to meet these demands. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company’s export trade was vigorously pursued with “Hall-Mark” ropes being supplied around the world. The company was steered through a fall-off in demand and the National Strike in 1926, resisting the pressure to amalgamate with other firms. During the Second World War production again shifted to supplying the military and essential industries at home while ropes made here were used during the conquest of Everest. With the advance of new technology in plastics in the 1950s, the works began producing ropes from synthetic fibres and continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s to make both synthetic and natural fibre ropes. But despite its successes the company faced growing competition from larger firms and in 1986, Hall’s Barton Ropery was bought by Bridport Gundry who continued making rope until 1989 when the site was sold to Bridon plc who soon announced the immediate closure of the site which took place December 1989. Plant and equipment were stripped out, and two hundred years of rope making in Barton came to an end.