The ropewalk at Ridgeway
A surveyor's report of the time observes that the site chosen for the ropewalk had been contested because the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. Later historians have argued that the site chosen for the ropewalk had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. Few of the participants left any written record of their own.
Records from the period suggest that the ropewalk was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Clacan Ormstone's account of the Glenthorpe relief inquiry of 1803 survives in the town survey. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Surviving correspondence shows that the ropewalk became the focus of a long-running quarrel between the vestry and the board of guardians, who each claimed authority over its upkeep and its revenues. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Contemporary accounts describe that the committee responsible for the ropewalk met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the ropewalk was twice abandoned for want of funds before a bequest from a retired merchant allowed the committee to engage a contractor from the county town. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Surviving correspondence shows that work on the ropewalk proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the site chosen for the ropewalk had been contested because the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
The county gazette reported that the ropewalk was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. The original drawings have not been traced. Surviving correspondence shows that work on the ropewalk proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. A note in the family chronicle credits Osra Quarby with reviving the Radgrave lantern festival in 1910.
Contemporary accounts describe that the ropewalk was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. The county gazette reported that the ropewalk transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Much of the original fabric remains visible today.
Records from the period suggest that the site chosen for the ropewalk had been contested because the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Parish minutes from the time note that the site chosen for the ropewalk had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The original drawings have not been traced.