Ropes were made by hand in ropewalks in standard lengths of 120 fathoms (720 feet). The ropewalk had to be straight and around 1320 feet long. The simple equipment consisted of two frames, one at each end of the ropewalk. The stationary frame (jack) had hooks on it which were revolved by a handle. Yarn was attached to each hook and to the other frame (traveller) which was mounted on a trolley. The rope maker held a circular hardwood block (top) between the strands near the traveller. The top had three grooves with a strand slotted into each. He walked slowly towards the jack pushing the top along and the rope formed itself behind the top. Before the invention of synthetic fibres, ropes were made from cotton, flax, hemp, jute, coir, manila and sisal. Hemp ropes were used in colleries until about 1840 when Andrew Smith patented the iron stranded wire rope. Rope making began to be mechanised in the late C18 (William Jones, 1996, Dictionary of Industrial Archaeology).

The place where tree trunks were sawn into planks by hand. A saw pit comprised a rectangular pit about 6-8 feet deep, over which the trunk could be laid horizontally. Sawing was by a long sawblade with a cross handle at each end, with the pitman standing in the pit below the log and the sawyer standing above. The saw was moved up and down, the top man guiding it and the pitman cutting by pulling on the downstroke. Sawpits were replaced by saw mills (William Jones, 1996, Dictionary of Industrial Archaeology).