A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. Due to the length of some ropewalks, workers may use bicycles to get from one end to the other. Many ropewalks were in the open air, while others were covered only by roofs. Ropewalks historically were harsh sweatshops, and frequently caught fire, as hemp dust ignites easily and burns fiercely. Rope was essential in sailing ships and the standard length for a British Naval Rope was . A sailing ship such as required of rope. Rope-making technology Natural fibres are short in length, and so have to be twisted together into different fibres, starting at different points along the construction, to hold each other together. From a single strand, much like wool, which can easily be torn apart, putting several together forms a line, which is far stronger. That can similarly be repeated time and again, producing a very strong rope, at the cost of weight and size. More modern fibres are likewise spun together for the same reasons, but because they are inherently stronger, similar strength is often achieved at much lower weight and size. The essence of a ropewalk, where this spinning is achieved, is a drive mechanism at one end of the walk, a "donkey" guide in the middle, which helps the ropemaker bring the strands together, and a fixing point at the far end. One end or the other is mobile, because the twisting shortens the constituent parts of the rope, and the runner in the middle is always mobile, because the rope, when sufficiently twisted, starts to form at one end and the guide then has to run back towards the drive end, guiding the twist into place: this can be a very fast action, once sufficient twist is in place. The runner is in general somewhat melon-shaped, with grooves in it designed to guide the strands of the rope into place as they form, and sometimes a hollow centre to allow the feed of a central core into the rope: the central core is not normally twisted. When a twisted rope or cord is used as a strand, it is spun in the opposite direction to the "handedness" of the strand (i.e. a strand which has been spun together anti-clockwise is twisted in a clockwise direction when it is spun