Why These Skills Still Matter on the North Yorkshire Coast

Walk the harbour wall at Whitby in the early morning and you can still smell the old trades in the air — salt, tarred twine and diesel. For generations, the families working out of Staithes, Runswick Bay, Filey and Scarborough lived by a simple rule: if your gear failed, you went hungry. Nets were knitted and mended by hand, ropes were spliced rather than knotted, and a boy learned to throw a mesh before he learned to read the tide. Most of that work is now done by machines or replaced outright, but the skills never quite disappeared. Across the coast, evening classes, harbour-side workshops and maritime heritage days now teach net mending and rope work to anyone curious enough to turn up with a pair of hands and a bit of patience.

What surprises most beginners is how practical it all is. This is not craft for craft's sake. A well-mended net fishes better, a properly spliced line holds under load, and a knot you can tie in the dark is a genuine safety skill. Whether you keep a small boat, pot for crabs, sail out of Whitby or simply want to understand what the old photographs are showing, these techniques reward you quickly.

Tools and Materials for Your First Session

You do not need much, and most workshops supply everything for the first few weeks. If you plan to carry on, though, put together a small kit of your own.

• A netting needle — a flat, notched shuttle that holds the twine and passes through the mesh. Buy two, in different sizes; you will lose one.
• A mesh stick or gauge — a flat bar that sets the size of each mesh. Match it to the net you are repairing, not to your needle.
• Twine — 2mm braided nylon is forgiving for beginners. Tarred polyester lasts longer and feels more like the old gear.
• A Swedish fid or marlinspike — for opening the lay of a rope before splicing.
• Beeswax — rubbed along twine to stop it fraying and to help knots bed down.
• A sharp knife and a sailmaker's palm with needles — for canvas work and whippings.
• Three-strand rope, about 10 to 12mm — two metres is plenty for practising splices at home.

Knots to Learn Before You Touch a Net

Net mending is built on a handful of knots, and the sooner they are in your fingers rather than your head, the better. Aim to tie each one without looking.

• Bowline — a fixed loop that will not jam. Essential for mooring and for any line that takes a steady load.
• Sheet bend — joins two ropes of different sizes. This is the knot at the heart of net mending, tied into the mesh itself.
• Double sheet bend — the same knot with an extra turn, for slippery modern ropes.
• Rolling hitch — grips a rope or spar and slides under load. Useful for taking strain off a jammed line.
• Clove hitch — quick, adjustable, and ideal for fenders and temporary ties.
• Figure of eight — a stopper knot that will not pull through a block.

Splices: Where Rope Joins Rope

A knot weakens a rope; a splice barely does. On three-strand line, the eye splice is the one to master first — it gives you a permanent loop for a mooring warp or a halyard. The back splice stops a rope end unravelling. The short splice joins two ropes permanently and is stronger than either rope alone, though it thickens the line so it will not run through a block. For anchor warps, a chain splice spreads the load across all three strands and takes the wear of a windlass better than a plain eye.

Before any splice, whip or tape the end and count your strands. Tuck against the lay, keep the tension even, and roll the finished splice under your boot to settle it. Rope that has been wet, salted and dried for years behaves differently from new rope, so do not be discouraged if your first attempt looks lumpy.

Mending a Hole in a Trawl Net

Lay the net flat on a clean, dry surface — a tarpaulin on the harbour side works well. Trim the ragged edges of the tear back to sound mesh, then find the row of meshes on either side that you will work into. Thread your needle and tie on with a sheet bend, leaving a short tail.

Work along the edge, tying each new mesh with the same knot, keeping the tension consistent so the repair does not pucker. Use your gauge to check that every mesh matches the surrounding net; a repair with the wrong mesh size will fish badly and strain the twine. When you reach the far side, tie off with a couple of half hitches and trim the tail. Larger holes are usually cut back to a rectangle and re-knitted row by row rather than patched over. Take your time — a rushed mend is a mend you will be doing again next week.

Building Confidence Between Workshops

Little and often beats one long session. Keep a two-metre length of rope on the back of a door and tie ten bowlines whenever you pass it. Splice an eye, cut it off, splice it again. Set aside an hour a week for net work, and keep your twine waxed and your needle loaded so you can start the moment you sit down.

Practise cold, wet and in poor light occasionally, because that is when the skill actually counts. Ask the older hands on the quay what they used to do — most are delighted to be asked, and a few will still show you a trick or two that no workshop teaches. That is the real value of learning this on the North Yorkshire coast: the techniques belong to the place, and every knot you tie keeps a small part of it working.