Brian Urquhart

Explorer Tom Bridport Museum sits on South Street with enough rope history to keep Tom tied up in questions for an afternoon. The town made rope and nets for centuries, and the museum lets you follow the work from fibre and skill to the finished lines. It is a fine place to learn why an ordinary length of cord can carry a very long story. The museum occupies one of Bridport's oldest buildings at 25 South Street. Its most important collection records roughly 800 years of rope and net making, work that helped give the town its identity. There are also Iron Age coins, Roman objects and other pieces of local life. Volunteers demonstrate ropemaking on the museum's small ropewalk when available. Watch the strands twist, then think of the fishing, farming and shipping that depended on someone doing that job properly. The museum welcomes public visitors under its published arrangements, with admission for adults and free entry for young people. Demonstrations depend on volunteers, so ask ahead if seeing one is the purpose of your trip. The Local History Centre is a separate place at The Grove; come to South Street for the museum displays. Explore the rope collection first, then choose an object from another period and work out what connects it to the town. Tom reckons he could make a net big enough to catch the entire Jurassic Coast. The coast is declining to comment, and the volunteers might check his knots first. Visit Bridport and discover how a town's working hands left their mark on something you can still hold.