Museum of Rope Making

he ropery at Älvängen was a family business started in 1848 that moved to Älvängen in 1917, a small town 30 kilometres north of Gothenburg. The P. A. Carlmark ropery was due to be demolished when it closed in 1993 but a voluntary group saved it. The equipment has been restored and rope making is demonstrated on the 300-metre ropewalk. The sensory experience includes the sounds of the machinery, the feel of the fibres and the smell of fibres and tar. Equipment and material remaining from the old factory preserves the quality of a real workplace. The volunteers make fine-quality ropes for commissions and conservation projects. A permanent exhibition explains the history of ropes from Neolithic roots and horsehair to materials such as nylon, polyester and polypropylene. Models and dioramas show methods and rope-making sites.