Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In The Making looks at craftspeople working in Britain. This edition looks at the life of a small rope-making firm in the Yorkshire village of Hawes.
A former teacher, Peter Annison, now runs the business - which had been in the same family for over 80 years - after taking over from Tom Outhwaite. Peter's wife Ruth had seen a report about Tom on Nationwide, where he claimed that he wanted to retire from the business, and would be prepared to train his replacement. Ruth contacted Tom on her husband's behalf, and the pair of them upped sticks to Hawes to take over the firm. Tom was as good as his word, and trained Peter and Ruth in the art of rope making.
Since then, the pair have kept the business alive, integrated into the village community and even hired an assistant. During last summer's tourist period, 1,000 visitors a day visited this small rope works. What might have been a dying craft takes on new dimensions in the 1970s.
Clip taken from In the Making, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 20 April, 1977.
Archive extract from Nationwide, originally broadcast on BBC One, 10 December, 1974.
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In The Making looks at craftspeople working in Britain. This edition looks at the life of a small rope-making firm in the Yorkshire village of Hawes.
A former teacher, Peter Annison, now runs the business - which had been in the same family for over 80 years - after taking over from Tom Outhwaite. Peter's wife Ruth had seen a report about Tom on Nationwide, where he claimed that he wanted to retire from the business, and would be prepared to train his replacement. Ruth contacted Tom on her husband's behalf, and the pair of them upped sticks to Hawes to take over the firm. Tom was as good as his word, and trained Peter and Ruth in the art of rope making.
Since then, the pair have kept the business alive, integrated into the village community and even hired an assistant. During last summer's tourist period, 1,000 visitors a day visited this small rope works. What might have been a dying craft takes on new dimensions in the 1970s.
Clip taken from In the Making, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 20 April, 1977.
Archive extract from Nationwide, originally broadcast on BBC One, 10 December, 1974.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1
You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive
