Bridport's rope and net making past commemorated

The blue plaque in tribute to William Saunders Edwards commemorates the town's long history of net-making

A trio of blue plaques have been unveiled to honour a town's long history of rope and net-making.

There are five manufacturers of nets in Bridport, Dorset, in an industry which dates back to the 13th Century, according to the local museum.

The blue plaques have all been put up in the St Michael's Estate in the town.

Estate manager Martin Ridley said he hoped the plaques would form a link between the past and present.

Bridport's prosperity was built around the rope-making industry, starting in the Middle Ages but its past is not widely known, said Mr Ridley.

"I don't think there's a general widespread knowledge of that history.

"We're just wanting to build on that and form a link between the jobs and employment that the rope and net-making industry has provided through the centuries and the fact it's still providing jobs," Mr Ridley added.

Bridport's long association with rope-making dates back to medieval times

The companies are still in production supplying fishing fleets, airlines and even the space industry.

One of the plaques commemorates William Saunders Edwards who grew the net-making industry for sport, notably supplying the nets for the oldest tennis tournament in the world.

"The company which Edwards founded still makes the nets for Wimbledon. Then Edwards persuaded the Football Association to start using goal nets and then he moved on to cricket.

"It was that every expanding application for nets and ropes that sustained the industry," Mr Ridley said.

Bridport still makes the nets for Wimbledon, the world's oldest tennis tournament