That sounds like they are very 'clicky' And somewhere you wouldn't want to join anyway! If I were a member of the second one, I would have come and fetched you the first time, so you knew how to get there.
What I will say, is try and steer clear of the politics that sometimes happens in a place like these. There is usually one self appointed person who simply 'must' be obeyed
I'm a 15 century re-enactor with The Ferrers household (the ones with the fences!) We use Polyhemp for guy lines and our pole lathe turner has used the thinner stuff for his 'drive' rope. You should get it easily enough. I know Bernie the bolt had some a couple of years back at Tewksbury.
If the motor is, as you suspect, toast. Clarke still sell the motors for them. It's a discontinued model, but I think, you can still get all the parts, give service a ring. the number is in the back of your catalogue