Earlier in the week we had lots of people arguing again about the A66 cutting a swathe through Middlesbrough and destroying the Royal Exchange. At the time it was defended as progress and a way of opening up the south bank of the Tees for jobs etc. And in part it succeeded in this but people have never forgotten or forgiven the planners for destroying this heritage.
Thing is back in the 80s the Royal Exchange had stood empty, dark and soot covered for many years and was largely unloved and thought of by many as a dinosaur from the past. In fact when I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s Victorian architecture was still pretty unpopular with many, particularly the older generations that had grown up less than half a century after Victoria died.
The point being that in 30 years time what will people truly think of the decision to destroy so much of our iron and steel heritage?
This rusting heap of steelwork is one of the biggest tourist sites in the whole of Germany. That could have been a future option here. A major tourism draw to the mouth of the river alongside industry for the future.
View attachment 40359
This former steel and coal plant is now a neon-lit industrial fantasia.
www.atlasobscura.com