Save Our Steel Heritage

A

al1948uk

New member
This is my response to some of the 'Luddites' on other social networks and a call to arms...

Before I start, let me declare an interest; In November 2009 I wrote, directed and produced a play about the 1980 Steel Strike, Nowt Like This in America at the Saltburn Community Theatre. It was well received by a small and appreciative November audience. The play tells the story of an Electricians Shop Steward John, who plans to take his kids to Florida for the first time, but the strike puts paid to that and the family falls apart. It is the story of a family, a community and an industry. This is where I am coming from.

My father, brother and sister all worked at Cargo Fleet, and after I served my apprenticeship as a welder at Smiths Dock, I ‘jumped ship’ to work at South Bank Coke Ovens and latterly at the Redcar Complex, where my older brother was a Chargehand Boilermaker. The thought of miles of industrial heritage being demolished, fills me with anger and dread and in the name of what? Progress? Levelling Up? Health and safety? Do me a favour!!!

Anyone who was an apprentice in the 60’s knows how dangerous heavy industry was in those days. from shipyards to chemical works to steel works. Try being a shipyard welder working in the pouring rain, with wet gloves and a cable that has breaks all over it. I once fell in the river, because someone was messing about and used to stuff bus tickets in my ears to try and drown out the sound of the caulkers and riveters. It never worked. At the South Bank Coke ovens, there places called Coal Mines in the Sky, where faces as dirty as miners were eating their sarnies with paper towels, too tired to wash their hands. Then there were jobs at the top of the Blast furnace, 180 foot and more, where coming down was more scary than going up. Or repairs to coke crushing drums, that needed a patch on the inside, never knowing if someone was going to switch the drum back on!!! It has been known, with fatal consequences.

The reasons for supporting demolition?

1.It’s an eyesore, rubbish on our doorstep – The plan is to clean the whole area up.

2.It will cost millions – It will cost millions to demolish, make safe and develop new industries. How many billions have been created by the Teesside steel community and taken out of the area?

3.A rusting wreck, our history has gone – No it hasn’t!! It lives in the hearts of ex steel- workers and their communities, who shed tears when visiting the Steel Stories exhibition at The Kirkleatham Museum. It lives on in the sculptures, paintings, photographs, literature, poetry and songs by local artistes. Craig Hornby’s Century in Stone travelled all around the world and help re-unite Teesside!! And how can we deny the community that bridged the world? Sudan, Egypt, Newcastle, South Africa, Sydney, London, Thailand, Middlesbrough, Denmark, China…the list is endless. The Dorman Museum; our history is gone?

4.No one saved the Pellet Plant or the Bessemer Furnace!! So, now two wrongs clearly make a right? I can’t speak of the Pellet Plant, but a know a number of people fought tooth and nail to keep the historic Bessemer plant only to be thwarted by same arguments put above!! See how dangerous this is?

The elite’s attack on valued services, such as the NHS, Education, Adult Social Care, the BBC, are nothing new. When Labour reconfigured the Steel industry in the 70’s to five main sites: Scotland, Teesside, Sheffield, Scunthorpe and South Wales it had a capacity for 35 million tonnes of production. A world recession cut that to 15 million tonnes and the onslaught to deride the steelworker as in efficient and lazy. Not the people who planned and created that monolithic organisation, just the workers!!! 50 years of world class steel and Dorman Long engineering was trashed. That is why Thatcher first came for the steel workers in 1980.

Another criticism is, that all these ideas are too ‘arty-farty’. Can anyone remember Odin’s Glow? Redcar’s all singing all dancing multi - media light show from 2009? Doesn’t come more ‘arty – farty’ than that and it was very well received.
Of course, I am arty- farty too, but you can blame Grangetown Boys Club and Bert Woolley for that, along with Charlie Smailes, Ted Martin and Ray Ashton. GBC also instilled in us respect, a sense of service, to look after all members of the community, which has stayed with me over 50 years.

Bert winning National awards since the mid 50’s, introduced us to the plays of Pinter, Brendan Behan, Shakespeare, Edward Albee and Eugene Ionesco, it doesn’t come more ‘arty – farty’ than that, especially in the 1960’s!! He produced Tony McBride, Johnny Benton, who inspired Mark Benton, Gordon Steel and a number of Drama teachers, including myself. All of whom have made their way in the arts and creative industry, because that’s what we are talking about; an industry, that is the second biggest contributor to the national budget.

So, the country needs to be creative, and here are just some of possibilities worthy of consideration:

-World Heritage status to include Eston Hills mine workings, the various industrial sites, proposed heritage trails. And to preserve as much of the industrial fabric as possible for the project.

-Visitors and Education centres with galleries, cafes, studios and performance spaces.

-Heritage Trails, to cover all aspects of the iron steel story from Stockton to Skinningrove.

-Nature reserve with Ornithological and Zoological expertise, education centre with classrooms.

-That all Happened here? The surprising history that is right on your doorstep, and you didn’t know. From the Doomsday Book to the present day, the medieval battles, the shipwrecks, the pier that never was…, the racecourse, the influential families and the many famous names, who started the lives in the area.


-Teesport to Dunkirk: The story of how the area responded in a time of national crisis in 1940.
So, there is no shortage of ideas, opportunities and the benefits for the surrounding areas speaks for itself. The creative industries contributed £111.7 billion to the UK economy in 2018, equivalent to £306 million every day.

One omission in the recent Kirkleatham Steel Stories Exhibition was no mention of the 1980 steel strike, the first national strike in 56 years, deliberately ‘engineered’ by Thatcher to put down decent working people and a practice for the Miners just a few years later… Yet again the working people of the area are disenfranchised again, stop doing the elite’s dirty work by calling for these demolitions!! To quote Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From the Blackstuff…

”Why don’t the stand up and fight back ya XXXXXXs”.

Please see link to presentation about the play on my Facebook page.

Nowt Like This in America by Alan Spence.
 
Very well put (y)

Just looked at some photos from the 1940s of Middlesbrough railway station area and the Iron Masters district and 90% of it has gone and replaced with a multi-storey car park, A66 and as one visiting Sheff Wed fan commented a Mad Max wasteland.

We can't preserve everything and we can't live in the past, but some key icons need keeping to inform future generations of how the area was one of the key centres in Britain's Industrial revolution, probably the best example in the UK of how an area changed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Even if H/S is an issue what about preserving videos and holograms, so people can still virtually walk around Redcar furnaces in 100 years time.

The Dorman Museum touches on some of Teesside's development, but there is so much more than is shown there. Tom Leonard is fine for Ironstone mining in East Cleveland. Kirkleatham Steel Stories is very good, but its not permanent is it? and it focuses on Redcar rather than the rest of the area has a lot to say like Cargo Fleet, Clay Lane, Iron Masters, Port Clarence. I can't remember now if it shows about how the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built but what a great example of the work of the area.

Lets have some more human stories like Vin Garbutt used to describe working at ICI Wilton in 1969, and what was it like for people moving from famine haunted rural West of Ireland to the terraced houses of South Bank or Grangetown under the smoke and towers of giant furnaces and surrounded by molten slag. Why else did the workers come from? Topics like who owned the Industry?, why did the profits go?, how did their living conditions vary with ordinary workers. How did Teesside help Britain defeat the Axis Powers in WW2.

South Wales has masses of industrial heritage preserved at Blaenavon Iron Works/Big Pit - there is almost nothing on Teesside. I was quite amused when they were boasting about how much Iron was produced in South Wales in 1840 and how important it was to the UK then by 1873 Teesside was producing more Iron than the whole of Wales put together.

Ref Thatcher and the 1979/80 strike - Thatcher wanted to stop subsidies to British Steel and eventually have British Steel standing on its own 2 feet and making a profit in the private sector. It did by 1988, and was sold by its shareholders to Corus in 1992. It had been allowed to be overmanned and thus inefficient and old capacity was held onto to long in the 1960s and 70s. Steel making was in areas that had fewer new job opportunities and hence had been used to keep employment levels up in economically disadvantaged areas. She of course was very brutal cutting 66% of the workforce very quickly and increasing interest rates and the value of pound very quickly in 1979/81 it was like throwing a child into the deep end. Most countries subsidise their own steel industries too, which makes it hard to compete if you don't. The end result is very cheap basic steel on world markets where imports are not restricted by Governments.
 
Redwurzel said:
Very well put (y)

Just looked at some photos from the 1940s of Middlesbrough railway station area and the Iron Masters district and 90% of it has gone and replaced with a multi-storey car park, A66 and as one visiting Sheff Wed fan commented a Mad Max wasteland.

We can't preserve everything and we can't live in the past, but some key icons need keeping to inform future generations of how the area was one of the key centres in Britain's Industrial revolution, probably the best example in the UK of how an area changed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Even if H/S is an issue what about preserving videos and holograms, so people can still virtually walk around Redcar furnaces in 100 years time.

The Dorman Museum touches on some of Teesside's development, but there is so much more than is shown there. Tom Leonard is fine for Ironstone mining in East Cleveland. Kirkleatham Steel Stories is very good, but its not permanent is it? and it focuses on Redcar rather than the rest of the area has a lot to say like Cargo Fleet, Clay Lane, Iron Masters, Port Clarence. I can't remember now if it shows about how the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built but what a great example of the work of the area.

Lets have some more human stories like Vin Garbutt used to describe working at ICI Wilton in 1969, and what was it like for people moving from famine haunted rural West of Ireland to the terraced houses of South Bank or Grangetown under the smoke and towers of giant furnaces and surrounded by molten slag. Why else did the workers come from? Topics like who owned the Industry?, why did the profits go?, how did their living conditions vary with ordinary workers. How did Teesside help Britain defeat the Axis Powers in WW2.

South Wales has masses of industrial heritage preserved at Blaenavon Iron Works/Big Pit - there is almost nothing on Teesside. I was quite amused when they were boasting about how much Iron was produced in South Wales in 1840 and how important it was to the UK the
Redwurzel said:
Very well put (y)

Just looked at some photos from the 1940s of Middlesbrough railway station area and the Iron Masters district and 90% of it has gone and replaced with a multi-storey car park, A66 and as one visiting Sheff Wed fan commented a Mad Max wasteland.

We can't preserve everything and we can't live in the past, but some key icons need keeping to inform future generations of how the area was one of the key centres in Britain's Industrial revolution, probably the best example in the UK of how an area changed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Even if H/S is an issue what about preserving videos and holograms, so people can still virtually walk around Redcar furnaces in 100 years time.

The Dorman Museum touches on some of Teesside's development, but there is so much more than is shown there. Tom Leonard is fine for Ironstone mining in East Cleveland. Kirkleatham Steel Stories is very good, but its not permanent is it? and it focuses on Redcar rather than the rest of the area has a lot to say like Cargo Fleet, Clay Lane, Iron Masters, Port Clarence. I can't remember now if it shows about how the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built but what a great example of the work of the area.

Lets have some more human stories like Vin Garbutt used to describe working at ICI Wilton in 1969, and what was it like for people moving from famine haunted rural West of Ireland to the terraced houses of South Bank or Grangetown under the smoke and towers of giant furnaces and surrounded by molten slag. Why else did the workers come from? Topics like who owned the Industry?, why did the profits go?, how did their living conditions vary with ordinary workers. How did Teesside help Britain defeat the Axis Powers in WW2.

South Wales has masses of industrial heritage preserved at Blaenavon Iron Works/Big Pit - there is almost nothing on Teesside. I was quite amused when they were boasting about how much Iron was produced in South Wales in 1840 and how important it was to the UK then by 1873 Teesside was producing more Iron than the whole of Wales put together.

Ref Thatcher and the 1979/80 strike - Thatcher wanted to stop subsidies to British Steel and eventually have British Steel standing on its own 2 feet and making a profit in the private sector. It did by 1988, and was sold by its shareholders to Corus in 1992. It had been allowed to be overmanned and thus inefficient and old capacity was held onto to long in the 1960s and 70s. Steel making was in areas that had fewer new job opportunities and hence had been used to keep employment levels up in economically disadvantaged areas. She of course was very brutal cutting 66% of the workforce very quickly and increasing interest rates and the value of pound very quickly in 1979/81 it was like throwing a child into the deep end. Most countries subsidise their own steel industries too, which makes it hard to compete if you don't. The end result is very cheap basic steel on world markets where imports are not restricted by Governments.
Click to expand...

n by 1873 Teesside was producing more Iron than the whole of Wales put together.

Ref Thatcher and the 1979/80 strike - Thatcher wanted to stop subsidies to British Steel and eventually have British Steel standing on its own 2 feet and making a profit in the private sector. It did by 1988, and was sold by its shareholders to Corus in 1992. It had been allowed to be overmanned and thus inefficient and old capacity was held onto to long in the 1960s and 70s. Steel making was in areas that had fewer new job opportunities and hence had been used to keep employment levels up in economically disadvantaged areas. She of course was very brutal cutting 66% of the workforce very quickly and increasing interest rates and the value of pound very quickly in 1979/81 it was like throwing a child into the deep end. Most countries subsidise their own steel industries too, which makes it hard to compete if you don't. The end result is very cheap basic steel on world markets where imports are not restricted by Governments.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Redwurzel,
Redwurzel said:
Very well put (y)

Just looked at some photos from the 1940s of Middlesbrough railway station area and the Iron Masters district and 90% of it has gone and replaced with a multi-storey car park, A66 and as one visiting Sheff Wed fan commented a Mad Max wasteland.

We can't preserve everything and we can't live in the past, but some key icons need keeping to inform future generations of how the area was one of the key centres in Britain's Industrial revolution, probably the best example in the UK of how an area changed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Even if H/S is an issue what about preserving videos and holograms, so people can still virtually walk around Redcar furnaces in 100 years time.

The Dorman Museum touches on some of Teesside's development, but there is so much more than is shown there. Tom Leonard is fine for Ironstone mining in East Cleveland. Kirkleatham Steel Stories is very good, but its not permanent is it? and it focuses on Redcar rather than the rest of the area has a lot to say like Cargo Fleet, Clay Lane, Iron Masters, Port Clarence. I can't remember now if it shows about how the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built but what a great example of the work of the area.

Lets have some more human stories like Vin Garbutt used to describe working at ICI Wilton in 1969, and what was it like for people moving from famine haunted rural West of Ireland to the terraced houses of South Bank or Grangetown under the smoke and towers of giant furnaces and surrounded by molten slag. Why else did the workers come from? Topics like who owned the Industry?, why did the profits go?, how did their living conditions vary with ordinary workers. How did Teesside help Britain defeat the Axis Powers in WW2.

South Wales has masses of industrial heritage preserved at Blaenavon Iron Works/Big Pit - there is almost nothing on Teesside. I was quite amused when they were boasting about how much Iron was produced in South Wales in 1840 and how important it was to the UK then by 1873 Teesside was producing more Iron than the whole of Wales put together.

Ref Thatcher and the 1979/80 strike - Thatcher wanted to stop subsidies to British Steel and eventually have British Steel standing on its own 2 feet and making a profit in the private sector. It did by 1988, and was sold by its shareholders to Corus in 1992. It had been allowed to be overmanned and thus inefficient and old capacity was held onto to long in the 1960s and 70s. Steel making was in areas that had fewer new job opportunities and hence had been used to keep employment levels up in economically disadvantaged areas. She of course was very brutal cutting 66% of the workforce very quickly and increasing interest rates and the value of pound very quickly in 1979/81 it was like throwing a child into the deep end. Most countries subsidise their own steel industries too, which makes it hard to compete if you don't. The end result is very cheap basic steel on world markets where imports are not restricted by Governments.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Redwurzel,
Thanks for a very detailed response. Totally agree no thought has been put into the care of our local towns, I am from South Bank and my younger sister says they were knocking down houses there in the 1960's and replaced them with...nothing!!

I totally agree we can't preserve everything, my rant was a response to others, who should know better, but just prefer to slag the place off. Yes, we need a home for the Steel Stories and couldn't the Dorman Museum have a Redcar branch? And you ask some very interesting and important questions, and the very fact that roughy - toughy steel workers were in tears at that exhibition, speaks volumes.

It took the area far to long to to get a University stuck between Leeds, York, Durham and Newcastle., forever the poor relation and how long will it take to get World Heritage status? 3 or 4 years?

The biggest problem for steel was the Labour repositioning of the industry with the 5 major areas and a capacity for 35 million tons. But with a recession and we could only sell 15 of the 35 million tonnes, that is where the inefficiency came!! To be followed by cheaper steel and Thatcher's desire to take down the unions. You must know of the Ridley report? It features in my presentation at the end. The fact that Thatcher was prepared to import communist steel (also in the presentation) rather than pay her own workers a living wage says it all

Germany of course had steel as the backbone of the economy and turned their dormant industry into parks, museums and lessons for the future. My biggest worry is that whole area will become a 'freeport@ and the carpet baggers will take over once again....
 
No as I understand it the cost of demolition of the Dorman Long tower for instance would be excessive compared to retaining it as part of a post industrial landscaped park - hence why no one has rushed to knock it down. In Germany the cost of reclaiming and decontaminating the land were considerable rather than retaining the structures and making them centre piece of a heritage park that is in the top five attractions in the whole country.
 
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