1975 blue sky view, looking north across farmland fields from Long Edge Lane, towards the smoking red iron oxide chimneys of the Consett Steelworks, closed in 1980 and now demolished, County Durham, North East England, UK
The Consett Iron Company, owning coal mines and limestone quarries, manufactured iron and steel. It was registered 4 April 1864 and was a successor to the Derwent Iron Company, founded in 1840. The company's seven collieries and various coke ovens were nationalised in 1947, passing to the ownership of the National Coal Board. The Consett Iron Company, itself, was nationalised in 1951. The iron works were absorbed into the British Steel Corporation in 1967. At a time when iron, coal and shipbuilding were in decline in North East England, the Consett Steel Works closed in 1980. Some 4500 workers lost their jobs, resulting in a 35 per cent unemployment rate in Consett. Closure, however, cleaned-up the air over Consett, which had been affected by a haze of red iron oxide (seen in the shot) from the steelworks' chimneys. Almost all traces of the steelworks have been removed. A 1975 view, looking north towards the Consett Steelworks from Long Edge Lane, between the A 68 and Knitsley Lane, County Durham, UK
Size: 1630px × 1074px
Location: Consett Steelworks, looking north from Long Edge Lane, County Durham, North East England, UK
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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