At one time railway lines and iron bridges all other the world would have had “made in Teesside” stamped on them.
Production first began in Teesside following the discovery of nearby iron ore deposits. The mines were still producing ore until early 20th century while the steel production plant at Redcar was very recently put into mothballs to the despair of the local community.
The programme did not romanticise the physically hard, dirty and dangerous work of mining or being a steel worker but it did celebrate their strong sense of pride, comradeship and solidarity.
The programme reminded me of the closure of the main plant at Shotton Steel works in the 1980’s. Check out my thoughts pre CONDEM gov.
Question: Do we need to have employment with such bloody awful working conditions to bring about a similar true sense of class and identity amongst working people?
