Nov 26, 2022
Going, going, gone: Newspapers mark end of an industrial era on Teesside
Two newsrooms produced striking front pages to mark the end of an era on Teesside.
The Northern Echo and Teesside Evening Gazette newspapers both cleared their front pages as the demolition of the Redcar blast furnace took place.
Redcar’s former steelworks has dominated the Teesside skyline since the 1970s. Built in 1979, the blast furnace stands 365ft tall and was ranked the second largest of its kind in Europe. Once operated by British Steel and Corus, the furnace was shutdown in 2015 with the collapse of SSI UK.
The Northern Echo’s coverage on Wednesday, the day the furnace was dismantled, examined the demise of the steel industry on Teesside and what could come next. The Echo had campaigned in 2015 for the steelworks to be saved from closure.
Editor Gavin Foster said: “Although the furnace light has gone out, the memories at the very soul of these communities still burn bright — as does the emotion and in some cases heartache.
“The demolition of the Redcar blast furnace is much, much more than a building being razed to the ground. ”
The Echo then followed up on Thursday with a front page which looked to what might come next.
The Gazette, based in Middlesbrough, meanwhile led Thursday’s paper with a dramatic picture of the toppling of the furnace, reporting that decades of steelmaking had disappeared in a flash.
Online, TeessideLive covered the demolition live, and presented a picture gallery of the demolition which showed flames rising within the building before it collapsed in on itself. Video was also watch time and again.
Reporter Eden Lewis wrote: “Redcar’s former steelworks has dominated the Teesside skyline since the 1970s. Built in 1979, the blast furnace stands 365ft tall and was ranked the second largest of its kind in Europe. Once operated by British Steel and Corus, the furnace was shutdown in 2015 with the collapse of SSI UK.
“It was a ‘monument to our work’ and the place where thousands of Teesside steelworkers earned their living over the decades.
“But in the end it took just took a few seconds for the iconic Redcar Blast Furnace to be reduced to rubble in an early morning demolition.”
- In 2022, Behind Local News aims to celebrate local journalism in all its forms through our 365 Acts of Local Journalism Project. Lets us know what you think should be included. You can email us here or contact us via Twitter on BehindLocalNews or on Facebook here.
- See the series so far, here
