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Report - - Redcar Blast Furnace. May 09. | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Redcar Blast Furnace. May 09.

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Dempsey

The Human Turbine.
28DL Full Member
Redcar Blast furnace​

Its the largest Blast furnace in europe, contributing to the industrial mass which be teeside, completely full of british industrial history, the three big names being Lackenby Steel mills, Cleveland Coke ovens and Redcar ironworks. Steel and Iron runs through the blood of people in the area, a stable industry which has provided thousands and thousands of jobs. The Iron works is sometimes confused with the steel works, and can be said to be over shadowed, not litrally though, the massive Furnace structure lines the skyline from even from Stockton. It produces 3.5 million tonnes of iron a year, thats an average of 10,000 tonnes a day, or 70,000 a week, staggering...


After a lot of enthusiasm about finally getting back upto t-syde, amongst the burning tyres, and howling dogs, Littlemike and me head off for what was going to be an eventful night. Even getting out of the car i dont know, what, 2k's away? The noise hits you, Unlike daytime you really get the sense that this place is alive. The constant drone, hissing, alarms, bells, thumping diesel engines and the smell of pure industry which lines the cold sea air, it makes a man weak at the knees. It really is an experience in its self just to sit and watch the place tick away. Filling the torpedoe railway wagons with slag form the 14m furnace (thats massive for a furnace) is a constant proccess, the works having 4 or more lines for this operation alone, running straight under the furance, and makes for a lot of the activity.

We knew we couldnt sit there all night, so we made a move and was soon in the shadows of intricate pipe work, and walking random walkways through the thick steam coming from some of the cooling towers. Its a shame that all of the walkways dont interconnect, because this meant getting round on the ground floor looking for new things to climb up, its fun to say the least. But, time didnt permit, the skies was glowing a faded blue and we knew we had to make a move and get out, 2 security vans later, a few braps later, the sun has risen and we are in zomby mode driving back to York.

Just a shame you never get as many pictures as you want.

Pretty far away int he distance the blast furnace stands to the right, the humongeous gas cylinder to the left, and two 'torpedos' waiting for a path. For scale, the yard light is close in the foreground.
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Theres some of the molten stuff in the centre...
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You dont get a sense of scale until your up close and licking her, and we arnt on the ground in this picture either!
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The mothership. It was at this point we had to make our way back.
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The future is unclear for redcar ironworks at present. The current financial climate is trying her best to sieze all british industry, from this works alone there would be over 2000 jobs lost, but the knock on effect is thought to be in the region of 10,000!

On that note, i wasnt sure on posting, but i've left it in here, because there is so so much more to see here, and a return visit dosent even comprehend what i want.

Cheers for MC Littlemike, for Pro urbex company!




 
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