Interesting explore for me, particularly as I have grown up hearing stories from my uncle who worked down there from 1972 till 2000 and finished as Foreman of The Beam Mill at Lackenby.
Lackenby was opened to replace the former Dorman Long Britannia site that was then taken over by British Steel in the 1960s then the site closed in March 1971 and was decommissioned between then and 1972. Lackenby was built in the early 1950s and was officially opened in 1953. Over the years the site has faced some very uncertain times like the strikes in January 1980 that lasted 13 weeks. Then in March 2010 the works was closed and mothballed by Tata Steel then the furnace was re lit back in April 2012 by SSI who took over most of the site. In October 2015 SSI UK went into liquidation after it was wound up by the courts. This time the site looks likely not to re open considering it has been "Decommissioned" instead of Mothballing. Parts of the site has already started to be scrapped by the company EMR (European Metal Recycling). So it seems this is the end to large scale steel production on Teesside after 161 years RIP.
The visit was done in the dead of night after contemplating it during the daytime it was just not a good idea with the amount of security patrols and the visibility the security had over our access point. The explore went off without a problem and was so glad to have visited. Thanks to @The Amateur Wanderer for the top company and driving
The pictures don't do the scale of the place justice so I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in industry.
The site faces 24/7 rolling security from Police and three private security firms...
All images shot hand held on my Sony A77ii using my Sigma 30mm f/1.4
History from memory, local press and my uncle.
Lackenby was opened to replace the former Dorman Long Britannia site that was then taken over by British Steel in the 1960s then the site closed in March 1971 and was decommissioned between then and 1972. Lackenby was built in the early 1950s and was officially opened in 1953. Over the years the site has faced some very uncertain times like the strikes in January 1980 that lasted 13 weeks. Then in March 2010 the works was closed and mothballed by Tata Steel then the furnace was re lit back in April 2012 by SSI who took over most of the site. In October 2015 SSI UK went into liquidation after it was wound up by the courts. This time the site looks likely not to re open considering it has been "Decommissioned" instead of Mothballing. Parts of the site has already started to be scrapped by the company EMR (European Metal Recycling). So it seems this is the end to large scale steel production on Teesside after 161 years RIP.
The visit was done in the dead of night after contemplating it during the daytime it was just not a good idea with the amount of security patrols and the visibility the security had over our access point. The explore went off without a problem and was so glad to have visited. Thanks to @The Amateur Wanderer for the top company and driving
The pictures don't do the scale of the place justice so I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in industry.
The site faces 24/7 rolling security from Police and three private security firms...
All images shot hand held on my Sony A77ii using my Sigma 30mm f/1.4
History from memory, local press and my uncle.
The pics.
That's all for now folks look out for part 2...
Thanks for looking BoroLad
That's all for now folks look out for part 2...
Thanks for looking BoroLad
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