Free Online at www.coastalviewandmoornews.co.uk The Community Newspaper for the Towns and Villages of East Cleveland, Redcar & North York Moors, telling the real news and views of the people of our region
Issue 100 June - July 2019
Stand up for our Steel
● Image courtesy of Stand up for our Steel Facebook group
T
here cannot be anyone out there who fails to believe that East Cleveland is coming to an historical tipping point. The threat hanging over the Skinningrove works, and the associated question mark over the existence of the Lackenby Beam Mill is one where - if the worst happens - the very soul of our being will be hacked off. We cannot as a community - and regardless of political creed, faith, background or status - allow this threat to become reality, and to see the doors at Skinningrove and Lackenby close for good. The issues are fast moving - and as this edition of Coastal View goes to press we know that there have been top level meetings involving ministers. One of the results of these meetings have been their inclusiveness, and, as Simon Clarke MP, said, involved "The Industry Secretary, Greg Clark and
his departmental team, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, local council chiefs, representatives from all the major unions, as well as key suppliers and customers of British Steel.” As well known Loftus resident and photographer, Ray Tough said:“I've lived in Loftus since 1970 with the panoramic view of Skinningrove Steel works from my front window on North Terrace a fixed part of my daily life. But that view has come at a price for the workers over the years. I have seen the workforce of a one-time manufacturing giant that has sustained East Cleveland for nearly a century and a half progressively cut from the teeming thousands to the few hundred we have today. ."Then the drip drop of never ending cuts from the succession of sell off and sales in the local industry - to Corus, the so called “Consortium” then to Tata, SSI and finally to equity merchants,
9th Birthday and
100th Issue •• This month 26,300 copies ••
Greybull. "When I worked on the buses, we took people to and from the works from all over East Cleveland for starting and finishing over three shifts a day, year in, year out. Many of my neighbours worked at the works, some since the mines closed and they transferred their employment. "Now, God forbid, we may be looking at the final demise of the Skinningrove works. The special profiles unit has been successful and profitable but that counts for nothing in this world. "It is not only the jobs at Skinningrove that will be affected, Lackenby Beam Mill and Scunthorpe are at risk too as are all the supply and ancillary jobs. Caterpillar are intrinsically bound to Skinningrove Works, sharing the site along with the haulage firm A V Dawson and family owned T C Industries. The loss of income hits everywhere - local shops, local pubs and clubs and housing. East Cleveland cannot allow that to happen.” Put simply, Skinningrove is not just a collection of large tin sheds sited on a windy cliff edge. It is the reason why everything in this area - from our roads and villages, our churches and libraries, our schools and health centres, our shops, pubs and clubs - are where they are. The Skinningrove works is the last remaining part of the “Iron Valleys” that is the essence of the historical East Cleveland Prosaically, Skinningrove Works is a steel rolling mill; it was originally established by the Loftus Iron Company in 1874 in association with the growth of local ironstone mining. In 1880 the company reformed as the Skinningrove Iron Company and built Skinningrove Jetty to load iron on to ships for transport. The works originally produced pig iron, then from the early 20th century focussed on steel production, specialising in milling "long products" such as railway rails. At its height, it boasted five blast furnaces, coke plants, a large open hearth a steelmaking shop and rows of associated rolling mills. This provided employment for thousands, and Carlin How became
known as the “village that never sleeps” so constant were the comings and goings of men to and from work Neil Morrish, President of Carlin How Working Men’s Club said:"Our working men's club is the heart of the community, supported for many years gone by, by the steel workers. it would be devastating to this community and could be the death of this club if it close." The works rolled steel for the world - a recent Coastal View reader recalled seeing the works name on a section of bridgework in Taiwan. It helped win two world wars for democracy and at a time when we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of D-Day recall the Skinningrove steel sections that went into landing craft and tanks that hit the Normandy Beaches in 1944. For a long time owned by local mine magnates and ironmasters, the Pease family, the works were nationalised in 1951 and again in 1967 as part of the British Steel Corporation. After this there have been a series of owners; Corus (1999), Tata Steel (2006), and Greybull - a London "Private Equity" dealership purchased the plant two years back Since then, all the signs up to recent days have been rosy. Reputedly, all these parts of the old "Long Producers Division" based on Scunthorpe works, the Teesside Beam and Skinningrove, have been in profit - although as ever, this has been hidden by "commercial confidentiality". Hindsight is a marvellous thing, Did we miss the warning signs of Greybull's record? After all, previous acquisitions seemed to become redundant soon after value was sucked out - High Street electronics firm, Monarch Airlines and Morrisons convenience chain. Carlin How Prior Pursglove student Jake Hogan 18 and a member of Loftus Town Council said:"I witnessed the devastation caused by the closure of SSI from the eyes of a child. I worry that the Continued on page 6 ►►►
Freebrough Flyer 8 page supplement inside