Tear for Teesside - 160 years of steel making ends

1850 - Iron ore is discovered in the Cleveland Hills, prompting the building of Teesside's first blast furnace the following year. By 1868 there are 100 lining the River Tees.

1875 - Steel comes to Teesside with the opening of the Bessemer steel plant in Middlebrough.

1902 - The first integrated steelworks, turning iron ore to finished rolled steel, is built at Cargo Fleet on Teesside.

1949 - The industry is nationalized by Clement Attlee, only to be privatized again by the Tories in the 1950s.

1954 - Dorman Long builds the world's most advanced steel plant at Lackenby, near Redcar.

1967 - The industry is re-nationalised under Harold Wilson's government to form the British Steel Corporation.

1979 - The largest blast furnace in Europe is opened at Redcar, as steel production on Teesside is concentrated in a single factory during the massive restructuring of the industry in the 1970s.

1989 - The Thatcher government privatizes the steel industry again, forming British Steel.

1999 - British Steel merges with Koninklijke Hoogovens to form Corus.

2007 - Corus is bought by TATA Steel

2010 - Teesside Case Products closes, ending the region's steel-producing history after nearly 160 years.

A long road ……

In 1830, Teesside was agricultural land; the area's three or four farms were home to around 25 people. Industrialists soon realized the area's suitability for exporting coal. A group of Quaker businessmen headed by Joseph Pease of Darlington purchased this Middlesbrough farmstead and its estate and set about the development of what they termed `Port Darlington' on the banks of the Tees nearby. A town was planned on the site of the farm to supply labour to the new coal port - Middlesbrough was born.

The railway line was extended to the River Tees from Port Darlington in 1830, creating a through route for coal from Durham. By 1831, 150,000 tonnes of coal a year were exported from Middlesbrough, this amount rose to 1,500,000 tonnes by 1840.

The success of the coal export trade attracted other industries to Middlesbrough, brickyard and pottery factories sprouted up alongside shipyards. In 1841, Middlesbrough's stability was about to be upset by another industrial boom. The railway industry that had kick started the town's expansion, was now in danger of stunting its growth. It had become more profitable to transport coal by sea than by rail, making the coastal towns of Newcastle and Hartlepool more cost effective than Middlesbrough. The Middlesbrough Owners realised that a new industry was needed to secure the town's future prosperity.

In 1839, Henry Bolckow, an accountant from Germany, and John Vaugham, an ironworker from Worcester were looking for a site for a new ironworks. In 1840, spotting a business opportunity, John Pease sold them several acres in Middlesbrough?s Commercial Street for GBP 1,800.

In 1850 Iron ore was discovered in the Cleveland Hills near Eston to the south of Middlesbrough and Iron gradually replaced coal as the lifeblood of the town. The ore was discovered by John Vaughan, the principal ironmaster of Middlesbrough who along with his German business partner Henry Bolckow had already established a small iron foundry and rolling mill at Middlesbrough using iron stone from Durham and the Yorkshire coast. The new discovery of iron ore on their doorstep prompted them to build Teesside's first blast furnace in 1851.

The venture was a success and by 1873, Middlesbrough was producing 2 millions tonnes of pig iron a year, a third of Britain's total pig iron output. Iron was now in big demand in Britain, particularly for the rapid expansion of the railways being built in every part of the country. More and more blast furnaces were opened in the vicinity of Middlesbrough to meet this demand and by the end of the century Teesside was producing about a third of the nation's iron output.

By the 1870s, steel, a much stronger and more resilient metal was in big demand and Middlesbrough had to compete with Sheffield. In 1875 Bolckow and Vaughan opened the first Bessemer Steel plant in Middlesbrough. At first phosphorous ores had to be imported from Spain for the making of the steel, but by 1879 methods were developed which could use local iron ores. The Tees was destined to become 'the Steel River'. In 1881 one commentator described how the ironstone of the Eston Hills processed at Middlesbrough, had been used in the building of structures throughout the world.

The depression bites in 1929 and the famous name of Bolckow-Vaughan passes into history merging with neighbor Dorman-Long & Co. who become Britain's biggest iron and steel maker employing 33,000 men.

1954 - The post-war boom sees Britain's premier steel-making centre remaining on the Tees as Dorman-Long builds a state of the art steelworks at Lackenby and then new blast furnaces at Clay Lane.

1967 - Dorman-Long becomes part of the nationalised British Steel Corporation as production booms in Britain.

1979 - The largest blast furnace in Europe is erected at BSC's new Redcar plant. But trouble ahead looms larger...

1980's & 90's - Mrs. Thatcher's Conservative government presides over the most profound changes to Teesside society and landscape since 'the iron rush' that started it all.

Traditional industries and communities are decimated. 64,000 manufacturing jobs are lost in Cleveland and long-term unemployment returns to the levels of the 1930's. BSC is privatized.

2000...British Steel plc now part of Anglo-Dutch consortium 'Corus' announces more closures and job cuts. The Teesside works, one of Corus' most efficient and productive assets makes 3.5 million tonnes of steel a year. For the last 3,000 workers, the fight goes on, for the industry's survival after more than 160 years on the River Tees...