- Joined
- Dec 2, 2005
- Messages
- 69,152
During my own lifetime, the City of Sheffield, once the worlds foremost steel and cutlery producer, has changed massively. Most of the steel works which once dominated the entire East End of the city are long gone, as are most of the old cutlery factories and workshops which were spread across the entire town. The vast majority were demolished in the 1980s, with the wrecking ball and the bulldozer transforming the city, but some remain, either as derelict buildings, or transformed into city centre apartments and bars. The best of those still standing are now covered by preservation orders, but little effort seems to be put into actually preserving them, and they are crumbling into ruins. A few firms still exist, rare survivors in this once industrial city. I thought Id share a few photos of some of the remaining old factories, you may even see one where your old Sheffield Penknife was made in a far-distant time. The loss of industry has had many negative effects on the town, but it has certainly meant for cleaner air and cleaner rivers, as the last photo shows. Trout, and even Salmon, have returned to the River Don, where only a few decades ago, nothing lived.
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Another Pittsburgh poster (Vanguard) very kindly sent me a book about the city. There are only two surviving Bessamer Converters in the world, the one in Sheffield shown above, and this one in Pittsburgh :thumbup: