It is a sad day for Teesside that the Redcar Blast Furnace is being demolished today. The furnace as we envisaged would have been truly iconic. In our opinion, this is an act of cultural vandalism, a scorched earth policy designed to systematically destroy relics of industry.
For some, this structure represents something personal – a living monument to their ancestors who built Teesside from the ground up, to others its a proud symbol of over 170 years of world class iron and steelmaking on Teesside.
A unique landmark
Whilst some see the structure as a reminder of industrial decline, we all must agree that it is a unique landmark that has played a major part of our identity and without it Teesside will never be the same.
The decision to demolish was based on false information and alternatives to secure its future were never realistically explored.
The mayor, Ben Houchen is making a big mistake by pulling it down and it’s a loss to our Industrial heritage that will never be recovered.
It’s a sad day for the UK’s long and rich story of iron and steelmaking and a sad day for Teessiders.
