Workington was historically a part of cumberland now cumbria, an historic county in north west england. Workington steelworks, site of engineering timelines. British steel corporation came into being in 1967, with the nationalisation of the united steel companies. Corus rail, steelworks, workington, cumbria 102007 ok, first visit of this site was back in june 07, when it was complete, most of these pics are from nov 07 when just one piece of machinary was removed, now as i right this its being torn shred from shred, and by the time i see it again midmay itll be a huge cleared brownfield site. The town stands on the coast, at the mouth of the river derwent, and on the maryport and whitehaven section of the l. It is estimated that 1,500 townspeople moved to workington. Percy kelly was born in 1918 at 1 corporation road workington. Before the steelworks british steel in west cumbria steel was being made in workington from 1856, and prior to that there were iron companies in the area, but they were not always based in moss bay. Help write history 100 places get involved explore the many ways you can help to support the incredibly rich and varied heritage. It was situated almost half a mile nearer the town centre than its rival workington station. Hills books workington, workington, united kingdom. By mid19th century coal mining was in decline but workington experienced major expansion as centre of iron and steel making. The average high tide is 17 feet, and the principal trade of the port is the carriage of iron ore, sand, rail, etc.
Preserved steam locos at workington rail plant and docks 2002 duration. Industries include iron and engineering works, clothing, and steel mills. Workington steel works rail mill early 1900s db3hje from alamys library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors. The moss bay steelworks closed in 1982, followed by the closure of the last. By 1860 only jane pit was in operation and workington colliery ceased production in 1875. Harrington, cumbria wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. Workingtons first iron works were established at bareport in 1763. There is virtually no physical trace of the works in barrow and sadly no great archive or collection of objects were donated to the dock museum however, the story of the iron and steel works pictured right is an important one in barrows history the company drove growth in. Historically part of cumberland, its industrial history, which largely ended in the late 1930s, included a shipbuilders, iron works, coal mining and steel making. The ingot can then be rolled into rails or sheet steel or wire etc. Association football was introduced to workington in the 1860s and further popularised when a group of steel workers migrated to the town from dronfield, derbyshire. It operated under the title of the moss bay hematite iron company.
Workington were voted out of the football league and replaced by wimbledon. The huge cumbrian iron ore field lies to the south of the town and with the local. Timeline history of workington, cumbria visitor uk. These were built 197172 and owned jointly by workington borough council and cumbria county council to allow moorclose school to use the facilities. Workington s first iron works were established at bareport in 1763. A costly attempt was made to restart coal production by sinking a new pit, solway pit, in 1937. Workingons population stood at 5,716 in 1801 but rose only modestly to 6,280 in 1851. Now decommissioned, the works once housed a number of bessemer converters, established by the father of steel mass production, henry bessemer. The oldside works were opened in 1856, the same year that sir henry bessemer 181898 invented a new method of converting pig iron into steel. Workington rails were widely exported and a common local phrase was that workington rails held the world together. Nevertheless, the workington area was a centre of iron and steel production for 100 years, and during these decades, one major unwanted byproduct was slag. Aug 21, 20 workington steel works in cumbria had bessemer converters to make high quality steel which eventually was made into steel railway lines. He was one of seven children a twin living in a small terrace house with marthas father hugh. In 1909 it was amalgamated with other west cumberland firms as part of the workington iron and steel company.
Since our office and factory are in a rural area, our staff travel to work individually by car and we have enough space to maintain social distancing, so in consultation with our staff, we have decided to remain open for business unless government policy changes. Workington steelmaking development committee minutes. The maps show moss bay in 1865 and 1899, and the growth of the steel industry is obvious. The original terrace on warton road was named after mr. Without the iron and steel works the shipyard probably wouldnt have been set up. Supplier of books to schools, colleges and libraries throughout cumbria. West coast iron and steel industrial history of cumbria.
The works had north and south sidings connecting them to the local rail infrastructure and mines. Workington, a market and seaport town, a municipal borough, a township, and a parish in cumberland. Photos, maps, personal memories and local books of workington. Today the size and success of barrows iron and steelworks have almost been forgotten. Moss bay hematite iron and steel company wikipedia. Our website works best with the latest version of the browsers below. Both the north and south sidings connected with the cleator and workington junction railway at harrington junction. Workington dock, workington, cumbria educational images. Out of interest, the first photo shows an ingot mould being made which, when sat on top of a bottom plate in a steel works has molten steel poured into it. Steel making by bessemer convertor at workington cumbria. As well as making iron it also manufactured iron goods, tin plate and under control of adam heslop a foundry owner of lowca, cumberland was a manufacturer of stationary steam. Although a number of blast furnaces were established in lancashire, it was recognised that one of the most important was the carnforth haematite company, where blast furnaces could supply hot metal to the converters at the lowest possible cost.
Henry bessemer, who was a shareholder of the company from the start. The moss bay steelworks closed in 1982, despite receiving significant infrastructural. This video is about the time when corus owned the plant. Although it shows a hammer at work making scythe blades, it is interesting to read that originally the hammer on the left was used to cogdown small cruciblesteel ingots into billets, then the smaller hammer on the right was used to make these billets into. Iron and steelworks in barrow the dock museum free resources. Browse 31 photo books on workington and the surrounding area. Im not researching the name bragg, and i dont have any books to suggest on the history of workington. One offshoot of the steel industry was the production of steel railway rails. The cammell laird properties consisted of the solway works, which dated. Workington iron and steel co ltd the national archives. Workington steel works rail mill early 1900s stock photo. It is located on the solway firth where it joins the irish sea. Thank you for your continued support in these difficult times.
The steelworks in workington were initially a part of the midland group, but in 1970 became a part of the teeside and workington group of the corporation, which they remained until british steel became part of corus in the 1990s. Harrington is a village on the cumbrian coast south of workington and north of whitehaven. It is reported that the worlds first large scale steelworks was in the moss bay area of the town. Fortunately henry bessemers invented a convertor the first of which were sited at millom and workington and tough flexible steel was then rolled at workingtons steel works to make rails. However, over the last while i have been transcribing articles from the workington star in the year 1888. The site chosen was on the north bank of the river derwent and was in the parish of seaton, cumberland. Described as the biggest free festival in workingtons history, the 2008 festival. Iron and steel working scenes this one comes from sheffield steel by k.
Steel mill railroad relics still found in pittsburgh. The orginal moorclose sports centre was the playing fields, pavillion and allweather playing surfaces. Dec, known to the local people as chapel bank, had an engineering design office, engineering workshops and a foundry that at one time contained six of the. Workington has long been a producer of coal and steel. Steel works rail rolling line in workington youtube. Workington, town parish and port in allerdale district, administrative county of cumbria, historic county of cumberland, northwestern england. Workington, cumberland genealogy heraldry and history. It turns out that steel made in workington, on the west coast of cumbria, was of a very high quality and was transported all over the world. Henry bessemer, in full sir henry bessemer, born january 19, 18, charlton, hertfordshire, englanddied march 15, 1898, london, inventor and engineer who developed the first process for manufacturing steel inexpensively 1856, leading to the development of the bessemer converter. However, the story of the iron and steel works pictured right is an important one in barrows history the company drove growth in victorian barrow.
Seaton iron works was an iron works which operated between 1763 and 1899 under different titles and various owners. It still has one railway station, on the cumbrian coast line, near the harbour. By the mid19th century coalmining was in decline but workington experienced a major expansion as a centre of iron and steel making. Workington was the home of distington engineering company dec, the engineering arm of british steel corporation bsc, which specialised in the design of continuous casting equipment. The moss bay works remained, turning iron into steel for rails until 1974, after which steel ingots were brought in from teeside.
Workington iron and steel through time book depository. Jul 16, 2015 the moss bay works remained, turning iron into steel for rails until 1974, after which steel ingots were brought in from teeside. Scunthorpe steelworkers plan for a brighter future business. This book, third in the series of parton history books by d. The workington iron and steel co bought the bigrigg company during the first world war to secure sufficient iron ore supplies for increased wartime production. Port history workington started as an old market town and seaport situated at the mouth of the river derwent and its history dates back to roman times when during the roman occupation workington was the site of a hadrianic fort which formed part of the roman coastal defences. It was the end of an era and no longer would workington reverberate to the sounds and smells of the heaviest of heavy industries.
Workington steel works in cumbria had bessemer converters to make high quality steel which eventually was made into steel railway lines. They were workers of the charles cammel and co steel works that arrived in the town in 1884. It was the end of an era and no longer would workington reverberate to the sounds and smells of. This is not intended to be an exhaustive history of the company, but an indication of the changes of ownership and the links between companies and directors in. Situated at moss bay to the southwest of the town centre, workington steelworks flourished from the 1870s onwards as one of the most important sites for steel production in britain. Mar 23, 2020 harrington is a village on the cumbrian coast south of workington and north of whitehaven. Workington bridge railway station was situated at the northern end of workington bridge next to the river derwent, and was originally served by the cockermouth and workington railway, later absorbed by the london and north western railway. Workington photos, maps, books, memories francis frith.
Sadly, the story of the industrys decline is wellknown, cumbrias iron and steel works closing in the 20th century. The oldside works were opened in 1856, the same year that sir henry bessemer 181898 invented a. With an abundance of ironstone and coal in the vicinity, workington was an obvious choice for the development of iron and steel works. Iron ore had been mined in furness for centuries but on a commercial scale only from about the 1770s. Originally made from bessemer steel, following the closure of the moss bay steelworks, steel for the plant was brought by rail from teesside. Steel was being made in workington from 1856, and prior to that there were iron companies in the area, but they were not. Registered in england 06557400, company vat number 5 5978 79. Uk steel warns tariff on hotrolled steel might not be high enough to discourage china from further dumping of cheap steel published.
Oct 01, 2016 uk steel warns tariff on hotrolled steel might not be high enough to discourage china from further dumping of cheap steel published. The line was double track from workington to seaton. Some of the articles have been the history of workington, and you can find them in the archives for this list. Scunthorpe steelworkers plan for a brighter future. Outside town, john christian curwen established his renowned experimental model farm at schoose c. Oct 31, 2007 workington steelworks 2003 shortly before closure. Engineering timelines workington steelworks, site of. Boldmere house, faraday avenue, hams hall distribution park, coleshill, birmingham.
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