The fight over one of Britain’s last steel plants
Closing two blast furnaces in south Wales will cut emissions and jobs
IT FELL TO Terry Leyshon to make the final push. On March 20th he moved the last batch of coke from the oven onto a waiting railcar, ready to head to the blast furnace. Mr Leyshon has worked at the Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales since he was a teenager. Steel runs in his blood: it was his father who made the first push when the site opened in 1981. The blast furnaces will keep going for another few months by burning imported coke. But come October the giant white plumes that have risen from the smokestacks for 40 years will be gone.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Steel yourselves”
Britain May 4th 2024
- Labour is the big beneficiary of Scottish political turmoil
- Why so many Britons have taken to stand-up paddleboarding
- The fight over one of Britain’s last steel plants
- Questions grow over the future of the London stockmarket
- A rare Brexit dividend for British farmers
- A growing number of Britons are on disability benefits
- Jeremy Clarkson, patron saint of the Great British bore
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