Each day throughout the Forged over 140 Years commemorations we will bring you a footage based on that day’s theme.
Watch this space for each daily upload!
Day one: People and Places 1: the memories and stories of the people who made Consett steel
| Countdown to Closure |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ful2TPOUWQo |
| Inside Consett Iron Company |
| https://youtu.be/0FwJ5TKjdsU |
| Made of Steel: |
| https://youtu.be/Kqtmt1W7UWs |
| Women at War |
| https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01tgk3v |
| https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zf9pb9q |
| http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/hunshelf-gun-site |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXiWuW5ZXwo |
Day two: Steel on the Move: the transport infrastructure of Consett
Today’s Film Club Matinee is all about the infrastructure of Consett, allowing this remote location to become the centre of a thriving and global iron and steel industry. It includes footage of the molten steel transport from Teesside and also the poignant last train to Consett.
Day 3: PEOPLE and PLACES 2: a community of steel
Today’s Film Club Matinee is about Consett the place, and how it evolved and changed over time. Our thanks to Stephen Bridgewater for the You Tube films below. The final link is a compendium of films from a very useful website, https://localhistoryvideos.com/
| https://youtu.be/LxwWnJLQ8WI |
| https://youtu.be/FhYNrhBNk70 |
| https://youtu.be/mq1i9ChvTdc |
| https://localhistoryvideos.com/consett-durham/?fbclid=IwAR39QGmyYBu_VVRsZGePO7BGnVEzFFEW441na-SY3-YKewl1f1asM6_ShaM |
Day 4: Innovators, Illustrators and Creative Consett: inspiration from steel
Consett’s Got Talent!
The Film Club Matinee today is all about the creative and innovative side of Consett, both within and without the steelworks. Consett has produced singers, musicians, artists, poets and of course a great many comedians, some of whom are sharing their diverse and exceptional talents with us on the following links.
| Jim Anderson, local poet |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRtTczKdEp8 |
| Phil Bartle, local artist |
| https://youtu.be/GypLIOBbBAA |
| Susan Maughan, local singer with a string of hits in the 1960s, singing her most famous number Bobby’s Girl |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0OdE14X3fg |
| Red Guitars, Steeltown video |
| https://loudhailer.net/2020/05/02/red-guitars-steeltown/ |
| Steve Thompson, songwriter and creator of the musical, Steel Town |
| https://youtu.be/1JjAP2U_ubo |
Day 5: Connecting Now and Then: the steelworks mapping project
Today’s theme focuses on mapping the location of the steelworks in relation to the present, mostly residential, site.
The town is full of clues as to what was there before the current landscape, even in the names of the streets. In the older areas of the town there is Bessemer Street, Steel Street and Railway Place, as well as streets named after CIC directors and their children: Dale Street, Edith Street and Bertha Street. This tradition is continued in the newer developments on the steelworks site around Genesis Way: Fenwick Way, Ponds Court, Temple Forge Mews and Puddler’s Corner.
To help you get your bearings, today’s Film Club Matinee takes you on a flight over Consett:
In contrast, you may like to check out the still aerial images from the 1960s from the Britain from Above’s website, some of which are stunning and taken with great skill.
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/search?keywords=Consett%20steel&country=global&year=all
Day 6: Closure, forty years on: remember the Works, remember the Workers
For today’s Film Club Matinee, we have teamed up with our friends at Project Genesis to bring you a very special film of one man’s recollections of the Works, the indomitable Ernie Jeffrey, and in particular his account of the accident in 1950 that cost the lives of 11 blast furnace workers. This is in support of the unveiling of the Project Genesis memorial to all those workers who lost their lives in the production of iron and steel in Consett over its 140 years of operation.
So, let Ernie take the floor: his story is one that is very much worth the telling.
Day 7: Bare Metal: taking down 140 years of steel production
Today’s Film Club Matinee makes for hard viewing, 40 years on. There are three films today: The Works is Closing Down, part of the Made of Steel Project, a montage of still photos taken by Alan Heath and Consett: After the Blast, a Tyne Tees documentary one year on from closure.
Day 8: Regeneration and renewal: the future of Consett’s heritage
In our last Film Club Matinee we are aiming to blend the old with the new: we take another aerial flight over the town now, taking in the Consett of the past and the present, and also appreciating some of the magnificent countryside that surrounds the us.
We are also very fortunate to have had Ian Bone supply us with a video of the recently opened Blast Furnace accident memorial which shows the memories of the past with the bustling and alive town of the present.
Matches image courtesy of Julian Germain, with our thanks
As I said, the lights may have been dimmed by the closure of the Works, but the spirit of Consett continues to shine.
History of Consett Steelworks 