Ebbe Vale, Wales: 1790-2002 Steelworks

(Satellite)

I normally ignore steel mills outside of North America because there used to be so many in the USA that they keep me busy. But photos of blast furnaces from around the interesting turn of the century are rare. And when I read that the bell system was invented here, that was sufficient motivation to note this mill.

Geoff Palfrey posted
Rare Penycae Blast furnaces photo said to be 1910, I suggest its early 1905 for the following reasons, in 1904 on December 17th at 0630 am number 2 furnace broke through its refractory brick lining and the liquid iron melted through the water cooled chill blocks of the hearth, the resultant steam explosions shook the town, inhabitants thought an earthquake had taken place, the windows of the Darby Blowing house were shattered, as was those in the Big House, the main Market street including the County Hotel had broken panes, no one was killed luckily, the Ebay photo shows a temporary hut fixed over the bell platform, to keep the lining dry, if you look down the iron hoops of the furnace shell you can see a teardrop shaped void where the firebrick lining is missing. Its a great photo, note Great western plank wagon probably delivering refractory bricks, the Furnaces were hand charged by barrow and a charging man Is on furnace 3 platform doorway, and number four is charging, the bell is being lowered. the bell system to allow the hydrocarbon rich furnace gases to be reused as fuel and in conjunction with hot blast Nielson stoves reduced the amount of coke and tapping times increasing iron production, the bell was perfected by George Parry at Ebbw Vale and was used globally, he modified an invasive design used in the Blaina and Cwmcelyn ironworks, the chain on Parrys design was on the outside, with an arm and windlass to lower it. Other interesting facets are the Darby blowing engine house of 1866 at center right, built by Loam and sons of Liskeard, Cornwall, this was the largest blowing engine in the world, with a six foot diameter steam cylinder and a 12 foot diameter double acting blowing cylinder or tub using a 30 foot diameter flywheel, after some crankshaft problems she ran for over half a century, the spare engine fit in 1878 to north had a 45 inch cylinder and this area was named the 45 yard, below the house the stacks of pig iron bottom right, note the steeplejacks on both boiler chimneys, and the 1880 date on the southern stack, at this time the hot metal mixer was being planned at new Tyllwyn to keep the steelmaking process stable and liquid, in the smoke is Rank Cam or Crooked row, imagine living there, at right a rake of wagons with greedy boards full of coke either from Sirhowy and the drawback railway or from Penycae coke ovens out of shot right, note too the arc lamps and pyrometer house, a sign of modernity in an obsolescent ironworks that closed in 1922.
Geoff Palfrey shared

Museum, Aug 1957
"Ebbw Vale Ironworks was part of a chain of works along the northern rim of the south Wales coalfield where the raw materials for making iron - iron ore, coal and limestone - occurred together. It was established in 1790 by a partnership led by Jeremiah Homfray, owner of the Penydarren Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil....When the local iron ores became exhausted the company bought iron mines in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Spain during the 1850s....Two modern blast furnaces built at Victoria in 1920-23 replaced the four old Ebbw Vale blast furnaces." The works closed in 1929. In 1936-38 the old works were replaced by an integrated iron, steel and tinplate plant. "Until closure in 2002 the works concentrated on tinplating and galvanising, and was the largest tinplate producer in Britain."

(I clicked a "200 Years of Industrial Innovation at Ebbw Vale" button on the "musuem" page to get to a page with this photo. But when I tried it again later to get the link, the button didn't work!)

Ross Evans Flickr

Ebbw Vale Steelworks in its last days before demolition (2002) Wales

Greetings. I hope you are having a good Saturday. Wishing you a happy Sunday and a great week ahead. 

Warm wishes 

Ross 

Ebbw Vale Steelworks was an integrated steel mill located in Ebbw Vale, South Wales. Developed from 1780, by the late 1930s it had become the largest steel mill in Europe. Nationalised after World war II, as the steel industry changed to bulk handling, iron and steel making ceased in the 1970s, as the site was redeveloped as a specialised tinplate works. Closed by Corus in 2002, the site is being redeveloped in a joint-partnership between Blaenau Gwent Council and the Welsh Government.