Len wrote this after a share of the Red Dust Memories post and has kindly agreed for it be shared
Not being from Consett originally my first recollections were as a youngster in the 60s when going through the town on the way to Stanhope and the moors.
I was amazed at how everything was a brick red colour even Windows on buildings and could smell that something was in the air.
As we went through town the works loomed larger and larger.
They were an impressive sight and more so on the road from the town towards Castleside where they seemed to rise and envelop the road with buildings and overhead gantrys.
My dad said they carried the steel to the rolling mill.
The noise there was loud and industrial.
And yet within a short distance we had left the Works behind and moving on to the quiet and solitude of the moors.
The return journey,often at night was an awesome experience.
The works were visible for miles in the daytime, but more so at night where the glow from the smelters and hot steel gave it an aura in the darkness broken by the lights of the town beyond.
I admit to being a little more scared at night as things which hadn’t been visible in the day revealed themselves with a white to red glow.
The memory is still strong to this day and often when I drive the same route they come back to me now and I think wow what a transformation from then in my young mind to now In an adult one.
Thanks for sharing this Len and the HCSW would be delighted to read your own memories please do comment or email us
History of Consett Steelworks 