Background
What a relief it was to tick this one off the list. I've been itching to plunge into the vast expanse of the former SSI steelworks for ages, but the many stories of very vigilant security had put me off heading right up to the other end of the country to try my luck. I had pinned all my hopes of seeing the site during the early stages of demolition, when blanket of sensors and the chance of finding everything sealed would be reduced. I managed to visit the old Ore Handling Plant and part of Southbank Coke Works last year, but trips to other areas of the works had to be postponed due to the lock-downs.
With the easing of restrictions again, Teesside Steelworks became my top priority, especially as I was regularly seeing images on the Teesside Steelworks heritage FB group showing how demolition was progressing. I was really unsure what the interior of the BOS plant would be like, I was well aware that a lot had been torn out in the months following closure, but I was certain the BOS converters and much of the equipment in the tallest section would still remain - surely it would have been uneconomic to remove, when demolition was inevitable anyway. However, it's been over five years since a proper report has appeared on here, so perhaps there was nothing left to see, or it was just very well secured. Thankfully it was the latter. I know security has been really good at their job, but I'm pretty amazed no one seems to have ventured inside for so long, especially given there's still so much left. The demolition men are making quick work over the various sites, so I'd certainly suggest you make it to Teesside while the vast bulk of the works is still largely intact.
History
The works at Lackenby were established by Dorman Long in the early 1950s to produce steel, by means of the open hearth process, and then prepare it for export. The open hearth process took many hours, which although made the operation easy to control, the works quickly became obsolete in the competitive post-war steel industry. Dorman Long was absorbed into Bristish Steel Corporation (BSC) in 1967, who soon began the construction of a replacement plant, making use of the basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS) process. During the BOS process oxygen is blown into the liquid iron at supersonic speeds, igniting the carbon which leaves as a gas. At Lackenby, the molten pig iron from the blast furnaces at Clay Lane, later replaced by the giant furnace at Redcar, was brought to the site by rail, and tipped into a ladle, which in turn was tipped into one of the three converters. Scrap steel was added and then oxygen was blown into the converters, reaching temperatures of 1700 °C. After about 20 minutes the slag was tipped off and the steel went to the continuous casting plant, where the steel was solidified and rolled into ingots ready for further processing
The BOS plant itself was constructed in 1971, and was operated by BSC, until privatization in 1988. After operation by British Steel, Corus, and Tata, the site, together with the works at Redcar and Southbank, were bought by Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) in 2012. In October 2015, SSI plunged into liquidation and shut-down their sites at Teesside, with the loss of over 2,000 direct jobs. British Steel continues to operate the beam mill, and own the rest of the Lackenby site built by Dorman Long. Much of the easily removable equipment was either sold or scrapped following closure, and Demolition of the site began in early 2021.
The Explore
@slayaaaa and I arrived at the BOS Plant in the early hours, but it was already becoming light, so we didn't want to hang around long searching for a pleasant way into the site. After resorting to fashioning some razor wire coils into a make-shift ladder, we were over the fence and heading towards the beast. Once inside it took use a while to find a way up to the main working level, as all the staircases and ladders have been cut off, or locked up. It was still very dark inside, but we could just about make out the shapes of machinery, and certainly knew we weren't dealing with a gutted shell. We got some rest in the beam of a gantry crane and then set about making our way around the vast structure. The scale of the buildings alone is quite something itself, and combined with so much machinery still remaining, it is without a doubt one of my favorite sites I've ever explored. Many areas have little, or harsh lighting, and combined with the fine dust, can make photography a little difficult. That said, there were some fantastic light rays, constantly changing throughout the day. I've often been envious of photos of the steel industry by Viktor Macha, with their dramatic light rays, so I was very pleased to see the effect for myself.
Unsurprisingly, there are still plenty of sensors around, though I doubt they all work, we accidentally set a couple off, triggering a distant alarm, but didn't see a response. We spent most of the day inside, but had other areas of the works we were keen to check out, so I still have plenty left to see of building, I'll certainly be returning in the near future.
The exterior of the BOS plant, as seen from Southbank. It's quite hard to really convey the scale of the monstrous building.
The interior of the bay containing the BOS converters.
This yellow thing is was used to tip skips of scrap into the converters.
The three BOS converters.
A rather nice ladle, it would be nice to see it saved, though unfortunately it's not the kind of thing you can sneak under your t-shirt.
Crane driver's cab.
Heading up into the tallest section of the building.
The complexity of the machinery was made all the more impressive by the dramatic lighting.
The top level of the building, 70 meters above the ground. Handrails give an indication of the scale, but you can only really appreciate its size in person.
Southbank Coke Works, with the cooling towers of Billingham on the skyline. Demolition is now underway on the by-products plant to the north of the ovens.
From the roof of the building you get an immense panorama over the vast array of industry to be found around Teeside, dominating the landscape are the steelworks, the oil refineries at Seal Sands, and the chemical works founded by ICI at Wilton and Billingham. Nowhere else in Britain will you find such a broad range of industry, and the roof of the BOS plant offers one of the finest views of the landscape. Here we look over the mostly operational beam mills towards the vast Wilton site, though now only a fraction of what it was in its prime. The Terylene plant, visible to the left of the brick chimney, looks rather lost.
The imposing iron works at Redcar on the skyline. Left to right is the coke works, power station, blast furnace, and sinter plant.
What a relief it was to tick this one off the list. I've been itching to plunge into the vast expanse of the former SSI steelworks for ages, but the many stories of very vigilant security had put me off heading right up to the other end of the country to try my luck. I had pinned all my hopes of seeing the site during the early stages of demolition, when blanket of sensors and the chance of finding everything sealed would be reduced. I managed to visit the old Ore Handling Plant and part of Southbank Coke Works last year, but trips to other areas of the works had to be postponed due to the lock-downs.
With the easing of restrictions again, Teesside Steelworks became my top priority, especially as I was regularly seeing images on the Teesside Steelworks heritage FB group showing how demolition was progressing. I was really unsure what the interior of the BOS plant would be like, I was well aware that a lot had been torn out in the months following closure, but I was certain the BOS converters and much of the equipment in the tallest section would still remain - surely it would have been uneconomic to remove, when demolition was inevitable anyway. However, it's been over five years since a proper report has appeared on here, so perhaps there was nothing left to see, or it was just very well secured. Thankfully it was the latter. I know security has been really good at their job, but I'm pretty amazed no one seems to have ventured inside for so long, especially given there's still so much left. The demolition men are making quick work over the various sites, so I'd certainly suggest you make it to Teesside while the vast bulk of the works is still largely intact.
History
The works at Lackenby were established by Dorman Long in the early 1950s to produce steel, by means of the open hearth process, and then prepare it for export. The open hearth process took many hours, which although made the operation easy to control, the works quickly became obsolete in the competitive post-war steel industry. Dorman Long was absorbed into Bristish Steel Corporation (BSC) in 1967, who soon began the construction of a replacement plant, making use of the basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS) process. During the BOS process oxygen is blown into the liquid iron at supersonic speeds, igniting the carbon which leaves as a gas. At Lackenby, the molten pig iron from the blast furnaces at Clay Lane, later replaced by the giant furnace at Redcar, was brought to the site by rail, and tipped into a ladle, which in turn was tipped into one of the three converters. Scrap steel was added and then oxygen was blown into the converters, reaching temperatures of 1700 °C. After about 20 minutes the slag was tipped off and the steel went to the continuous casting plant, where the steel was solidified and rolled into ingots ready for further processing
The BOS plant itself was constructed in 1971, and was operated by BSC, until privatization in 1988. After operation by British Steel, Corus, and Tata, the site, together with the works at Redcar and Southbank, were bought by Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) in 2012. In October 2015, SSI plunged into liquidation and shut-down their sites at Teesside, with the loss of over 2,000 direct jobs. British Steel continues to operate the beam mill, and own the rest of the Lackenby site built by Dorman Long. Much of the easily removable equipment was either sold or scrapped following closure, and Demolition of the site began in early 2021.
The Explore
@slayaaaa and I arrived at the BOS Plant in the early hours, but it was already becoming light, so we didn't want to hang around long searching for a pleasant way into the site. After resorting to fashioning some razor wire coils into a make-shift ladder, we were over the fence and heading towards the beast. Once inside it took use a while to find a way up to the main working level, as all the staircases and ladders have been cut off, or locked up. It was still very dark inside, but we could just about make out the shapes of machinery, and certainly knew we weren't dealing with a gutted shell. We got some rest in the beam of a gantry crane and then set about making our way around the vast structure. The scale of the buildings alone is quite something itself, and combined with so much machinery still remaining, it is without a doubt one of my favorite sites I've ever explored. Many areas have little, or harsh lighting, and combined with the fine dust, can make photography a little difficult. That said, there were some fantastic light rays, constantly changing throughout the day. I've often been envious of photos of the steel industry by Viktor Macha, with their dramatic light rays, so I was very pleased to see the effect for myself.
Unsurprisingly, there are still plenty of sensors around, though I doubt they all work, we accidentally set a couple off, triggering a distant alarm, but didn't see a response. We spent most of the day inside, but had other areas of the works we were keen to check out, so I still have plenty left to see of building, I'll certainly be returning in the near future.
The exterior of the BOS plant, as seen from Southbank. It's quite hard to really convey the scale of the monstrous building.
The interior of the bay containing the BOS converters.
This yellow thing is was used to tip skips of scrap into the converters.
The three BOS converters.
A rather nice ladle, it would be nice to see it saved, though unfortunately it's not the kind of thing you can sneak under your t-shirt.
Crane driver's cab.
Heading up into the tallest section of the building.
The complexity of the machinery was made all the more impressive by the dramatic lighting.
The top level of the building, 70 meters above the ground. Handrails give an indication of the scale, but you can only really appreciate its size in person.
Southbank Coke Works, with the cooling towers of Billingham on the skyline. Demolition is now underway on the by-products plant to the north of the ovens.
From the roof of the building you get an immense panorama over the vast array of industry to be found around Teeside, dominating the landscape are the steelworks, the oil refineries at Seal Sands, and the chemical works founded by ICI at Wilton and Billingham. Nowhere else in Britain will you find such a broad range of industry, and the roof of the BOS plant offers one of the finest views of the landscape. Here we look over the mostly operational beam mills towards the vast Wilton site, though now only a fraction of what it was in its prime. The Terylene plant, visible to the left of the brick chimney, looks rather lost.
The imposing iron works at Redcar on the skyline. Left to right is the coke works, power station, blast furnace, and sinter plant.
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