| Consett | |
Christ Church, Consett |
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Consett
Consett shown within County Durham |
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| Population | 27,394 (2001)[1] |
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| OS grid reference | NZ108511 |
| Unitary authority | County Durham |
| Ceremonial county | County Durham |
| Region | North East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CONSETT |
| Postcode district | DH8 |
| Dialling code | 01207 |
| Police | Durham |
| Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | North West Durham |
| List of places: UK • England • County Durham | |
Consett is a town in the northwest of County Durham, England, about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is home to 27,394 (2001).[1]
Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. In 1841, it was a village community of only 145, but it was about to become a boom town: below the ground was coking coal and blackband iron ore, and nearby was limestone. These were the three ingredients needed for blast furnaces to produce iron and steel.
The town is perched on the steep eastern bank of the River Derwent and owes its origins to industrial development arising from lead mining in the area, together with the development of the steel industry in the Derwent Valley, which is said to have been initiated by immigrant German cutlers and sword-makers from Solingen, who settled in the village of Shotley Bridge during the seventeenth century.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Derwent Valley was the cradle of the British steel industry, helped by the easy availability of coal from Tyneside and the import of high quality iron ore from Sweden via the port of Newcastle upon Tyne. However, following the invention of the Bessemer process in the 19th century, steel could be made from British iron ore (which was otherwise too heavily contaminated by phosphorus) and the Derwent Valley's geographical advantage was lost, allowing Sheffield to become the leading centre of the British steel industry.
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Consett is part of the North West Durham Parliamentary Constituency represented by Labour MP, Pat Glass. Before her, Hilary Armstrong had held the seat since 1987, having taken over the position from her father Ernest Armstrong. Before 1983, the town had its own Member of Parliament. David Watkins held the Consett seat from 1966 until its demise.
Consett was part of Derwentside District Council, which merged into the Durham County Council unitary authority on 1 April 2009. The Consett area is currently split into four electoral divisions (Benfieldside; Consett North; Delves Lane and Consett South; and Leadgate and Medomsley), each of which elects two County Councillors.
Consett is part of the North East Region, which elects three MEPs (Member of the European Parliament) to the European Parliament. The region is currently represented by Labour MEP, Stephen Hughes, Conservative MEP, Martin Callanan and Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall.
Consett sits above the rural Derwent valley on the edge of the boundary of County Durham and Northumberland. The Derwent Reservoir is located just west of the town. It is a town with the usual range of amenities, shops, pubs, night clubs, residential areas and industrial estates. There are a number of villages in its immediate surroundings; some of them are contiguous (for example Shotley Bridge and Blackhill) and some are not (for example Moorside and Castleside).
Consett town centre is around 885 feet (270m) above sea level making it only slightly lower than the town of Alston in Cumbria which is said to be the highest market town in Britain.
The Consett Iron Company was established in 1864, a successor to the original Derwent Iron Company of 1840, when the first blast furnaces were introduced. Over the next 100 years, Consett became one of the world's most prominent steel-making towns, and the name Consett became synonymous with iron and steel, making the steel for Blackpool Tower and Britain's most famous nuclear submarines.[2]
Steel dominated Consett's economy for 140 years. The steelworks was visually spectacular, too, and the town was renowned for images of its tall cooling towers and other large plant looming over rows of terraced houses. The townspeople could hear the ghostly sound of the works through the night. During the iron and steel era a pall of 'red dust' hung over the town; airborne iron oxide from the steel-making plant. At its peak in the 1960s, the Consett steel works employed 6,000 workers, and it was nationalised to become part of the large British Steel Corporation. Although there was intense competition in the 1970s from both British competitors and from abroad, Consett steelworks remained relatively successful and was making a profit in the year that it closed. As the rolling mills were closed in the 1970s, despite local opposition, there were rumours and heated discussions over the future of the plant as a whole.[3]
In 1980 the Consett steelworks were closed, with the loss of 3,700 jobs plus many more from the 'knock-on' effect in ancillary industries. It was a devastating blow, and the unemployment rate in Consett became double the national average.[4] According to government publicity this closure was part of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government's strategy to revitalise UK industry, following the industrial action that had taken place in the UK in the 1970s. However, few in Consett believed this, and a deputation of steelworkers lobbied the government in London.[5] It could be argued that it was part of a larger political strategy launched by Thatcher in the UK and Reagan in the USA to defeat the unionised working class, privatise industry, asset-strip and eventually deindustrialise large sectors of Britain and the USA. This allowed industry to move to low-wage economies abroad to provide higher returns on investments. The decision ripped the heart out of the local community.[6] The steelworks had always avoided closure, even in difficult economic times. The social impact of the decision from Whitehall was quite devastating. This was often characterised by many of the local people at the time as "The Murder of a Town".[3]
The town became one of the worst unemployment blackspots in Britain, and the unemplyment figure reached 36 percent in 1981.[4] The demolition of the works carved a a massive hole in the heart of the town. The demolition was very thorough, and even the most imposing and architecturally important building in the town, the Company Offices, was not left untouched. To this day there is no permanent museum to the history of the steelworks apart from some pots that were used to transport molten pig iron from the blast furnaces to the steel plant, and its influence on Consett and its families over the generations has been quietly glossed over. Even the development plan implemented to re-build the town - Project Genesis - has a 'Year Zero' name which suggests there was nothing worthwhile before.
The closure of the British Steel works at Consett in 1980 marked the end of the Derwent Valley steel heritage, and the decline of the town of Consett. Along with the closure of coal mines, it was also a first step in the decline of all heavy industry in the Derwent Valley.[7] Regeneration in the 1990s, through Project Genesis, went some way to repair the damage done, and unemployment came down to the national average, although this is partly due to outward migration and economic inactivity due to long-term illness, which is not included in the government figures, is high. As the current Coalition government launches its programme of austerity cuts to pay off the nation's deficit, Consett's workers are again feeling the pinch as the cuts bite into the public sector. Durham County Council, which provides a lot of employment for local people, is planning to reduce its workforce by about 1600 over the next three years from 2011.[8]
The last steel ingot from the Consett ironworks was made into a cross and is kept at St Mary's RC Church, Blackhill.
Alongside the public sector, small and medium-sized businesses now provide jobs in the area. Phileas Fogg Company (County Durham), with its factory on the town's Number One Industrial Estate, were mildly famous for a few years from 1988 for their snack food "Made in Medomsley Road, Consett" television adverts. The Phileas Fogg Company is now owned by KP Snacks as part of United Biscuits.
Since 2000, several new housing developments have taken place on the former steelworks site and surrounding areas. Derwentside College, formerly sited at Park Road, moved to a new campus at Berry Edge in September 2002 and national retailers have moved into Hermiston Retail Park.
Consett was the first town in the world to have a Salvation Army Corps Band. The band was formed in December 1879 and went out on the streets playing at Christmas. The original band consisted of just four players, bandmaster Edward Lennox and bandsmen George Storey, James Simpson and Robert Greenwood.[9]
Consett is home to the Empire Theatre, one of County Durham's oldest theatres. Recently refurbished, the theatre stages variety acts, plays and a Christmas pantomime. The theatre also screens blockbuster films at times when there are no live performances.
Consett was once also the home of the unique Iron Theatre, a short-lived playhouse that stood in the town centre near Delves Lane from c.1880 until its demolition just before the First World War. The theatre was the brainchild of Sir David Dale, chairman of the board of directors of the Consett Iron Co. Ltd. and a keen amateur dramatist. Built entirely from the product of his iron and steel works (hence its name), the theatre enjoyed a brief reputation for producing spectacular operatic productions, largely funded at Dale's personal expense. The theatre struggled to survive after Dale's death in 1906 and was demolished for scrap shortly before the First World War.[10]
Several pubs have at least taken names that reflect the town's steel-making past - the Works, the Company, and the Company Row. From its bygone days of a steeltown, with a huge reliance on rail, next to where the main railway station used to be is a club named the Station Club, now opposite a health centre. With the steelworks gone, visitors and inhabitants are beginning to realise the beauty of the picturesque views over the Derwent Valley, and Consett is becoming a popular place to live for commuters from Durham and Tyne & Wear looking for a taste of the country.
There are plans for a new £20,000,000 sports complex, incorporating a swimming pool, regional tennis centre and new football stadium for Consett A.F.C. ("The Steelmen") as part of Durham County Council's plans for the regeneration of Consett. These plans involve the demolition of the former headquarters of Derwentside District Council at Consett Civic Centre and the relocation of Consett AFC to Crookhall. The site will be redeveloped and the new Consett Academy built there.[11]
On 5 July 2010, the Secretary of State for Education announced plans for the overhaul of England's school building programme. The announcement stated that it would be "irresponsible to carry on regardless with an inflexible, and needlessly complex programme." Many building programmes that had not commenced were cancelled but the plans for Consett Academy and an academy at nearby Stanley were "for discussion."[12]
Local opponents to the building of an academy on the Belle Vue site in Consett unsuccessfully launched an application to have the land registered as a village green. This would have prohibited the development of the land. A public inquiry was held at Consett Civic Centre during the week commencing 12 July 2010.[13] Finally, on 11 April 2011, Durham County Council's Highways Committee turned down the application to grant village green status for the Belle Vue area[14] paving the way for the promised development of Consett Academy and a sports centre to replace the separate wet and dry centres in Consett. The development will see the demolition of Belle Vue Sports Centre (formerly known as Consett Sports Centre), Belle Vue Swimming Centre (formerly known as Consett Baths), Belle Vue football ground (home of Consett A.F.C.) and Consett Civic Centre (former headquarters of Derwentside District Council). Durham County Council intend to maintain a presence in the town centre through its Customer Access Point in Front Street which occupies half of the former Woolworth store.[15] Consett Civic Centre was closed following a formal ceremony on 25th August 2011.[16]
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