Cable Forum - View Single Post - Here we go again

Russ · 18-01-2016, 04:58

My original hometown, I lived in Port Talbot for close to 35 years, my father worked in the steelworks for 40 years, I'd hazard a guess at more than 99% of the population there know someone who works or worked at the plant and this will have a devastating effect on the community.

He used to tell me stories about during the 70s it employed more than 20,000 people (now around 4000) and it was well known that some people would clock in at the start of a shift then nip off down the pub for a few hours. Others would have a kip in the mess room for a couple of hours on a night shift with people taking turns watching out for the foreman. For years it was badly run like that.

There's not much to brag about in PT, the eastern end at Margam (where the steelworks is mainly situated) always smells of something, usually sulphur but the plant always feels like the heart of the town and in a way that's unlikely to be understood by outsiders the residents have a kind of pride about it.

I understand there's something like 100m tonnes of coal under the steelworks and if TATA was allowed to mine it they would save a fortune on running costs which would go a long way to safeguarding jobs but for some reason permission has constantly been denied. Given what Thatcher did to the town in the 80s regarding the miner's strikes plus Cameron shaking hands with the Chinese for their steel let NOBODY be surprised at how much the Tories are generally hated in and around Port Talbot.

18-01-2016, 04:58	#16
Russ cf.mega poster Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Half in the corporeal, half in the etheral Posts: 37,181	Re: Here we go again - Port Talbot to axe 1,000 steel jobs My original hometown, I lived in Port Talbot for close to 35 years, my father worked in the steelworks for 40 years, I'd hazard a guess at more than 99% of the population there know someone who works or worked at the plant and this will have a devastating effect on the community. He used to tell me stories about during the 70s it employed more than 20,000 people (now around 4000) and it was well known that some people would clock in at the start of a shift then nip off down the pub for a few hours. Others would have a kip in the mess room for a couple of hours on a night shift with people taking turns watching out for the foreman. For years it was badly run like that. There's not much to brag about in PT, the eastern end at Margam (where the steelworks is mainly situated) always smells of something, usually sulphur but the plant always feels like the heart of the town and in a way that's unlikely to be understood by outsiders the residents have a kind of pride about it. I understand there's something like 100m tonnes of coal under the steelworks and if TATA was allowed to mine it they would save a fortune on running costs which would go a long way to safeguarding jobs but for some reason permission has constantly been denied. Given what Thatcher did to the town in the 80s regarding the miner's strikes plus Cameron shaking hands with the Chinese for their steel let NOBODY be surprised at how much the Tories are generally hated in and around Port Talbot.