Ravenscraig steelworks
Encyclopedia
David Colville & Sons
David Colville & Sons was a Scottish iron and steel company. It was founded in 1871, and in 1967 it was nationalised as part of British Steel. The company's first plant was the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works in Motherwell, which was opened in 1872, and by World War I this plant was the largest...
and latterly by British Steel
British Steel
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
, consisted of an integrated iron and steel works and a hot strip
Strip steel
Strip Steel or cold rolled strip is a steel product that is produced from a hot rolled strip that has been pickled. The coil is then reduced by a single stand cold roll steel mill straight away or reversing mill or in a tandem mill consisting of several single stands in a series...
steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
. They were located in Motherwell
Motherwell
Motherwell is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south east of Glasgow. The name "Moderwelt" appears on a map of Lanarkshire made by Timothy Pont some time between 1583 and 1611 and printed in the Netherlands in around 1652, although the settlement was probably little more...
, North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...
, Scotland.
Motherwell was noted as the steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
production capital of Scotland, nicknamed Steelopolis. Its skyline was dominated by the gas holder and three cooling towers of the Ravenscraig steel plant which closed in 1992. The Ravenscraig plant had one of the longest continuous casting
Continuous casting
Continuous casting, also called strand casting, is the process whereby molten metal is solidified into a "semifinished" billet, bloom, or slab for subsequent rolling in the finishing mills. Prior to the introduction of continuous casting in the 1950s, steel was poured into stationary molds to form...
, hot rolling, steel production facilities in the world before it was decommissioned. Construction of the integrated iron and steel works started in 1954. The steel mill, which was built shortly after, was one of four in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In 1992, when it closed down, it was the largest hot strip steel mill in Western Europe.
The former steelworks and strip mill have now been cleared, and the site is in the process of becoming the new town of Ravenscraig
Ravenscraig
Ravenscraig is an area of land located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Ravenscraig was previously inhabited by steel industry workers, as it was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks...
.
Strip mill
On 15 February 1951, as a result of the Iron and Steel Act 1949, the nationalisedNationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
Scottish iron and steel companies came under the ownership of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain
Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain
The Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain was a nationalised industry, set up in 1949 by Clement Attlee's Labour government.The Iron & Steel Act 1949 took effect on 15 February 1951, the Corporation becoming the sole shareholder of 80 of the principal iron and steel companies...
. However, a change of Government and the passing of the Iron and Steel Act 1953, gradually returned the former nationalised Iron and Steel companies to their original owners. This was to be achevied via the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency, which was charged with creating an efficient industry. Stewarts & Lloyds
Stewarts & Lloyds
Stewarts & Lloyds was a steel tube manufacturer with its headquarters based at Corby, Northamptonshire, England. The company was created in 1903 by the amalgamation of two of the largest iron and steel makers in Britain, A. & J. Stewart & Menzies Ltd, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland and...
was returned to its former owners in 1954; and Colvilles
David Colville & Sons
David Colville & Sons was a Scottish iron and steel company. It was founded in 1871, and in 1967 it was nationalised as part of British Steel. The company's first plant was the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works in Motherwell, which was opened in 1872, and by World War I this plant was the largest...
in 1955. Shortages of strip steel led to the need to increase the capacity for producing strip steel and tin plate, the first strip mill in Great Britain having been opened at Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...
in the late 1930s.
A major expansion of Colvilles, the largest steel manufacturer in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, was approved in July 1954 by the Iron and Steel Board.
The iron and steel works
It was first considered that a fourth blast furnaceBlast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
at Clyde Iron Works was to be built, but a shortage of coking
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
in Scotland meant that concentrating iron production at Clyde Iron would stop the other Colvilles works in Motherwell from being converted to hot metal working. The new location was found and surveyed in 1953. The name for this new site was suggested, and 'Ravenscraig' was formally used from September 1954.
In 1954 construction work started in Ravenscraig, turning a green field into a site for steelworks. By 1957 several coke ovens, a by-products plant, a blast furnace and an open hearth melting shop with three steelmaking furnaces were built, and by 1959 a stripmill was complete.
Transport links
In 1954, as part of the development of Ravenscraig steelworks, Colvilles and British Railways began installing new wharfage and facilities at General Terminus Quay, on the River ClydeRiver Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
, near the centre of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. These facilities were designed to allow the simultaneously unloading of two large ships carrying bulk iron ore. The ships were designed to carry 12,000 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s (12,200 metric tonnes) of iron ore. Iron ore was to be transported, in railway waggons, via the General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway
General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway
The General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway was authorised on 3 July 1846 and it opened, in part, in December 1848.Its main function was intended to be the transportation of coal from collieries and Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, over other railways, to a coal depot on the south bank of the River...
, from the General Terminus Quay to Motherwell and Ravenscraig.
In 1954, Scotland imported 1,436,000 tons (1,460,000 tonnes) of iron ore, mainly from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, North Africa, and Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. In March 1949, forward plans by Colvilles, to justify the construction of Ravenscraig, indicated that the General Terminus Quay ore handling facility would be handling two million tons of basic iron ore per year: 1,020,000 tons per year for the Clyde Iron Works and 980,000 tons for Ravenscraig steelworks.
In the late 1970s, the General Terminus Quay was replaced by the purpose-built deep water Hunterston Ore Terminal
Hunterston Terminal
Hunterston Terminal, in North Ayrshire, Scotland, is a coal-handling port located at Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde, and operated by Clydeport. It lies adjacent to Hunterston estate, site of Hunterston Castle....
, near West Kilbride
West Kilbride
West Kilbride is a village in North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the water to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran...
, which became operational in 1978. It was designed to accept bulk ore carriers of up to 350,000 tonnes capacity. In the early 1980s the ore handling equipment was demolished at General Terminus Quay.