Port Talbot in Wales is defined by its huge steelworks. But in January Tata Steel announced it was ending primary steelmaking there. George McDonagh charts a year that could change the town for ever
In January, Tata Steel announced it was ending primary steelmaking in Port Talbot. The town is known for two huge blast furnaces and its massive steelworks that has provided employment for decades. George McDonagh travelled there to see how people were reacting. He met Gareth Edwards, who had spent 30 years working there and was worried about the thousands of jobs that could be lost.
Tata said it was losing £1m a day at the site and that a change to greener electric arc furnaces, which change scrap metal into new steel, was needed. But in Port Talbot there was fear that this would mean they were destined to follow the fate of other steel towns that have slumped into decline once the furnaces closed.
