Motherwell was noted as the steel 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, 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. 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.
History
Strip mill
On 15 February 1951, as a result of the Iron and Steel Act 1949, the nationalised Scottish iron and steel companies came under the ownership of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain. 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 achieved via the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency, which was charged with creating an efficient industry.Stewarts & Lloyds was returned to its former owners in 1954; and Colvilles 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 in the late 1930s.
Ravenscraig is an area of land located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, due to become a small town. Ravenscraig was previously inhabited by steel industry workers, as it was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks. Once the largest hot strip steel mill in Western Europe, the steelworks closed in 1992, and is now almost totally demolished.
Ravenscraig is located in one of the most accessible places in Scotland, with over two-thirds of Scotland’s population within 90minutes drive time.
Located in North Lanarkshire, Ravenscraig lies between the towns of Wishaw and Motherwell, who together house a population of over 60,000.
Ravenscraig is only some ten minutes drive from both the M74 and the M8 motorways, which lead to Glasgow and Edinburgh– Scotland's two largest cities– respectively. This allows easy access for commuters and visitors to the area.
Ravenscrag (or Ravenscraig) is the name of several ships, some being sailing vessels (SV) and some steamships (SS). One of the sailing vessels is historically significant for bringing to the Hawaiian Islands in 1879 Portuguese immigrants who subsequently introduced the ukulele to island culture.
Capt. Biggam's Ravenscrag
The best known of several similarly named ships, the Ravenscrag (spelled without the "i") is a British sailing vessel commanded by Capt. Biggam that on 23 August 1879 brought 419 Portuguese immigrants from the Madeira Islands to the Hawaiian Islands to work as contract laborers in the sugarcaneplantations. The ship left the Madeiran port of Funchal on 23 April 1879 and took exactly four months to cross the Atlantic Ocean, round Cape Horn, and then sail across the Pacific to Honolulu, Hawaii. Among the passengers were Manuel Nunes, Augusto Dias, Jose do Espirito Santo, and Joao Fernandes, who are credited with introducing the ukulele to Hawaii. This was the second ship of Portuguese immigrants to reach the Islands, having been preceded on 30 September 1878 by the German barkSSPriscilla.
A Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) has been submitted to North Lanarkshire Council for the extraction and remediation works of 200 acres of land at Ravenscraig, moving the regeneration of the former steelworks into its next phase ....
I’m walking through Ravenscraig, once the site of the largest steelworks in Europe, which was closed and demolished more than 30 years ago ... Ravenscraig steelworks, once Motherwell’s main employer.
A place once of coke ovens and cooling towers is now enlivened with orchids and stonecrop, and swards of grasses I’m walking through Ravenscraig, once the site of the largest steelworks in ...
While the Lanarkshire-born writer’s depiction of a childhood lit up by the orange glow from the nearby Ravenscraig steelworks, where his father worked, doesn’t pull its punches, detailing the abuse he ...
But as he begins to delve into his past, which takes in everything from the Ravenscraig Steelworks to the safe space of the Carfin Grotto, it becomes clear that one woman’s actions had a profound ...
The closure of steel plants in Ravenscraig, Ebbw Vale and Redcar will be haunting the steelworkers in Port Talbot, serving as a reminder of what is at stake ... The steelworks is Port Talbot's largest private sector employer.
The closure of steel plants in Ravenscraig, Ebbw Vale and Redcar will be haunting the steelworkers in Port Talbot, serving as a reminder of what is at stake ... The steelworks is Port Talbot’s largest private sector employer ... What next for steelworkers.
The closure of steel plants in Ravenscraig, Ebbw Vale and Redcar will be haunting the steelworkers in Port Talbot, serving as a reminder of what is at stake ... The steelworks is Port Talbot’s largest private sector employer ... What next for steelworkers.
Proposals for a �200 million development that could bring as many as 2,000 jobs to the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks are set to go before local councillors ....
