Port Talbot Steel Works

Port Talbot Steel Works in South Wales has been major news all week and will be for some time. It is capable of producing nearly 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum, making it one of the largest in Europe.
The works covers a large area of land which dominates the south of the town with the blast furnaces and steel production plant buildings being major landmarks visible from the M4 motorway.

Steelworks have been at the site since 1837. At the height of the steel production in the 1960's, 18,000 were employed. The company was owned by British Steel and then the privatised to form Corus Group.Tata  purchased all Corus' ordinary shares in April 2007.

Tata Steel announced on 30 March 2016 it is to pull out of its UK operations, including Port Talbot. It provided as reasons "imports of Chinese steel, high energy costs and weak demand. TATA employs 15,000 workers in the UK hence why it is such big news and the Government have stepped in to try and secure a buyer.

It's part of the industrial landscape of Wales as was coal mining. I don't know what's going to happen but thought I'd get my own pictures and highlight it's history.

The extra is taken of Margam Abbey which isn't far away from the steel works and gave the orignal steelworks it's name 'Abbey Works'. Part of the Abbey buildings of the Cistercian monks that used to be on the site - a small amount of the original building still stands (protected) within the site that survived the dissolution of the monasteries.