Steamy and poignant farewell as British Steel Shelton closes

摘要

After 159 years, Stoke-on-Trent has witnessed the end of another era. In an area better known for its pottery and china, the production of finished steel products at Shelton works has ceased after more than a century and a half. The former British Steel plant, now owned by Corus, a company formed by the merger of BSC and Dutch steelmaker Hoogovens, has become a casualty of European overcapacity, which along with the strength of the pound, is making British products harder to sell abroad.