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jack92
Can anyone give me some information on the iron+steel industry in south wales:chaning location case study?
i am doing gcse geography avery hill and desperately need some information for my case study on the changing location of the iron and steel industry. I've checked the internet but there's not much. HELP!
any gcse students know some info?

thanks

We do South Wales too - thought we were the only ones! :biggrin:

I'm doing AQA (A?) though, so some of this might not be relevant.

Muppety's revision notes
In the nineteenth century, iron industries developed in South Wales. Originally most of the industry was located near woods for charcoal, and on the banks of fast flowing rivers so the water could be used to drive machinery.

During the Industrial Revolution, coal was used instead of charcoal, and in 1856 locally quarried limestone was added to make steel. Villages grew up in valleys close to iron and coal seams, and this led to a massive migration to South Wales. The valleys led to the coast, so the products could be exported to the British Empire.

The industry began to decline in the mid-1900s when modernisation occurred. Many lost their jobs, and the raw materials ran out. It was cheaper to import raw materials from abroad, and transport costs were higher. There was increased foreign competition, alternatives to steel were developed and the British Empire collapsed so there was no longer a definite market. Integrated steelworks were built on the coast, and all the manufacturing processes occurred on one site.

Today only one steelworks is open at Port Talbot, and the last colliery (Tower Colliery) closed in January 2008. Some ex-miners now work in tourism in the old mining villages. To solve the problem of unemployment, the government made the end of the M4 corridor near Newport and Cardiff an enterprise zone. Sony and LG took advantage of the incentives and provided “screwdriver jobs” (simple assembly jobs) for the ex-miners. However, when the incentives stopped, Sony and LG left.


Hope this helps :wink:
Reply 2
Thank you sooooo much! This helped loads!
I'm doing OCR avery hill!
When's your exam?
jack92
Thank you sooooo much! This helped loads!
I'm doing OCR avery hill!
When's your exam?


Wednesday 4 June. Ugh, Geography revision over the holidays :frown:

Good luck, anyway
Reply 4
same mines on the 4th june and ive got the decision making paper on the 12th.

i gotta revise history, biology, geog, maths and r.e! that's a lot lol :frown: but can't wait till it's all over and have some looong holidays. oh the joy.

good luck with u 2

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