News
HRH returns to a steelmakers in Sheffield to see how it has recovered after last year's flooding
24th November 2008
The Prince of Wales visited one of the country’s biggest steelworks in Sheffield for the second time in 18 months today, to see how the company had recovered from the devastating floods last year.
Last year The Prince visited Sheffield Forgemasters International to see the damage for himself just days after the plant was left under 5ft of water when the Lower Don Valley was affected by the worst flooding Sheffield has ever seen.
Today he praised the 800 staff's efforts to return the plant to normal production and saw for himself how the company appears to be bucking the current trend of economic misery.
The Prince, who is well-known for his charity The Prince’s Trust which helps young people gain skills, took particular interest in Forgemasters' 70 apprentices, chatting with many of them before posing for a group picture.
He told the staff: "I came back really because I know how important Forgemasters is not only to the local economy but also to the national economy, to the national effort.
"What you do here, what you produce here is of the highest possible quality and greatly in demand, as I've seen, by customers all over the world who expect and demand the highest quality and the get it from here in Sheffield because you have, I think, all these remarkable skills.
"And it's so encouraging to see just how many apprentices there are coming from different schools in the area who again are providing these quite remarkable skills for which this area has been famous for so many years.
"And the other great thing for me is to see how many families – fathers and sons - are working here.
"It's quite encouraging to know there is a hereditary Forgemasters business."
The Prince first toured the spectacular quarter-mile-long South Machine Shop before he was shown the furnaces which form some of the well-known images of Sheffield steelmaking.
The Prince donned a hard hat and protective glasses to watch as ingots weighing up to 200 tonnes went through the 40ft high, 1,220C furnace.
He also examined another red-hot 180-tonne ingot being hammered into shape by a 10,000-tonne press.
His Royal Highness heard how the firm is expanding and picked up a trowel to help lay a stone at the huge new machine shop which is under construction.
At the furnace, shift manager Ryan Edmonds said The Prince was extremely interested in the processes and the dramatic backdrop.
He said: "He was asking how he we have coped since the flood and what we've been doing.
"I think it's great he's shown such an interest and wanted to come back.
"It's nice to think somebody is thinking about steelmaking."
Another worker, Jamie Reeves, agreed that The Prince was interested by the industrial activity around him but said he was fascinated by the fact that he was the 1989 World's Strongest Man.
"He asked me if I used to eat 30 chickens a day," Mr Reeves said.
The works, in Brightside Lane, were cut off by torrents of water in June 2007.
The floods left much of the 64-acre site under water, extinguishing furnaces, water-logging machinery and trapping more than 50 members of staff inside the building.
Work was partially resumed just four days later and a full clean-up and repair programme was completed ahead of schedule.
The Chief Executive of Forgemasters, Graham Honeyman, thanked The Prince for his visit.
Dr Honeyman said: "The last time The Prince came here we had just seen the worst floods ever to hit Sheffield. We were under 5ft of water here and we were in immense difficulties."
Dr Honeyman said the previous visit "inspired us".
During its 200-year history, Sheffield Forgemasters has produced some of the largest bespoke engineered products in the world.
The company supplies its products to the defence, nuclear, oil and gas exploration, power generation, marine and construction industries.
Later in the day, The Prince of Wales visited Sowerby Bridge Wharf, near Halifax, West Yorkshire.
The Sowerby Bridge Wharf project was established by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust in 1996, when the wharf was in a state of decline and dereliction.
The Prince’s Regeneration Trust enables under used or redundant buildings to perform a new function, unlocking a regeneration of the wider community.
The Trust works across the United Kingdom sharing learning and experience through its projects.
Conserving and restoring a unique collection of historic canal buildings, the project initially targeted the regeneration of the Grade II Salt Warehouse and the Grade II No. 4 Warehouse that lie at the heart of the wharf.
The successful sustainable re-use of both warehouses has led to the creation of new industrial spaces and offices and encouraged further development of the wharf.
It has helped to benefit and support the existing businesses at the wharf whilst drawing new, growing businesses to the area.
The Prince spent two hours touring the buildings and talking to those involved in the restoration.
Leader of Calderdale Council Stephen Baines said: "This major transformation has been the result of close working with the local community.
"We are so pleased The Prince has been able to return to Calderdale to see how much has been achieved."
The Prince then visited Bradford to see another landmark building helped by The Prince's Regeneration Trust.
Eastbrook Hall in Bradford had been an iconic building in Little Germany, the 20 acre conservation area in the heart of the city, with a unique collection of 55 listed buildings that were constructed during the latter half of the 19th century when the wool textile industry in Bradford was thriving.
The Eastbrook Hall project to regenerate the building was undertaken after The Prince of Wales visited in 2001 and encouraged his Trust to become involved in the regeneration of the area.
The extensively detailed restoration work has seen this historic building returned to its former glory while ensuring its future as a commercial and residential building for generations to come.
The three-year project saw a piece-by-piece reconstruction and complete renovation of the striking Victorian façade and the careful dismantling and rebuilding of the dome.
The Hall now houses 73 apartments and 800 sq m of retail and commercial space.
The Prince was given a guided tour of the renovations and shown around one of the new apartments.
His Royal Highness rounded off his visit to Yorkshire at the Cottingley Cornerstone Centre.
He toured the new facility set up by local people to develop new community facilities and homes for Cottingley, an estate on the outskirts of Bradford.
The Prince met people involved and had his hands painted for some hand-printing with local schoolchildren before leaving.