Orgreave is home to high-tech revolution
Three decades on from the miners’ strike and a horrific battle that scarred Britain . . .
Thirty-three years ago this month, on June 18, 1984, the day dawned hot and stifling in Orgreave. By the time the sun had gone down that evening, a pitched battle had taken place in the South yorkshire village that changed the course of British history.
hundreds of striking miners, from all over the country, faced a force of more than 4,000 police, including mounted officers, dogs and several special riot units. the violence that day shocked the nation.
What happened, and where blame lies, is still the subject of bitter dispute.
But no-one, certainly not miners’ leader Arthur Scargill, nor even the late former prime minister Margaret thatcher could have predicted what would happen to the Orgreave area itself.
three decades on, the scene of one of the worst episodes of our industrial history has been turned into a crucible of 21st century advanced manufacturing.
South yorkshire in its heyday was at the leading edge of industry, famous for its coalfields and for Sheffield steel.
By the grim 1980s, however, it seemed as though its glory days were gone.
Now, in an extraordinary reinvention, the site of the old Orgreave works is a magnet for innovative companies. Scores of PhDs wander round where the pitmen used to tread.
the Orgreave coking plant is long demolished. in its place is an advanced manufacturing park on around 100 acres near Sheffield and rotherham.
there are more than 40 companies on the site along with Sheffield University’s Advanced Manufacturing research Centre, a collaboration with Boeing.
the US aircraft maker announced this year it will open its first european factory in Sheffield to make actuators, which move the flaps on plane wings. AUtO-
MAkerMcLaren is another big name presence. it is moving the production of the carbon fibre chassis of its supercars to a £50m factory.
technology developed at the park is being used in Formula One cars and craft such as the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Nearby, 4,000 new homes are being built, with around 700 finished. they will house the employees.
One of the firms breathing new life into the area is Metalysis.
it opened a new £10m ‘materials discovery centre’ in the spring, where it is working on commercialising the production of titanium powder to be used in 3D printing for car and plane parts. ‘this site is europe’s biggest manufacturing centre of gravity,’ says chief executive Dr Dion Vaughan.
the company, which was initially a spin-out from Cambridge University, secured £20m of investment last year, including a chunk from legendary fund manager Neil Woodford, and plans to employ at least 100 people. ‘ this is not a deprived area, but what is missing is skilled jobs,’ says Vaughan.
One Metalysis worker says stories of the eighties live on: ‘Dozens of local cabbies must have regaled me with their memories of that time, sadly, but there’s a lot of optimism about the future of this site among those who recall those dreadful scenes.’
Companies like Metalysis are helping regenerate an area that used to lead the world in manufacturing, says Lord Prior of Brampton, a former senior executive at British Steel and now under- secretary of state at the department of business.
‘the Bessemer process came out of Sheffield, stainless steel came out of Sheffield, yet by the mid1980s we had demonstrably lost it,’ he says. ‘Now we have the chance for a renaissance.’
the research going on here will play a big part in how Britain fares in what’s known as the Fourth industrial revolution or 4ir.
the first was powered by coal and steam, the second by electricity, and the third was digital. the fourth will be about converging technologies, such as the internet of things, for instance fridges that can order milk for you.
the hope is that the Uk can outflank our rivals in 4ir by sheer intellect and better inventions.
At 34, Chris read, the Labour leader of nearby rotherham council, is too young to remember the miners’ strike – but he says his generation was deeply affected.
he says: ‘When i was a kid, there was always the thought in the back of your mind that if you wanted a good job you would have to go somewhere else. it doesn’t have to be like that.
‘People from outside are moving here now – there are fantastic jobs being created here.’
the number of highly skilled people in South yorkshire will increase if it can attract more firms like rolls-royce, whose £110m advanced fan blade casting facility employs 180 people. it can make more than 100,000 turbine blades for jet engines in a year.
Douglas Caster, chairman of Metalysis, believes the companies here show that British manufacturing can rise from the ashes.
‘this is a stark contrast to the unforgettable scenes which took place over the hill from here in 1984,’ he says. ‘i hope the growth and the future prosperity at this site will be a fitting tribute for those who remember it quite differently 33 years ago.’