Construction at Ebbw Vale - 1937

Richard Thomas & Co. Ltd (later Richard Thomas and Baldwins) brings government-backed hope to depressed Ebbw Vale with new steelworks.

Shows the extensive site of the new steelworks at Ebbw Vale, with on-going construction. The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company had almost ceased operation by 1929 and unemployment in the area was disastrously high. In 1935, with encouragement from the government, Richard Thomas, a tin plate manufacturer trading as Richard Thomas & Co. Ltd, bought the site and redeveloped it, creating an integrated steelworks with a continuous hot rolling facility.