Mesmerising 
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Great pic!
My grandfather worked there. That area was known locally as Wagga.
The glow when they tipped the slag on to the heap would light up the night sky and was known as the Wagga Moon
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Just one further thing about that pic.
âWaggaâ was only the local name for the area which was officially called Longhill. It was an area originally built by Thomas Richardson to the west of the (his) steelworks comprising Florence Street, Hill Street and Portland Street. These streets were remote from the rest of the town and without drainage or paving. It was a desperate place.
Some years later the council built an adjacent estate (still referred to as Wagga, even now) and in their wisdom decided to name itâŚ
Belle Vue Estate.
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Moved to Northumberland in late 1992, was living in Allandale where the landlord of one of the several pubs in the tiny village invited me to Middlesborough v Oldham Nov 92. I was fresh out of London and new to the UK, the trip up was foggy so Iâd seen nothing of the country and hadnât yet explored the surrounds.
It was an evening kick off so we drove down via Newcastle and the A19 in the dark. Could not believe the sight of the chemical/steel works that we seemed to drive past for an age down into Middlesbrough. Coming from NZ it was a completely alien world. Drove past many times in the next few years and it never had quite the same impact but Iâll never forget that night on the way down to the football.
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Thereâs a reason 'boro inhabitants are called smoggies
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Then just 5 miles in the other direction and itâs Yarm and Guisborough, quintessential English country villages with rip roaring Saturday nights. Always found that strange
My first thought on seeing the photo was âlooks like the sort of place youâd see a dead dog laying next to the pavementsâ
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Kinda similar - my first visit to that part of the world was in 1981, and coming up from the south coast it was astounding to see the scale of the industry, to see the night sky lit-up for miles around by the various plants, never mind the brick-red/mustard-yellow smoke banging up into the sky from different places, and then the different godawful smells that genuinely took your breath away: you didnât need a degree in biochemistry to know that shit was awful, lethal stuff that no living thing should ever be exposed toâŚ
I didnât revisit until 1999 - and I honestly nearly missed the junction on the motorway because I just didnât recognise the area at-all: by then most of the heavy industry was completely eradicated: not just shut down, but obliterated and grassed-over. 18 years of Thatcherite dogma had improved the environment, but also almost completely destroyed many large townsâ entire reason-to-existâŚ
Extreme mixed-blessings.
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Mile upon mile of it, plenty belching out with which to kill the dog!
Good to hear some sort of clean up is taking place rather than just left to rust.
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BMW 320i Turbo decorated by Roy Lichtenstein in 1977. Photographed at the BMW Art Car Show in Shoreditch back in 2012.
I wonder what this is worth.
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wonder what this is worth.
Every fucking penny Iâve got, is the answer
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Beautiful 
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Is that one of yours Dave?
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No itâs not very similar though.
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Paint on the door panel and wing doesnât line up.
Very shoddy
