Consett

Consett is a medium-sized town in the northwest of County Durham, England, and is the administrative capital of the district of Derwentside.

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The town is perched on the steep eastern bank of the River Derwent and owes its origins to industrial development arising from lead mining in the area, together with the development of the steel industry in the Derwent Valley, which was initiated by immigrant German cutlers and sword-makers from Solingen, who settled in the village of Shotley Bridge (original home of Wilkinson Sword and now part of Consett) during the seventeenth century.

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During the seventeeth and eighteenth centuries, the Derwent Valley was the cradle of the British steel industry, helped by the easy availability of coal from Tyneside, and the import of high quality iron ore from Sweden via the port of Newcastle upon Tyne. However, following the invention of the Bessemer process in the nineteenth century, steel could be made from British iron ore (which was otherwise too heavily contaminated by phosphorus), and the Derwent Valley's geographical advantage was lost, allowing Sheffield to become the leading centre of the British steel industry.

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The closure of the British Steel works at Consett in 1980 marked the end of the Derwent Valley steel heritage, and the decline of the town of Consett. Regeneration in the 1990s, through the "Genesis Project", went some way to repair the damage done, but unemployment is still a problem locally.

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Small and medium-sized businesses now provide most jobs in the area, with the Department for Work and Pensions' Contributions Agency in nearby Longbenton also a major employer. Phileas Fogg foods, with its factory on the town's Number One Industrial Estate, were mildly famous in the mid-90s for their "Made in Medomsley Road, Consett" television adverts.

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Derwent Reservoir is located just west of the town.

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County Durham: County Durham is a county in north-east England. Its county town is Durham. It is a county of contrasts: the remote and sparsely populated dales and moors of the Pennines characterise the interior; while nearer the coast the county is highly urbanised, and was once dominated by the coal mining indus...

Derwentside: Derwentside is a local government district in County Durham, England, named after the River Derwent. It sits to the west of Chester-le-Street and to the north and east of the Wear Valley district....

River Derwent: River Derwent is the name of several rivers in England:...