In 1841, well known Middlesbrough names Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan formed a partnership by opening an engineering works on the banks of the Tees specialising in the production of iron and steel. They made use of natural materials nearby, such as ironstone in Cleveland and County Durham to both extract and finish the goods within the same production line. 

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The firm grew strong, and by the 1850s the company had a dozen blast furnaces burning away at the works on Vulcan Street, which led to it being one of the biggest in the country. Success continued, and by the 1860s they bought out lots of industries in the north east and became the largest company ever formed at that time.

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They started to make everything on the site, even including railway tracks and locomotives, and in the 1900s were possibly the largest steel producer in the world in terms of how much they made, but also employed 20,000 people!

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Sadly little remains nowadays, and the huge site next to the Transporter Bridge lays derelict. Remember all of this next time you go to the football!