Change Over Time in the Location of

IndustryMr D Boland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/0/20979973

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l7JqonyoKA

We learned previously that there are factors that influence the location of industry.

The importance of these factors may change over time.

Some areas may suffer industrial decline due to this.

The British Iron & Steel industry is a good example of this.

Blast furnace

How steel is made

Iron ore (rock with high iron content) is the main raw material used.

Energy (coal, oil, gas) is used to smelt (melt) iron ore in steel furnaces.

Steel plate & bars are main output.

These are sold to engineering firms who make cutlery, parts for cars etc.

Iron making

After 1860, steel production began to replace iron production. Steel was less brittle than iron.

Change of Steel Industry

Rivers and Forests

Coal Fields

Coasts

Why were iron and

steel factories located

beside rivers and

forests????

1. Before the industrial Revolution- By forests & rivers

Britain’s early ironworks were located at the Forest of Dean (near Bristol) and the Weald (south-east England).

These places had resources needed:

- rocks were rich in iron oreiron ore.

- forests had wood to provide charcoalwood to provide charcoal.

- rivers provided transport & power.transport & power.

Why move to coal

fields??????

2. The Industrial Revolution-by the coalfields

1880: most of the forests had been cut down & a forests had been cut down & a better source of power discovered, coal.better source of power discovered, coal.

New works were built in South Wales, Yorkshire & near sites of great coalmines.

Newly invented railways Newly invented railways were used to carry iron ore & coal.

Coal formation

Why did the coal industry prosper in the Valleys?

What was the impact of this industrial decline on the Valleys?

050100150200250300350400450500

1925 1981 2000

number ofcolleries

number ofminers('000s)

Why the change???

3. From 1950 Onwards - on the coasts

1950’s-Coalfields began to decline, Britain’s iron & steel industry moved to coastal sites such as Teeside because:

1. Coal/iron ore supplies were becoming exhausted.

2. Oil was more efficient & was being imported along with iron ore

3. Old steelworks were uneconomic & new ones were needed to compete with Japan & Germany.

Blast furnace

Industrial Inertia

This is where an industry doesn’t move location even if changing factors suggest it should.

Steel-making in Sheffield is a good example of Industrial Inertia.

Why Sheffield steel stays

1. Sheffield steel is specialised & high quality so doesn’t compete with cheap, ordinary steel.

2. Sheffield steel is a famous name.

3. Sheffields workers are skilled in steel-making. Training more workers would be expensive.

4. The goverment give subsidies in order to fight rising unemployment in the Midlands

Exam Questions

EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL INERTIA AND FOOTLOOSE INDUSTRY (10 Marks)