Do you remember how mucky Sheffield was before the clean air act?

[frankbaldock 10]

I remember as a Star reporter writing about the "mystery" of lace curtains suddenly falling apart and ladies' nylons suddenly disintegrating in tatters.

 

The cause, it turned out, was the constant sulphuric and nitric acids in the air -- attacking everything -- curtains, clothes, lungs and buildings everywhere. The airborne acids from the works were just one part of the dust, soot and other nasty particles that blackened our city. Never mind the emissions from coal fires!

 

Thank god for today's clean air, open views and a city that now fits its beautiful frame like a pretty picture. The view from Wincobank Hill was always nostalgic but it was clean after Thatcher killed the steelworks. It looked like an elephants' graveyard with the roofs off the abandoned works all the way to Rotherham (to avoid taxes because the works were then no longer considered buildings).

 

Frank Baldock