Rising from the ashes

THERE is an undoubted irony to travelling some 1,000-miles from Teesside to the Czech Republic to spend time at an ironworks that no longer produces iron. And whilst the rusting sight of defunct blast furnaces, coal mines and coke ovens may invoke an all too familiar sadness among many North-Easterners who know the pain of losing such works, the industrial park at Lower Vitkovice on the edge of Ostrava city should inspire hope. For although the last of the blast furnaces were shut off in the late 1990s the site has since reinvented itself as a hub of culture, music and artistry.

During my time in Ostrava city, the Vitkovice site hosted the Beats for Love Festival where DJs of every dance music genre descend for four days of partying amidst the hulking backdrop of the ironworks. And Beats for Love is just one of a series of music festivals and cultural events that are keeping a heart beating within the steel skeleton of the ironworks throughout the summer.

It really is quite something. By day, visitors can tour the ironworks and learn more about the industrial heritage of Ostrava. Walking the channels that were once burning with molten iron and feeling the weight of the wooden shoes and anti-flammable suits once worn by the ironworkers is a strangely moving experience. The knowledgeable staff are clearly proud of the site’s heritage and are full of engaging stories and quirky facts about the works – including an anecdote about a bomb falling into a furnace during the Second World War only to lie unexploded, buried in debris for decades, as unknowing workers went about their business.

You can take a glass elevator up to the 78-metre Bolt Tower –named after Olympian Usain Bolt who visits Ostrava annually and apparently has a soft spot for the city – and enjoy panoramic views of a region whose landscape will be strangely comforting to those fond of Teesside’s industrial townscape. There is also an on-site science and technology museum full of interactive exhibits to keep visitors young and old engaged for hours.

But to say the Vitkovice area changes when the sun goes down would be a gross understatement during festival season. This quiet industrial monument, a centre for learning and nostalgic reflection on the demise of heavy industry comes alive with the life-affirming crescendo of euphoric dance, rumbling bass and the infectious optimism of electronica and trance. Thousands of dance fans descend on the site, starting with a trickle in the early evening, building to a heaving mass of party-happy revellers by nightfall.

There are laser shows, dance-offs, fire displays and enough weird and wonderful art installations to make a hardened Glastonbury-goer take a second look. Although not a huge fan of dance music myself, it was impossible not to get swept up in the festival’s vibrancy, even if my new-found love for the genre was perhaps aided by the fine Czech beers on offer at the dozens of stalls throughout the festival site.

Outside of the Lower Vitkovice area, Ostrava is a charming city brimming with history and a tangible sense of civic pride. And while Prague may be many Briton’s go-to when it comes to the Czech Republic, I enjoyed visiting somewhere that may be regarded as a little more obscure.

The city square, Masaryk Square, takes its inspiration from Venetian Renaissance Architecture and is undeniably appealing to the eye. Fine views of the immediate city and wider region can be had from the New City Hall tower if the Bolt Tower hasn’t quenched your birds-eye curiosity. At 73-meters tall, the 360 degree viewing platform stretches the eye as far as Poland to the North of the country.

Travel some 40-minutes out of Ostrava and there is an abundance of rural wilderness to enjoy, with skiing, mountain biking and hiking among the activities on offer for those looking for outdoor adventures. The hills and mountains are interspersed with quaint settlements including the impossibly picturesque town of Stramberk in the foothills of the Beskydy Mountains. Dominated by the by the ruins of the Strallenberg castle, the town dates back to the 1300s and is a lesson in historical preservation. Alterations to the many timbered buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries are tightly controlled to ensure the area maintains its unique character and charm.

In all, Ostrava probably won’t appeal to the hen and stag do crowds that throng to Prague in their thousands looking for abundant beer and nightclubs. But to my mind, that makes it all the better. The city has an undeniable dignity and has refused to crumble in the wake of losing much of its heavy industry. I certainly know a region in England that could learn a lot from the way Ostrava’s inventiveness is helping it rise from the ashes of its industrial demise.