A YEAR on from steel production ceasing in Redcar, there are murmurings of a town on the road to recovery.

According to a report from the SSI Task Force published earlier this month, more than 2,000 former steel workers are off benefits and hundreds of jobs have been created or safeguarded. Are things really looking so positive?

There was only one way to find out – visit the town and find out what is the reality of Redcar 12 months on.

I first meet Ali Whittle, who manages Redcar’s Lobster Inn. He says it has been a good summer, and trade is keeping well, but the town as a whole is struggling.

“No one comes in on a morning anywhere near as much as they use too. Pubs aren’t opening as early either.

I bring up the subject of the steel industry. It is clear it is now a scarred memory in a place where it was once so loved.

“It is a very sore subject” said Ali. “Nobody talks about it now.”

I experience this for myself. Ali had invited some former SSI workers to come to the Lobster Inn that night to talk about the last year.

But the interview doesn’t materialise. The emotions are too raw, the memories are too painful. Even a year later, workers still cannot put into words how it feels.

“They are too upset” said an apologetic Ali. “There is real anger there about what happened.

“You have a good standard of living, and it all gets taken away from you in an instant. You have done your best for all those years. And it goes. And none of it is your fault.”

One man who was willing to speak was Darren Lee. He owns Practical Car and Van Rental in Redcar, and explained the knock on effect the closure of SSI has had.

“Everyone thinks it’s the thousands of steel workers and that’s it. But so many more people have been affected all over the town.

Darren said his trade had fallen as much as 40 per cent in the last year.

“A lot of people want answers. There is anger all over the town. Much more could have been done to save it. There is still some bad blood.

“I would say to the government come here, come and visit me, explain in more detail why this was left to happen and why so many people in Teesside are not working.”

David Connor tells a similar story.

“I’ve had friends phoning me up in tears. They are having to give cars back because they haven’t got the money to pay for them. They’re worrying about their kids and putting food on the table.

David is now self-employed after taking on a cleaning franchise. He tells me he spent every penny he had to make the business work.

He previously told The Northern Echo the end of SSI was “heart-breaking” and he felt like his world had ended. Six months later, whilst still expressing sadness, he has another opinion.

“I was quite relieved – not the feeling a lot of people would expect.”

“It was becoming dangerous. The Thai’s hadn’t invested much money in it. It wouldn’t be long before there was a serious injury.”

“I miss the comradery. It was a very talented, very skilled workforce. They could have overcome everything.

“They were that good they could have made steel with no raw materials” he jokes.

Some will point to a recovering Redcar with the success of the SSI Task Force, which has invested almost £24 million in creating and safeguarding jobs, training programmes and supporting new start-ups.

Graham Largon, a former contractor at the site, disagrees with its effectiveness.

“The reality is there is nothing out there. It is okay doing all these training courses but if there’s no jobs at the end of it, what’s the point?

“They ask for experience and you can’t get that if you haven’t got a job. You end up hitting a brick wall.

“There are opportunities for the young ones, but the older ones get put on a scrap heap.

“Every day is a struggle and full of different emotions. I get embarrassed by it.”

Ali adds: “All you can see is a light on the landscape to remind us what was.”

It was particularly fitting that on this day, no light can be seen. The former SSI plant is covered by a blanket of fog.

A misty horizon does not only signal the arrival of winter months, it symbolises the mood one year on. They do not want to mention its existence. They would be quite happy for it to be covered by a permanent gloom.

“It is like it was never there” said Ali.

“They were good hardworking people who didn’t deserve this.”

And they certainly are trying everything. Cleaning, landscape gardening, roofing, electrical work, anything to make a living.

Ali runs a private Facebook group called Iron & Steel UK. It is made up of former steel workers, with the idea of sharing any possible employment news they find.

I am given access to the site, which has almost 2,000 members. There are posts about careers fairs, spaces on training courses, requests for some joinery work and people looking for business start-up help.

A lot stopped in Redcar a year ago when the blast furnace was extinguished.

One thing that didn’t, and never will, is the comradeship of the steel workers, and their desire to help each other, and lift the misty gloom from Redcar for good.