ALTHOUGH I enjoyed reading your article regarding the 20th anniversary/birthday of the London Eye (Echo Jan 20), I was disappointed that the opportunity of blowing the trumpet for local industry was missed.
The London Eye, although prefabricated in the Netherlands, has its roots on Teesside.
The larger diameter pipes that went to make the eye were manufactured at the 20” Pipe Mill Hartlepool, from steel plate rolled into coils at the Lackenby Coil Plate Mill, the steel used being produced on the same site from iron coming from the Redcar Blast Furnace.
Although the iron and steel furnaces are now cold and the coil plate mill was sold to China, the 20” Pipe Mill still produces top quality products in Hartlepool.
I doubt that any of us employed in the manufacture of these few pipes would have realised what a lasting icon they would become, indeed my six-year-old daughter didn’t believe me when I told her that I’d had some involvement in the manufacture of the world famous iconic London Eye.
Bill Gibson, Hartlepool.
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