Eerie silence and ‘still surviving’: what happened next after steel town’s last blast furnace shut down

Port Talbot, Wales, is experiencing something it's never known before: quiet. The town's last blast furnace has shut down, and The Guardian reports the closure is being explored through a photography exhibition, part of a project documenting how communities experience major transitions. Margaret Heggett, ninety-five, was born in the shadow of the steelworks, with her father, brother, and husband all having worked there — and she says she's never known the town without industrial noise. She told the outlet that while she understands 'we have to move with the times,' the change 'has affected the town a lot and it's very sad.'

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