THE eerie silence which fell over an isolated corner of the region yesterday spoke volumes for the mood of the men and women who had just lost the jobs they loved.

For the first time in nearly four decades of round-the-clock working, the giant dusty grey sheds stood mute and still.

Weardale, in County Durham, hopes Eastgate's tranquility will be short lived and that new industries will spring up on the 40-acre site which gave a prosperous living to generations of families.

A task force working to replace the Blue Circle jobs has already earmarked the land for development and eventually new industries could flourish.

For now, 46 people are staying on to clean up the site and despatch remaining cement supplies.

The same number are moving to other Lafarge operations, including works at Derbyshire and Dunbar and new depots at Seaham, in east Durham and Carlisle. Eighteen have found other jobs in the area and 36 have accepted redundancy packages.

But parting hurts and many of the plant's loyal team have spent their working lives together, forging friendships which will never be broken.

Twins Derek and Stan Bell, 48, were in optimistic mood. The closure has brought forward their plan to move to Rome, where their mother, Assunta, was born.

Derek said: "Life is about challenges. It is what you make it.

"This has given us the chance to realise that there is a new life for us and we are very much looking forward to it."

Weardale-born production manager Stephen Ellwood, 39, is taking his partner, Pamela Richardson, and three boys to Dunbar, in Scotland.

He said: "I started here as a 16-year-old apprentice and I never thought I would leave but now I can't wait to start my new job.

"There is not one person in the plant who wanted the Weardale Works to close and we have all had sleepless nights, not just about ourselves but about the other lads as well."

For the plant's unofficial cartoonist, Les Carden, new challenges mean retraining to drive a library bus.

He said: "One door has shut but another has opened and I am forever the optimist. I came here for two years and have stayed for nearly 30. We have lived with the threat of closure for most of that time and we hoped it would never come.

"It hurts to leave because you don't get these kind of jobs. They have been the best employers and working here has been like being part of a family."