At 12.28pm a quarter of a century ago today, production scheduler Tommy Moore tapped the last of the steel to be produced at the works in Consett.

It marked the end of an era for the industrial north Durham town and the start of a new beginning.

Consett was a company town that sprang up after the Derwent Iron Company was formed in 1841 following the discovery of iron ore deposits and the availability of coal for furnaces.

The entire community relied on the steelworks to power the local economy as well as provide people with the lively social life associated with a northern industrial community.

Steel-making became a nationalised industry during the late 1960s, but became an early victim of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's economic policy.

When the British Steel Corporation (BSC) deemed the plant was no longer commercially viable, there was no lifeline for almost 4,500 people whose existence revolved around the plant.

Despite demonstrations and protests, the BSC Consett Works closed for good 25 years ago, ripping the heart out of the community.

Mr Moore, now 65, of Roger Street, Blackhill, Consett, said: "It was a very sad day because we didn't know what the future would bring. When you throw thousands of people out of work, you can imagine how they feel.

"Some of them were 45 years old and could not get a job. They were facing 20 years on the dole and they could not claim any benefit because they had their redundancy payments. They just had to live on that."

Mr Moore was 41 when he was made redundant from the job he loved and, after four years, eventually found employment as a countryside warden for Durham County Council.

He only worked for a further four years when he had to give up through ill health.

This weekend, he has been reminiscing about the working world he entered as an assistant burner, aged 18.

He said: "They were great times because there was a community within a community. The houses we lived in had been built by Consett Iron Company (formerly Derwent Iron Company) for its workers.

"We knew what shift patterns people were on and what each other was doing.

"There was a great camaraderie among the employees.

"It was a busy town and there was always a lot going on. Your social life was geared to what shift you were on and if you were working a 2pm to 10pm shift with a group of lads, you would go for a few jars with them afterwards."

The industry began to take off in the 19th Century, shortly after Queen Victoria came to power, and the boom attracted industrialists who produced steel that was sent around the world.

With it came pollution and Derwentside was known for the red dust, or airborne iron oxide, that emanated from the steelworks and coated the houses in Consett.

Nevertheless, the population was entirely dependent on the industry and when it closed, 4,500 skilled men found themselves on the dole.

The unemployed included production operators, welders, fitters, bricklayers, plasterers, management, clerical and administrative staff as well as doctors and nurses from the site.

In the years after its closure, the knock-on effects of mass redundancies drained the local economy of disposable income and a further 5,000 found themselves out of work.

Times were hard for a number of families during the cruel Eighties and the district saw unemployment rocket as high as 35 per cent at times. Depression set in and ripped families apart. Suicide among disillusioned men was not uncommon.

Its population fell from 110,000 to less than 90,000 as people turned their back on Consett to search for work elsewhere.

Two-and-a-half decades later, the area is getting back on its feet again and the future is looking brighter, with unemployment now under two per cent.

Part of the success is due to the Derwentside Industrial Development Programme, one of the bodies to grow out of the Derwentside Task Force.

It provides business advice to companies in the district and has helped more than 130 business, creating an estimated 6,735 jobs.

Success stories include Aerospace and Systems Technologies in Consett, which produces parts for Airbus, the world's largest commercial passenger aircraft.

It also helped Derwent Valley Foods, which produces Phileas Fogg snacks and helped put Medomsley Road, Consett, on the map, employing 178 people.

Derwentside has also learned its environmental lesson and does not intend to pollute its green and pleasant countryside again.

To this end, Derwentside District Council is trying to attract environmentally-friendly companies to the area, favours pro-renewable energy and part of the engineering expertise is now being used to make wind turbines and solar panels.

In some ways therefore, Derwentside is becoming an industrial powerhouse once again.