Redcar was once steel country.
The town on England’s north-east coast had been home to the largest blast furnace in Europe and the Sydney Harbour Bridge is built from its Teeside steel - a fact locals are still proud of.
But a dramatic drop in steel prices saw the plant shut in 2015, putting an estimated 1,700 people out of work, while thousands more suffered the knock-on effects of a slowing economy.
Redcar is a town which has experienced blow after blow, but locals remain optimistic. Despite the dire predictions of economists, Brexit isn’t causing a great deal of concern among its residents.
Redcar in North Yorkshire, England, has a population of about 35,000. Source: SBS News
At the Redcar Heritage Centre, a small museum staffed by volunteers, Fred Brunskill and Philip Bovill trade stories and jokes.
In the June 2016 vote, 66.2 per cent of voters in Redcar and Cleveland voted to leave the European Union. Mr Brunskill was one of them.
Redcar locals Fred Brunskill and Philip Bovill. Source: SBS News
“I still say that we are doing the right thing,” he says.
“When you look at the facts, Europe needs us. They would be in danger without us. At the end of the day, they’ve got to cave into some of our demands. At the moment they’re not, but they will.”
Mr Bovill was a third-generation steelworker and his son is still employed in the industry.
He voted remain but rejects calls for another referendum on the Brexit deal. He says Redcar has survived far worse than this geopolitical divorce.
“I think that’s the essence of this place. No matter what you throw at us, we’ll get over it,” he tells SBS News.
“We see people coming down to the beach, the place is starting to buzz again. I think it’s going to find its destiny again. I’m a little more optimistic now in what we’re doing with Brexit.”
READ MORE
What are the UK's options on Brexit?
But the British government’s own experts don’t agree with the rosy outlook. Their analysis, leaked to the press earlier this year, found the North-East region will be the worst affected by every possible Brexit outcome.
Should the UK government reach a limited free trade deal with the EU, economists believe the region will see an 11 per cent drop in growth over the next 15 years, compared to current forecasts.
If Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal, that forecast becomes a 16 per cent drop.
But the predictions of economists are being met with scepticism in the region.
Redcar local Frankie Wales voted leave. Source: SBS News
Frankie Wales is a former boxer who runs community programs in Redcar. He backed the leave campaign for the same reason many in the town did.
“How can it get worse?” he asks. “What can you do? When you’ve got nothing, it doesn’t matter where you put it you’ve still got nothing at the end of the day. We literally have nothing,” he says.
One of Frankie’s projects is a drop-in centre for the area’s Syrian refugees. He says the generalisation that leave voters are racist upsets him and many others:
“These people need to come and have a look with their own eyes before they just start thinking ‘wow these guys are racist’ because that isn’t the case.”
Source: SBS News
Several new polls show support for leaving the EU has dropped in the North East recently, largely due to the protracted negotiations between London and Brussels.
Redcar’s Labor MP Anna Turley was a remain supporter who accepted the result of the referendum. But she now supports a campaign for a second public vote on the final terms of the Brexit deal.
“People here are very proud, resilient, determined, and they’ll get on and battle through, but the reality is, why are we making it harder on us?” she asks.
“Why would we cause increased unemployment? Why would we want the businesses of our neighbours and friends to go under? That’s just mad.”
But patriotism and optimism often trump realism.
At a Bingo luncheon in a community hall, a dozen or so elderly women are catching up.
Sheila Doyle voted to leave. She remembers the glory years when Redcar made things.
“If we come together as a community, we will make Redcar great again,” she says.
