Recession Road: Ferrybridge
This post is from our Recession Road series, part of our .
Paul Graham - the photographer whose 1980s A1 trip influenced this project - contacted us about the fate of Ferrybridge power station, near Pontefract in Yorkshire.
Now living in the US, Graham had been told the three coal-fired stations on the site had all gone. In fact, while Ferrybridge B was closed in the 1990s, C station is still operating (Ferrybridge A closed in the 1950s).
And back to the recession. While we're here, we've had an e-mail from reader Mark Harrison who lives just up the road in Castleford.
He says he and his family - his father, stepmother, brother and wife - had been living in Australia before moving back to the UK in September 2008.
"We have had no end of problems since returning and regret the fateful day we decided to 'come home'," he says.
"We landed just before the banks went 'boom' and the credit crunch. We have all struggled to get work after our return."
He says his parents are living on a small occupational pension and job seekers allowance, amounting to about Β£100 a week between them.
"I have been unable to secure anything other than low paid, temporary work and get turned down by most employers because they can employ kids on Β£5.75 an hour min working wage. My now ex-wife has only been able to secure a salary of Β£13,000.
"My brother gave up the ghost and has gone back to Australia to improve his life, which he thankfully has."
You can read an explanation of our Recession Road series here. Words: Paula Dear; Images: Phil Coomes.
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