The last remaining blast furnace in Port Talbot will stop producing steel on Monday, ending the traditional method of steelmaking in south Wales. Tata Steel is expected to remove the last usable liquid iron from blast furnace 4 on Monday afternoon.

Traditional steelmaking has come to an end but Tata Steel bosses insist it is only a matter of time until a greener operation is underway. | ITV News Wales

The process of winding down operations at the final blast furnace has been underway for a number of days. Tata had warned residents they should expect 'whooshing' sounds and plumes of steam. Tata confirmed the last blast furnace at the site would be switched off, along with the remaining heavy-end operations on Monday, September 30.

Swansea University history expert Prof Louise Miskell, from Port Talbot, said: "Blast furnace steelmaking dates right back to the industrial revolution and the Victorian period, and the whole reason steelmaking and metal smelting takes place in Wales is because of coal.

Braving the opposition from workers and political parties for almost a year, the Indian company stuck to its plan to end steelmaking operation at the South Wales site on September 30, with the closure of the sinter plant,

The move away from making steel from scratch using iron ore and coal to recycling metal in a new £1.25bn electric arc furnace could lead to a "90% reduction in dust from the works' chimneys", Tata has claimed. But for Port Talbot, the prospect of cleaner air comes at a cost - with around 2000 jobs lost.

Photographer Mark Griffiths described his "close connection" to the town, growing up in Port Talbot and having family and friends working in the steelworks or part of the surrounding infrastructure. The 43-year-old said he felt compelled to make a short film called The Beginning Of The End,