Goodyear closure: Sombre send-off signals end of a Wolverhampton love affair

It was a low key send off but sombre all the same.

In the shadows of two towering silos on Bushbury Lane, a lone mourner said a final goodbye to a former industrial powerhouse.

For nearly 100 years Goodyear has been every bit as synonymous with Wolverhampton as the names Sunbeam, Mander, and Molineux.

At its peak 7,000 workers packed the sprawling site sandwiched between the railway line and Stafford Road.

The mechanical clatter of conveyor belts, the billowing plumes of smoke, and the hustle and bustle of production brought the city's northern fringe to life.

And for generations of Wulfrunians Goodyear was a way of life.

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Fathers and sons worked side by side as the world's greatest tyre and rubber manufacturer ramped up production.

Its glory years were in the 1980s, making tyres for cars, trucks, tractors and Formula 1 racing teams.

Covering 88 acres, the factory site stretched more than half a mile from one end to the other.

Everybody knew the name Goodyear.

It was a name the workers and the city were proud of.

It was a name associated with racing stars.

And it was a name that graced the shirts worn by Robbie Dennison, Andy Thompson and Steve Bull. (Though less said about the tread marks the better!)

But like so many industries, the years have not been kind to the business.

For many the start of the demise was signalled when the iconic blue chimney came crashing down in 2008.

Tyre production stopped some years back with the factory focusing on making compounds for factories overseas as well as retread tyres.

Its American owners said the set up was no longer financially viable, and in future the mixing process will take place at foreign tyre plants.

The high cost of the pound on international money markets was also cited when managing Erich Fric announced the plant would close 18 months ago.

It is now something of a bitter irony that ever since the value of Sterling has fallen consistently – making the UK manufacturing sector one of the most competitive in the world.

On the eve of production coming to an end for the last time there was an eerie but reflective silence at the historic site.

One of just a handful of the remaining workers occasionally passed the building's red-brick facade pushing a wheelbarrow.

And the sole security guard escorted out the final lorries.

Even the sign – 'Goodyear Dunlop, United Kingdom and Ireland' – proudly displayed above the entrance looked jaded.

It felt barren. Stripped of purpose. Stripped of life.

You could tell it was the end of something special.

A coffin was poignantly placed in front of the gates signally the death of another major British industry.

"Like so many others, we lose another Midlands giant," said industry campaigner Ray Egan.

"It is deeply, deeply sad.

"To see it as it is today leaves a lump in my throat."

And what now for the workers and their families?

How cruel that for many of them this Christmas marks not a time of joy but one of sorrow.

Motorists tooted their horns in solidarity as they sped past the site.

"People care about this, they really do," said Mr Egan.

"Many a tear ought to be shed. And they will be shed."

It used to be said that when Goodyear sneezed Wolverhampton caught a cold.

It doesn't bear thinking about what the appropriate analogy would be today.

Will we see the likes of these giants again?

Who really knows?

All we can be sure about is that one of the city's most successful and enduring love affairs is now, regretfully, over.