End of an era

Vauxhall plant in it's former glory. The last van rolled off the line today. I started there as a technical apprentice in 1975, completed my apprenticeship 5 years later but switched from die design to IT because the engineering work was moving over to Opel Germany. The IT function was taken over by an American company, EDS in 1985 and we all transitioned over. I left EDS in 1989 but returned in 1994 to work once again on behalf of Vauxhall, this time, up until about 2010. I'm too distant these days to feel the impact of the closure personally but I've witnessed the decline over this 50 year period and the impact it has had on the town. I feel for those who have lost there jobs as I don't see anything to replace them, not on this scale.