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.

The Port Talbot landscape has long been synonymous with the blast furnaces. The industrial structures, stained with red, the steam coming from them visible to all who live near, and those passing on the M4.

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.

Today marks the end at one of the biggest steelworks in the world as the last blast furnace at Port Talbot in Wales shuts down, leaving it unable to make its own steel.

Tata Steel has stopped steel production at Port Talbot in the UK, closing the blast furnace and related plants. The company plans to invest £1.25 billion in an electric arc furnace, with government support.

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,