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                                                                          Community , Settlement and Place

In the timeline of the greatest events in the history of chemistry, Aristotle is credited with a proposal on the use of distillation to desalinate sea water in 350 BCE (Khordagui H.K. - 1999)

He would not have been aware that a small community working on a hill top in East Cleveland over 3000 years earlier were routinely desalinating sea water by thermal evaporation.

This community, identified as being the earliest in Western Europe to engage in commercial salt production also represented the early stage growth of a settled community in our region.

Salt extraction and processing represents the connecting thread of Community , Settlement and Place within Loftus Parish from the early Neolithic period to the present day.

The process of converting Alum shales Into Octahedral salt crystals provided employment , new horizons and hope to many who almost lost it through loss of work and the experience of famine elsewhere. Its principle use as a carrier for wool dye was instrumental in providing significant added value to wool enabling it to become highly desirable in world markets.

The young Geologist , Lewis Hunton , who first identified a reliable indicator of the age of rock strata that contained similar fossil deposits no matter where they appeared has provided insight into geological strata formations throughout the world.

This continuum of strata connects Polyhalite , a multisalt fertiliser , discovered in seams deep underground in Salzburg , Austria by Friedrich Stromeyer in 1818 to seams deep underground Boulby. The extraction and processing of this salt into essential fertiliser for food production world wide will be a major contributor to our community , settlement and place for years to come.

Loftus is currently undergoing a major infrastructural investment through a grant from the Future High Streets Fund. This investment , the first on this scale for over a century , brings about a transformational step forward which will enable residents , visitors and business leaders to advance their visions and reach out to new horizons in a world now adapting to the criteria required to combat climate change.

L.A.W.G. are proud to be a strong supporting partner to the Town and Borough Councils in delivering the scheme and assisting in preparing the way forward for the benefit of all who live , work and visit in Loftus Parish area.

Reference

Khordagui H.K. (1999) Desalination. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_78

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