Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Coal


Coal mining  was once the lifeblood of the North-East's economy. Records of coal mining in the region date back to Roman times and by  1919, there were 223,000 coal miners working in the Northumberland and Durham coalfields. Today there are no mines operating and only a few  open cast works remain. Under the North Sea some coal seams are exposed and coal dust is occasionally swept up on local beaches reminding us of a proud industrial heritage ( click here for detailed historical information)

6 comments:

  1. Great shot. Thanks for the link.

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  2. It is too bad that the coal seams have been exhausted in your area. I wonder who wrote "coal" in the coal dust.

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  3. That's so interesting and I like this shot!

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  4. Thanks everyone; Jack, there are still huge coal reserves here which may become more economic and environment friendly to exploit in years to come.

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  5. Does no-body scrape this coal up like they do further south on Hartlepool's "golden" beaches?

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