End of deep coal mining in Britain

Not sure where this belongs, but so closely related to steam and heritage railways that it's hard not to feel regret at this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33959137

David R

 

You got Arthur Scargill to thank thank for this, but is he sorry sitting in his £million pound house in Chesire or his luxury penthouse on the Costa Del Sol all paid for by the miners, is he b......s. Cheers Arthur.

 

It is undoubtedly the end of an era, but is that a bad thing? In the 21st century should we be asking people to do this kind of filthy and dangerous work when there alternatives available? The human cost of coal mining was immense, I for one am glad that it has come to an end.

 

Interesting post and a good counter to the argument that we should save/reopen deep pits.

 

I wonder what the people who live in the mining towns/villages would say to that?

 

That argument's a bit of a downward spiral… 'let's ask the family of the people killed in a pit collapse' or 'let's talk to the former miner with emphysema'…

I'd have thought we could agree that it would be better if there were sustainable employment options that didn't include effectively forcing, through lack of viable alternative employment, people down mines any more…?

Simon

 

I wonder what the balance is now in relation to our Heritage steam railways? Some were, maybe still are, using imported coal, while others are using opencast coal from within the UK. Some used to come from opencast mines in Scotland, but I think that supply ceased when the operating company went out of business.
Some line use the Welsh coal from the Ffos-y-Fran opencast site, the SVR being one such railway. The Ffos-y-Fran site is supposed to have many years reserves, and such is the demand for their Welsh coal from the steel industry they are building additional processing facilities, and considering opening a further opencast site at Nant LLesg in the Rhymney valley.

Where is your local heritage line sourcing its steam loco coal?

46118

 

From the very place you mention. Technically, it's anthracite and it gives huge amounts of heat for little smoke. It does crumble to dust if you so much as look at it which is a problem.

 

Agreed, there is indeed a perfect alternative - we can make some unfortunate foreigner do this filthy and dangerous work and import that cheap coal instead, let them bear the immense human cost eh... sounds a much better than controlling the working/conditions/safety etc of British pits.

 

It's a point of view and admittedly we still have children throughout the world working in sweat shops, sifting through rubbish dumps for stuff to sell etc., so perhaps we should permit the same in the UK to even things up? For my own part, I'd rather we try to set a standard for others to follow upwards rather than downwards.

 

True but he never helped.

 

Oh yes it was. He refused to have meaningful talks with either Labour or Tory governments when they were both attempting to bring the mining industry into the twentieth century.

 

To be honest, we just can't afford to use coal on a large scale anyway because of the emissions. Imported or indigenous. The small amounts used for heritage purposes will no doubt become expensive as large volume use (hopefully) decreases.

 

I have seen it suggested of a number of people, he is not the only one that intentionally or not they acted in the interests of the opposition.

Wages for Housework is another campaign with a similar reputation

 

Technically, it isn't anthracite.

 

With the advances in heavy machinery more and more coal is coming from opencast mines rather than shaft mines. Much much safer and cheaper to produce.

 

Well we are importing the coal we need now, far cheaper than we can mine it.
India and China are opening a lot more coal mines, and their new power stations are coal fired, as well as many other Countries. Not everyone worries about the Green issues,and why should they when they have so much coal to mine and Industry, Power and homes all use it.

 

China particularly is growing its use of renewables far quicker than it's growing conventional or nuclear energy use. It produces more renewable energy than any other country in the world. It's wrong to suggest that they're not planning for a future without fossil fuels.

Simon

 

Like you, I had always believed that anthracite was processed however it appears that it can be dug straight out of the ground.

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=definition+of+anthracite+coal