This will be an illustrated talk on one of the UK's largest natural resources - coal. The paper will describe the formation of the coal seam, almost 340 million years ago, through mining in its earliest forms to the modern methods used to efficiently mine the product safely and with minimum effect on the environment.

It will be shown that there is much more to a colliery than the headgear and spoil heap that is normally associated with this type of industry. It has developed from a labour intensive industry into a highly skilled, mechanically and electrically technical workplace which must continually evolve to maintain its position in the world marketplace.