The Coal Industry

BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• Before 1500 there was little use of coal as a fuel in Britain but in the 16th century some enterprising landowners began to exploit their land by mining

• The north east quickly took the lead and the phrase 'carrying coals to Newcastle' (meaning transporting a product from a place of scarcity to a place of surplus) dates from this period. Newcastle's location on the coast was ideal for transport - coal cost much more to transport than to mine.

• The domestic market in London grew rapidly.Coal from the North-East was known as “Sea-Coal”

Bell Pits and Adit Mines• After the surface seams had been

worked the bell pit method was used when there was a fairly thick seam close to the ground, but it was wasteful in the amount of excavation needed for a relatively small amount of coal.

• The Pit and adit method involved digging horizontally along a seam of coal, often starting from an outcrop on a hillside, with vertical shafts inserted every so often. Uncut coal pillars acted as supports.

• Fires lit at the bottom of each alternate mineshaft (the upcast shaft) improved ventilation.

• Deep mining was rare before the Industrial Revolution and there was little demand for coal.

Rising demand for Coal • Demand for coal greatly increased as a result

of a number of factors:-1. Fuel for the boilers of the steam engine, itself

used in a variety of roles. Also locomotives and steam ships

2. As a dye in the textile industry. 3. Growing domestic use by an increasing

population, with peat less available. 4. Conversion to coke for smelting in the blast

furnaces. 5. Coal gas, a bi-product, was used for street

lighting in the 19th century. 6. In furnaces making pottery, bricks etc

Problems of Deep Mining• As more coal was required pits had to go deeper. As a result

a number of problems had to be overcome:-• Flooding: Deep pits filled with water. There was no real

practical solution to this until the invention of Thomas Newcomen’s Atmospheric Steam Pumping Engine

• Pit props were used to prevent cave-ins

•

Ventilation

• The problem of “firedamp”, a lethal inflammable mixture of methane and butane was a very serious one.

• Another problem was “chokedamp” –poisonous carbon monoxide

• One solution was to send down a miner with a naked flame and if he didn't get blown up, then you knew that it was safe

• Another was taking down a canary, whose sensitive lungs would lead to it fainting and indicate the existence of chokedamp

• Small boys called “trappers” were used to open and close doors to control the circulation of air

The Miner’s Safety Lamp 1815• Sir Humphry Davy, a famous

scientist, invented a safe lamp in 1815

• At the same George Stephenson, a semi-literate coal worker from Newcastle also invented a safe lamp – the “Geordie Lamp”

• When used properly these inventions stopped the risk of explosions

• In 1800 John Buddle devised the Exhaust Fan – this helped to ventilated mines

Moving Coal• Moving coal from the

seam to the surface was a very serious problem

• It was a task performed by women and girls, who dragged and carried the coal

Steam Engines and Rails• James Watt’s rotary Steam

Engine helped to solve the problem of getting coal and miner’s to the surface

• Above and below ground iron railways were introduced to ease the movement of coal

• Pit ponies were used above and below ground

CONCLUSIONS• British Coal production

increased from 2 million tons in 1700 to 216 million tons in 1899

• This was vital in allowing the Industrial Revolution to happen

• Coal mining remained a very difficult and dangerous job

• In 1842 a government report into coal mining shocked the nation

• As a result women and children were banned from working below ground

The cartoon “Capital and Labour”,

Published in 1842