Going, Going, Gone - The Death of UK Deep Coal Mining

By Chris Dodds on 12th June, 2015

Since this article was published in June 2015 the UK deep pit coal mining industry has ended with the closure of Kellingley colliery on 18 December 2015.

Thoresby colliery operated by UK Coal and one of just three deep coal mines remaining in the UK is on a closure countdown.

Coal production is expected to cease on July 10, with the pit closure leading to the loss of 500 jobs.

The “fantastic workforce” of Thoresby Colliery will find new jobs, Chancellor George Osborne has pledged.

Before the 1984-85 strike the coal mining industry produced 120m tonnes a year and employed almost 150,000 miners in 170 pits.

Thoresby opened in 1925 and over the years has employed hundreds of thousands of local people. It was one of 46 coal mines in Nottinghamshire, which supplied more than 14 million tonnes of coal at their peak in the early 1960s.

UK Coal hoped against hope to secure a loan to extend the life of the mine by three years, and also that of Kellingley colliery in Yorkshire, but the Government refused the extra £338 million needed, with Business Minister Matthew Hancock claiming it did not represent value for money for the taxpayer.

However, the Government has provided a £4 million loan, to assist the managed closure of the two pits.

The demolition of Thoresby has started and once the final shift is worked the process will accelerate.

By the end of the year, Hatfield colliery will be the UK's only deep mine producing coal - and that is due to close in 2016.

All other coal consumed by power stations is now imported.

By 2017, the UK underground coal mining industry will be laid to rest after a long, slow death.

"King Coal" R.I.P.

Pictured : Coal Wagons Awaiting Dispatch At Thoresby Colliery 1955.

Uk Coal announce Thoresby Colliery closure - Report by Phil Brewster

Pictured : Daw Mill Colliery. Daw Mill was a coal mine located near the village of Arley, near Nuneaton, in the English county of Warwickshire. The mine was Britain's biggest coal producer. On 7 March 2013 the owner, UK Coal, announced the mine would be closed following a major fire. It was the last remaining colliery in the West Midlands.

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