Friday was the first full day since the height of the Industrial Revolution that Britain did not burn coal to generate electricity, a development that officials and climate change activists celebrated as a watershed moment.

The accomplishment became official just before 11pm, when the 24-hour period ended.

The closed Tower Colliery near the village of Hirwaun in Glamorgan, South Wales in a file picture Credit:AP

Coal powered Britain into the industrial age and into the 21st century, contributing greatly to the "pea souper" fogs that were thought for decades to be a natural phenomenon of the British climate.

For many living in the mining towns up and down the country, it was not just the backbone of the economy but a way of life. But the industry has been in decline for some time. The last deep coal mine closed in December 2015, though open cast mining has continued.