Coal is one of the most influential materials in history.

 Without coal, we would be in a different place today, and certainly a much worse one.

 Coal was especially prominent in the North-West, with much of it built because of the existence of ‘black gold’.  

One of the largest collieries was Lancashire Coalfield, which in 1907 produced over 26 million tons of coal.

 In the early 20th century, 2 million tons of this coal was exported through Canada Dock in Liverpool, and this coal was sent to power the Empire.

 It was not only the British that mined coal however, as there is evidence that suggests that the Romans benefitted from mining coal in Wigan, and the first recorded use of coal in Wigan was in 1246, when ‘Adam de Radcliffe stole coal belonging to Adam, son of Alexander’.

St Helens is one of many towns that is a direct product of coal mining, with the first pits being dug in early medieval times.

 Many of the roads built around St Helens were built to quicken and increase coal transportation.

 The first modern English canal, the Sankey Navigation (opening in 1757), was built for this purpose, and connected the town to the River Mersey.

 The canal, in fact, is still in use today, with one local resident describing it as ‘really well kept’ and that ‘the fishermen love it’. He also added that it was ‘very popular with the walkers, providing a good range of things to do’. 

  From then on, entrepreneurs such as the Greenalls and the Pilkingtons came to the town, and established other industries, such as glass production and copper refining.

 None of this would have been possible without the use of coal, and many other towns experienced the same phenomenon.

However, coal also harmed towns.

 Accidents were common, and the records of them still exist.

 The Northern Mine Research Society has preserved an extensive database of accidents, including from St Helens.

Some are especially tragic, involving the deaths of hundreds of people.

 There were also smaller accidents, such as two children who fell into a coal mine and were killed (surprisingly, nobody was found guilty of negligence, however it was advised that a watchman be stationed).

 Another, on the 2nd June 1883, involved a ‘man named Abbott’, who ‘was employed at the St Helens Colliery Company pit’, when a roof in a coal mine fell on him.

 Miraculously, he survived, albeit with severe bruising.

The negative legacy of coal mining is far more than this though, for instance, due to the Coal Measures in St Helens being mined so extensively, artificial drainage systems have been unintentionally created, which harm the water quality in the area.

 Although, there are positive signs, as it has improved in recent years, which has led to an increase in fish populations, and fishermen can be regularly seen making use of this.

Coal has created much of the North, and although it is now being phased out, and although it is the most harmful fossil fuel, we must remember it as a material that not only powered the Industrial Revolution, but changed the lives of ordinary people too, changing insignificant hamlets in the North, such as St Helens, into important industrial powerhouses.

If you would like more information, the Northern Mine Research Society has a useful website: https://nmrs.org.uk/