"British Coal, the End of a Mining Industry"

"Yorkshire, United Kingdom - Coal miners at Yorkshire’s Kellingley Colliery, the only remaining deep-pit coal mine in Britain, worked their last shift on Friday December 18, bringing to an end hundreds of years of underground coal mining in the UK. Thousands marched through the streets and held a rally at Kellingley Miners' Welfare club to mark the end of the coal mining era.

Deep-pit coal mining employed more than half a million British workers in the middle of the 20th century while it was still the main source of energy produced within the country.

Pit closures through the 1960s and 1970s were followed by the infamous "Miners’ Strike", which began in 1984 after Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative prime minister Margaret, announced the  closure of 20 pits."

Rich Wiles reports for Aljazeera January 4, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"The World’s Largest Coal Producer Is Halting Approvals For New Coal Mines" (Climate Progress)