Dec 18, 2015

Once, coal fueled the British Empire, employed armies of men and shook the power of governments.

On Friday, workers at Britain’s last operating deep coal mine finish their final shift. The last haul of coal from the pit is destined for a museum, as a once-mighty industry fades into history.

Defiant to the end, miners at Kellingley Colliery in northern England sang a hit by Tom Jones — the son of a coal miner — as they headed underground for their final shift.

“This is what makes us very special, the mining community,” said Nigel Kemp, who worked at the mine for more than 30 years. “The men have gone down today singing ‘My, my, my, Delilah.’ Every single man on the cage, you could hear them 400 feet down singing. And I do believe they’re going to come out singing as well.”

At its peak in the 1920s, Britain’s mining industry employed more than 1 million people, as coal drove trains, fueled factories and heated homes. After World War II, the country had 750,000 underground miners at almost 1,000 coal pits. But the industry’s days were already numbered.

With gas and nuclear power on the rise, hundreds of coal mines had closed by 1984, when a showdown between the government and miners fixed the industry’s central — and contested — place in Britain’s national mythology.

: Mark Bainbridge, who has worked at Kellingley Colliery for 32 years, starts his final shift maintaining the miners’ lamps, Friday Dec. 18, 2015. Once, coal fueled the British Empire, employed armies of men and shook the power of governments. On Friday, workers at Britain’s last operating deep coal mine finish their final shift. The last haul of coal from the pit is destined for a museum, as a once-mighty industry fades into history.
(John Giles/PA via AP)

: Miners at Kellingley Colliery hold lumps of coal they are keeping as mementoes of their last day working at the colliery in Knottingley, northern England, as the final shift works underground, Friday Dec. 18, 2015.Once, coal fueled the British Empire, employed armies of men and shook the power of governments. On Friday, workers at Britain’s last operating deep coal mine finish their final shift. The last haul of coal from the pit is destined for a museum, as a once-mighty industry fades into history.
(John Giles/PA via AP)

: Miners come off the last shift at Kellingley Colliery in Knottingley, northern England, on the final day of production, Friday Dec. 18, 2015. Once, coal fueled the British Empire, employed armies of men and shook the power of governments. On Friday, workers at Britain’s last operating deep coal mine finish their final shift. The last haul of coal from the pit is destined for a museum, as a once-mighty industry fades into history.
(John Giles/PA via AP)

: Coal miner Garry Ward is pictured in the Lamp Room as he finishes the final shift at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on December 18, 2015, on the mine’s last operational day. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain’s industrial history.
|| CREDIT: OLI SCARFF – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Coal miners are pictured as they finish the last shift at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on December 18, 2015, on the mine’s last operational day. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain’s industrial history.
|| CREDIT: OLI SCARFF – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: A message chalked on a board at Kellingley Colliery in Knottingley, northern England as the final shift works underground, Friday Dec. 18, 2015. Once, coal fueled the British Empire, employed armies of men and shook the power of governments. On Friday, workers at Britain’s last operating deep coal mine finish their final shift. The last haul of coal from the pit is destined for a museum, as a once-mighty industry fades into history.
(John Giles/PA via AP)

: A bulldozer operates at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on December 18, 2015. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain’s industrial history.
|| CREDIT: OLI SCARFF – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Coal miners are pictured after finishing the final shift at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on December 18, 2015. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain’s industrial history.
|| CREDIT: OLI SCARFF – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Banksman Joe Murray (R) speaks to a coal miner after opening the lift carrying the final shift of miners at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on December 18, 2015. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain’s industrial history.
|| CREDIT: OLI SCARFF – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Coal miners are pictured after finishing the final shift at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on December 18, 2015. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain’s industrial history.
|| CREDIT: OLI SCARFF – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: A miner reacts after his last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

: A coal miner walks through the site at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on December 18, 2015, on the mine’s last operational day. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain’s industrial history.
|| CREDIT: OLI SCARFF – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: Miners react after their last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: A miner reacts after his last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: Miners react after their last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: Gary Ward reacts after his last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: Miners react after their last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

: An unidentified miner comes off the last shift at Kellingley Colliery in Knottingley, northern England, on the final day of production, Friday Dec. 18, 2015. Once, coal fueled the British Empire, employed armies of men and shook the power of governments. On Friday, workers at Britain’s last operating deep coal mine finish their final shift. The last haul of coal from the pit is destined for a museum, as a once-mighty industry fades into history.
(John Giles/PA via AP)

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: Miners react after their last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

: KNOTTINGLEY, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: Miners embrace each other after their last shift at Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Kellingley began production in 1965 and is the UK’s last deep coal mine. Its closure will complete a carefully managed two-year plan for the UKs deep mines. This has been implemented by UK Coal with financial support from the British government. It follows a long period of difficult trading conditions largely due to low international coal prices.
||Photo by Nigel Roddis – Getty Images

Thousands of miners went on strike hoping to scuttle Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s plan to shut 20 pits with the loss of 20,000 jobs — and destroy the powerful mining unions, which for years had used their economic clout to extract concessions from British governments.

The bitter, yearlong struggle brought violent picket-line clashes and ended in victory for the government. Since then, changing economic demands and cheap imported coal have all but wiped out Britain’s mining industry.

Britain still gets a fifth of its electricity from coal, though it is giving way to cleaner alternatives. But with coal prices at historic lows, it’s cheaper to import coal from countries including Russia, Colombia and the United States. Critics say those countries often have lower wages and worse safety records than Britain.

Britain still has several open-cast mines as well as a handful of idle pits that could be reopened if needed. But Kellingley, 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of London, was the last deep mine producing coal on a large scale.

Its closure marks the end of an industry that was dirty and dangerous, but brought pride and purpose to close-knit communities.

National Union of Mineworkers representative Keith Poulson said the Kellingley miners had felt like “a convicted prisoner on death row” since the closure was announced two years ago.

“And now it’s got to December, and we’re in the last week, we can basically hear the governor coming down the corridor and he’s about to put the key in the cell door to take you to meet your fate,” he said.

— Associated Press

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