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This Earthcache will take you to a place where you can learn much more about the history of Coal mining in Britain, and coal itself, where it comes from and what it is and was used for, this cache will go over the basic facts, then it's up to you..
At the coordinates above you will find a Pit head and a localised information board about this pit in particular and the horses that worked it, you may have to look elsewhere for the answers to the questions, this area was Caphouse Colliery, the mine was worked from at least 1789 until the seam was exhausted in 1985 following the UK Miners' Strike (1984-1985) and work was started to convert it into a museum. The men were transferred to Denby Grange Colliery at nearby Netherton.
Opening once again in 1988 as the COAL MINING MUSEUM OF ENGLAND.
The Museum itself is only accessible daily from 10.00am till 5.00pm, and it is totally free, however the location of this cache is accessible at all times, but is under darkness at night, so visit during daylight hours to see anything !
So what IS Coal ?
Here in Britain, coal was formed at various times between 170 million to 300 million years ago. The rocks associated with the coal demonstrate that the major geological forces which have controlled the features of the earth's crust have exerted their control also on the type of coal and the way it is presented in the earth. Major forces affect rocks at depth underground, causing crumpling, bending and breaking of the beds and cause mountain chains to be formed, sea levels to rise and fall and also give rise to earthquakes. Volcanoes have also left their evidence within coal seams and associated rocks. You can see the evidence of these vast disturbances most easily along the coast in the curving strata and breaks and faults of a cliff face.
The rock sequences, which include coal seams, were first laid down as sediments washed down from upland areas by streams and trapped within lakes and sea covered basins. When these sediments filled the basin and land emerged, trees and other vegetation grew. Huge trees tumbled and were crushed; forests of saplings were engulfed or overlaid; ferns and mosses, grew through several centuries - then were swallowed or covered. Earth and rock and lava compressed trees, and other plants. They rotted and changed as bacteria attacked their remains. They were composted, condensed and compressed. More millions of years passed. They became COAL.
Why do we need coal ?
In years gone by all houses would have been heated by a coal fuelled fire, people cooked over coal stoves, it powered cars, railway locomotives, and just about evrything in this country ! Nowadays Coal is hardly used for any of the above since the advent of Electricity, however it is still indispensable for the Production of Electricity and Steel
Coal has many important uses, but most significantly in electricity generation, steel and cement manufacture, and industrial process heating.
Nowadays coal is usually imported from abroad, the landscape of Britain changed forever with the removal of nearly all of the once common 'pit heads', large steel structures containing the winding gear for the deep underground mines, all these started to close after The miners' strike of 1984/1985*
* this was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement. It was also seen as a major political and ideological victory for Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party, and spelled the begining of the end for coal mining in the UK forever, sad days indeed.
Outside the museum you can see many old workings, old colliery machinery and trucks, some hi tech machines, and of course the huge workings of the once thriving colliery, The museum offers guided underground tours!! where visitors can see the conditions miners worked in and the tools and machines they used as the industry and the mine developed through the years. The extensive archive contains old issues of "Coal News" and details of collieries throughout England.
Above ground there is a well resourced visitor centre including exhibitions on the social and industrial history of the mines.
To claim this Earthcache and to display a level of learning please email me answers to the following questions:
1. Name the different type's of coal's that are produced:
2. What is the name of the period in the Earth's history when most of the coal was formed ?
3. Finally upload a photo of you or your GPS next to the information board or winding gear at the coords above.
Please feel free to post as many photo's as possible of the area.
Please do not post the answers to the questions in your logs for obvious reasons, PLEASE NOTE: I receive a very high number of Earthcache emails, I can’t reply to them all otherwise I’d be doing nothing else all day, as has always been the case there is no need to await a reply from me regarding your answers…. However due to numerous people thinking they can just log these caches without emailing any answers, and/or completing the required tasks these will be picked up, and the logs will be deleted without further communication. To facilitate this Please email your information either before, or AT THE SAME TIME OF LOGGING THE CACHE, Thanks.
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(Decrypt)
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