Last shipment of coal from the Tyne

T

tripleheader

Well-known member
Amazing to think that, when there was once over 400 pits in the North East most of which shipped the black stuff out of the Tyne.
 
That is what James Cook did of course taking coals from the Tyne to London. The Whitby fleet found much of its employment doing that run down the North Sea (German Ocean) coast.
 
Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.
 
Interesting. Nearly Forty years ago a very bitter fight and strike took place to keep pits open to fuel our own power stations. Late last year there was pride and celebration when for the first time Britain produced all the energy it needed for one day without using a single lump of coal. How times have changed.
 
Technology and the message of the greens being spread and now being understood rather than simply scoffed at.

It's a shame a lot of the communities are still suffering after 40 years with no plan put in place at the time or since.
 
Foggysfplandiet3 said:
Interesting. Nearly Forty years ago a very bitter fight and strike took place to keep pits open to fuel our own power stations. Late last year there was pride and celebration when for the first time Britain produced all the energy it needed for one day without using a single lump of coal. How times have changed.
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Yes but the other side of that particular coin is the 2 ships full of imported coal which have arrived into the Tyne every single week for the past 35 years, all because of the arrogance and bile of one woman.
 
I've seen figures as low of 1.6% of U.K power generation is by using coal 40% gas and the rest renewables. There is a commitment to reducing natural gas consumption as well as coal.
I think acid rain and high sulphur content coal ultimately would have signed the death knell for u.k pits in spite of it being accelerated by Thatcher.
 
tripleheader said:
I've seen figures as low of 1.6% of U.K power generation is by using coal 40% gas and the rest renewables. There is a commitment to reducing natural gas consumption as well as coal.
I think acid rain and high sulphur content coal ultimately would have signed the death knell for u.k pits in spite of it being accelerated by Thatcher.
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I wouldn't call nuclear renewable! But renewables are getting close to the figure for gas.
 
bear66 said:
I wouldn't call nuclear renewable! But renewables are getting close to the figure for gas.
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Agreed, didn't put it very well. Meant to say fossil fuels and renewables just about equal around 37% for each and the rest 25% nuclear.
I think whatever your views we have to move away from fossil fuels. I think the Rolls Royce project on mini power generation plants based on the nuclear sub technology is potentially a good one.
 
Ref Rolls Royce, I can think of a brownfield site just down the road where a closed iron & steelworks is where they could build a pilot prototype.
 
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