The National Coal Mining Museum
In Brief. Coal may not be the energy source of the future, but it was dominant for many years, giving rise to a huge industry and many mining communities. Both are commemorated at the substantial National Coal Mining Museum , which though named as a museum, should perhaps be seen as a coal mine with a museum attached rather than the other way around. The must-do element of a visit is the miner-led tour 140m underground, to see the changing technologies that extracted the coal and the experiences of miners. It all makes office work seem rather tame. The Pit Head at Caphouse Colliery. What's Here? Coal may now be public enemy number one, in the context of global warming, but it powered the machines and transport of the industrial revolution, and generated a lot of the country's electricity until quite recently. To do this, there was a huge industry, at one time with more than a million employees, and this museum gives some insights into the often gruelling task of mining coal ...