The Rockery - Coal
Richards Mountain Pages

Coal has proved an invaluable rock to man. It fueled the industrial revolution, and until recent decades, most of Britains boats, trains and power stations. The stuff is still mined in Britain, but cheap imports, and a reliance or oil (which is easier to use as it flows) have lead to a dramatic decline in the coal industry. the few mines that remain are mainly opencast.

The place to find this rock is anywhere in the former coal mining areas. A glance at a geological map will show you two main belts. The largest stretches from South Wales, across the midlands, and up to Newcastle or so; and the second stretches across the central belt of Scotland (i.e. the densely populated bit). There are also deposits in Kent, but these lie deep under the channel.

On the Northumbrian coast, lumps of sea coal can be found. Polished by the tide, this stuff has been washed from the cliffs or seabed further along the coast. In olden times this was collected by the locals as a free fuel supply.

Coal is created by a long process that starts in a barmy swamp of the Carboniferous (and other periods for that matter). Here tree ferns and other vegetation fell into the swamp, and slowly decayed into peat (right). Layers of peat compressed, and got pushed deeper underground by later sediments. Eventually the peat turns to coal. You can still see the impression of the original plant remains in some pieces. Take a closer look at the close up of a piece of sea coal (left), and you might just see a pattern of inverted V shapes - the stem of one of those ancient plants.

The steps in the formation of coal continue today. Anyone who has walked the highlands will be aware of the vast swathes of peat and peat bog to be found. Impatient for the coal (well it will be a few million years yet), the peat has been dug for fuel for centuries. The practice still continues on Skye and the Outer Hebrides.

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