A few weeks before Christmas, controversy exploded in the environmental world when the government gave planning permission for a coalmine in Whitehaven, Cumbria. It would be the first new coalmine in the country in 30 years.
Now the UK would not be what it is today without coal, a bountiful source of concentrated energy which has been exploited since Roman times. Plentiful supplies powered the Industrial Revolution and led to the creation of close-knit mining communities from the South Wales Valleys to the Clyde.
The industry experienced a long decline in the 20th century, not helped by militant strikes in the 1970s and 80s. I was reminded of this recently by the BBC series Sherwood, which focused on the bitter divisions created by the strike in the Nottinghamshire coalfield.
