The view from England: Coal mine approval a seasonal gift from UK government

Gifts have been exchanged in England during December since before the building of Stonehenge 5,000 years ago. Back then our Neolithic ancestors were celebrating the midwinter solstice (Dec. 21) with feasts and offerings.  

The parties became more formal following the landing of Roman legions in AD43, with their festival of Saturnalia (Dec. 17-23) and its tradition of banquets and the giving of gifts. In the first half of the 4th century, Emperor Constantine amalgamated the Empire’s various mid-winter festivals into a celebration of the birth of Christ (choosing Dec. 25 as it corresponded with the winter solstice in the Roman calendar).  

Christianity on these islands didn’t properly emerge until after the arrival in 597 of the Pope-sanctioned mission of Saint Augustine (who became the first archbishop of Canterbury). Indeed, in the Early Middle Ages (5th to 11th centuries) we held onto our pagan celebrations of the Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht (Night of the Mothers) and the Germanic Yuletide. The latter was a mid-winter festival connected with the god Odin, who may have influenced the association with a white-bearded figure and reindeer.  

The first recorded celebration in England of Christ’s birth and the name Christmas (Christ’s Mass) was not until 1038. Even then, presents were still mainly associated with the 4th century gift-giving saint, Nicholas of Myra (Santa Claus is a phonetic derivation of ‘Sinterklaas,’ a Dutch figure based on Saint Nicholas). Christ didn’t become the focus of these presents until Martin Luther’s dogmatic instructions in the early 16th century.  

With such a rich history, it is wonderful that the U.K. Government has given the local mining industry a seasonal gift. On Dec. 7, the Secretary of State for Communities, Michael Gove, approved our first new underground coal mine for 36 years (as predicted in my column this summer).  

The £160 million Woodhouse mine, near Whitehaven in Cumbria, will replace imports of metallurgical coal and will create much needed jobs (500 directly). Critics argue, however, that the decision to award planning permission until 2049 undermines the U.K.’s climate-change credentials.  

The project, owned by West Cumbria Mining, was first unveiled in 2014 and approved (for the third time) by Cumbria County Council two years ago. Progress was suspended in February 2021, however, after the government’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) expressed concern, and the then Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, ‘called in’ the planning application for review. The subsequent public inquiry closed in October 2021, with the government saying it would make a final planning decision by early July (a promise eventually compromised by Boris Johnson’s resignation as Prime Minister).  

Jenrick’s replacement, Gove, has faced a tough decision. Coal mining is deeply unpopular, and goes against the government’s own CO₂ commitments. Nevertheless, boosting raw material security and reducing the country’s dependence on Russia is crucial, and Cumbria is crying out for skilled, long-term, well-paid private-sector jobs.  

Gove claims the coal mine would “to some extent, support the transition to a low-carbon future.” The CCC chair Lord Deben, however, has called the proposal “indefensible,” and warned that the approval will damage the U.K.’s leadership on climate change, and “create another example of Britain saying one thing and doing another.”  

Although there are currently no operating mines on the West Cumberland Coalfield, more than 70 pits were sunk during the past 300 years. The first reference to coal extraction in the area is to an operation at Arrowthwaite in the 13th century. Small-scale, near-surface coal leases were granted in the 16th century, with the Lowther family developing the region’s mines from the mid-17th to early 20th centuries. The first undersea mine in England, Saltom, was sunk in 1729 on the shore near Whitehaven (this mine closed in 1848 but the winding engine house and mine shaft remain).  

The Whitehaven mines were notorious for firedamp (coalbed methane), and over 500 people died in gas explosions. As a result they were the first collieries to use the locally-invented ‘Steel Mill’ for lighting (a hand-cranked device using flint), designed by the mining engineer Carlisle Spedding in the mid-18th century. These were used until the introduction in 1819 of Sir Humphrey Davy’s new safety lamp, which he tested in the Whitehaven collieries (because, as he explained, they had the “severest possible conditions”).  

Nevertheless, firedamp explosions continued to cause a devastating loss of life in the Whitehaven mines (including that of Spedding himself in 1755). Accidents in the 20th century included the death of 136 miners at Wellington Pit in May 1910, 79 in three explosions in the 1920s at Haig Pit, and 116 in two explosions at William Pit in the 1940s.  

Mark Jenkinson, the Member of Parliament for nearby Workington, said the announcement was “fantastic news,” and a “great day for West Cumbria.” He might have added it was a timely present for U.K. mining generally, and that a new, safer, mine will be a fitting tribute to the men, women and children who have died on this coalfield.  

— Dr. Chris Hinde is a mining engineer and the director of Pick and Pen Ltd., a U.K.-based consulting firm. He previously worked for S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Metals and Mining division.