Uk COAL MINING -the DEMISE of an INDUSTRY - At its peak, the British coal industry employed over a million men and was one of the most important industries in the UK. Transport, power and related industries were all heavily reliant on coal. Even in the mid-1960s, British Rail was still running on coal power (steam). In the 1970s, a strike by coal miners left Britain on the infamous three day week. Coal was Britain’s lifeblood, and without it, the economy could come to a standstill. The decline o