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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Travel
Richard Nelsson

Industrial revelation: a walk through England’s Great Northern Coalfield

A tram in the high street of the Edwardian town in an open-air museum
Beamish open-air museum in County Durham was last week named museum of the year. Photograph: David Steele/Alamy

The Great Northern Coalfield once provided the raw fuel that powered Britain through the Industrial Revolution. For over two centuries, coal from the mines of Durham and Northumberland was trundled down a maze of wagonways and rail lines to the coast to then be shipped to London.

The mines are long gone, but eight miles north of Durham city, relics of the north-east’s industrial heritage can be found hidden amid ancient woodland and a steep-sided gorge.

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