Coal mining was once a supremely important industry in the UK, employing more than a million people and supplying almost all of Britain’s energy needs. But what about coal miners and their families? Few industries are so concealed or so inherently dangerous. Roof falls, gas explosions or flooding were ever-present dangers when working deep underground and miners relied on each other for survival. Families had to make the best of what the pit dealt out to them – whether in terms of wages, housing, injury or death. It was this harsh reality that forged self-reliance, solidarity and strength among the miners, and served to shape the unique communities of the mining districts: a culture that cannot survive a changing world where fewer than 10,000 people now work in deep mining. This topic examines the unique nature of coal culture, looking firstly at the bonds forged between those who work in such dangerous conditions before moving on to the development of the mining unions and finally presenting an analysis of the communities that grew up around the coal mines.