Steam power and an incline in the Somerset coalfield, 1971

At the turn of the 20th century, there were 79 collieries at work in the Somerset Coalfield. The last two closed in 1973, when the nearby Portishead power station was converted from coal to burning oil.

And you do get the impression from this film of one of the two, Kildersdon Colliery near Radstock, that the end is nigh. The technology is Victorian: a steam locomotive and a self-acting incline - the weight of a filled coal wagon descending the incline was used to pull an empty back to the top.

You can read more about the operation of the incline in an article from the Industrial Railway Record.