Sitting on the banks of the River Trent, the market town of Rugeley in Staffordshire has a rich industrial history. In 1777, it benefited from the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal, which enabled the smooth transportation of fragile potteries and created a thriving industry. Cooling water from the mighty Trent later made it an ideal location for the construction of power stations.

In 1960, the National Coal Board opened the Lea Hall Colliery, a deep shaft coal mine — the biggest colliery of its type in Europe. The pit was a powerhouse, breaking records for coal production and supporting two power stations, providing thousands of jobs and leading to the town’s rapid expansion.

More than anything else, Rugeley’s coal heritage underpinned its community and shaped the lives of everyone in the town. A great family tradition existed of sons following their fathers into the mines. But that industry is no more. In the ’70s and ’80s, the Lea Hall Colliery was the site of numerous battles as the National Union of Mineworkers fought for better pay and conditions and later to save the coal industry itself.