A black and white photo group of miners underground, walking forward led by a serious older man with a moustache wearing a helmet and holding a lamp. The face of the man behind is completely black with coal dust.Source: Ministry of Information, 1942, Imperial War Museum https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205199325

Working underground

The experiences of the men who worked as coalminers.

A statue of a miner leaning on a pickaxe with a crowd of people including older people in wheelchairs around it. Source / Copyright: https://www.facebook.com/Auchengeich-Miners-Memorial-916368968418660/photos

Growing up in a mining community

Life and death in communities centred around coal.

Three tall, curved brick towers with steam coming out of the top, at Rugeley power station

'Brick Assyrian temples'

After the Second World War, Britain’s new nationalised electricity industry concentrated production into a small number of giant new coal-fired power stations.

Logo with a banner with the words Electrical Trades Union lit by a lamp with an electric bulb held by a hand and the slogan Defence not defiance

When the lights went off

In December 1970 industrial action by over 100,000 British electricity workers plunged the country into rolling darkness.

A power station with three tall thin chimneys and a square building, with small white cottages and a bay of the sea in front of it. Photo credit: Ewan Gibbs

Northern Ireland

The history of electricity in Northern Ireland includes the impact of the conflict in the 1970s but also reveals alignments between politicians from opposing sides of constitutional politics.

A view of the buildings of Sellafield nuclear power station with steam plumes emitting from it, seen across a field and against a stormy sky

Working in nuclear: West Cumbria

The beginnings of the British nuclear project in the late 1940s intertwined the military industrial complex with hopes for a new powerful energy source

A black and white photo of a demonstration with people carrying a banner that says 'Scottish Campaign to Resist the Atomic Menace' and 'Nuclear Power? No Thanks' with a sun with a smiley face in middle. Source: 'Torness: Nuclear Power Station: From Folly to Fiasco (Edinburgh: SCRAM, 1983)'

Opposing nuclear power

Why and how people campaigned against nuclear power stations.

Nigg yard 1400 x 740 View of a construction yard with a shed and large pieces of equipment against a blue sky. Photo credit: Ewan Gibbs

Building rigs at Nigg

The quiet village of Nigg on the Cromarty Firth became the centre of a huge cutting edge industrial venture in the early 1970s.

Logo with a purple circle, with the text 'It's Scotland's Oil' and black shape to represent oil flowing from the centre of the 'o' in oil to the bottom of the circle. Source: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:It%27s_Scotland%27s_Oil_Badge.svg

"It's Scotland's oil"

The political repercussions of the exploitation of North Sea oil.

A wind turbine in a field beyond a metal gate, seen against a blue sky

Welsh farmers against nuclear development

In the 2000s and 2010s, plans to build a new nuclear power station at Wylfa on the island of Ynys Mon/Anglesey in North Wales were opposed by local residents.

An oilrig platform standing in the sea with some land behind it Source: Mustang Joe, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mustangjoe/43258021631

Working offshore

The dangers of working in the oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s.

A view of Sullom Voe oil terminal with industrial building on the shore of an inlet of the sea. Photo credit: James Stringer, Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesstringer/48068245541/

Shetland's oil transformation

The discovery of oil in the North Sea had big implications for the northern-most part of the United Kingdom, Shetland.

Mossmorran petrochemical plant at night with a large flare of fire erupting from a tall thin chimne. Crediet Alexnoel66 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mossmorran.jpg

Petrochemical Fife

The Mossmorran complex was built during the late 1970s and 1980s after an extensive public inquiry following objections from local envirionmentalists, and is still the focus of protest by local activists.

Logo of with a blue circle on a white background, underneath which is 'National Power' in blue.. Inside the circle wihich are 2 capital letters - a small white N at the top on the left and a larger red P in the centre and right.

Privatising electricity

Privatisation of electricty involved the comprehensive dismantling of an industry that had changed markedly since it was nationalised in 1948.

View of Grangemouth oil refinery across the Firth of Forth with smoke and steam coming from lots of different chimneys. Photo credit: Anne Ward, Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/ilike/18962645435/

Closure of Grangemouth oil refinery

Grangemouth, Scotland's only oil refinery and its largest source of carbon emissions, is expected by 2025 and will impact on the local community.

Wind turbine on a hill next to a lake (loch) with steep sides. Source: Ewan Gibbs, 2021

What is a 'just transition'?

The impacts on workers and communities in moving to new energy sources.