No more heavy industries

The Industrial Revolution began in the Midlands. The Midlands and the North of England became the centre of the iron and steel industries. Newcastle became known for its shipbuilding and Birmingham became known for making cars.

Now there is no shipbuilding in Newcastle and there is only one major car company in Birmingham. Many towns in the Midlands and the North of England have high unemployment rates.

There are now only 16 coal mines in Britain and they are mostly near Nottingham. Britain used to have over 160 pits only ten years ago.

Michael Vaughan-Rees, Geraldine Sweeney, Picot Cassidy: In Britain; Cornelsen Verlag, 2000, page 82