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They literally drove the Industrial Revolution my dude.

Britain's coal being closer to the surface compared to other reserves was a reason the Industrial Revolution started in the United Kingdom and not elsewhere.

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I know they had coal mines once, it's just surprising to me that they have coal mines. It's a small densely populated country with relatively small natural resources extraction industry, I thought.

My theory is that it rained so much in the North West (e.g. the Manchester area) that there was nothing better to do than tinker with machines.

I had the chance to visit the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester a few years ago (on a rainy day!), definitely with the visit if you're in the area:

https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk

And the first intercity passenger train station in the world is part of the museum!

Thank fuck they invented steam engines and the spinning jenny before they invented football.

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