CHAPTER 1I 
DERBYSHIRE AND NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COAL AND IRON 
Sout of Sheffield, extending to Derby, the district 
covers a thoroughly English industry, less dependent 
perhaps on foreign trade than any other coal and iron area 
in the kingdom. Of the 33,000,000 tons of coal annually 
raised in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with the addi- 
tion of the Leicestershire pits, which form for official 
purposes one field, not § per cent. is sent abroad; while 
the pig and finished iron made in the works of the eight 
great companies and the smaller firms who control that 
industry are chiefly consumed at home. 
The pig iron goes to Yorkshire, Birmingham, Wolver- 
hampton, Lancashire and the Eastern Counties, but there 
is, besides, a very large local consumption. The rolling- 
mills and foundries connected with the blast furnaces turn 
out great quantities of material, which are absorbed not 
only in the local collieries and other trades, but also in the 
Midlands, in London and in the south, where, however, 
they come into competition with the sea-borne products 
of Middlesbrough and the Tees. 
Iron as well as lead has been worked in Derbyshire 
for centuries. The ‘ mine ore” formerly used in the open 
furnaces was found locally in connection with the coal 
measures, being smelted with charcoal. In 1740 only two 
furnaces were making charcoal iron, with a joint yearly 
output of 550 tons. The country is still dotted with old 
surface workings whence the ore was derived. Much of 
it was carried on the backs of mules or ponies over bridle- 
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