With pits prone to devastating fires, explosions and disasters, coal miners took their lives in their hands when they went to work at the industry's early 20th century peak.
In the first two decades of the last century alone some 2,000 miners were killed while at work in 31 major disasters at the coal face.
And the victims of those disasters were remembered in a macabre and somewhat unusual way - postcards were rushed out to pay tribute to those who died and those who fought to save them.
Tribute: A sepia tinted postcard commemorating the deaths of seven miners killed at the Barrow Colliery in 1907. An author has written a history of Edwardian mining using a collection of macabre postcards released following disasters
Tragedy: This simple example of a postcard released following a mining disaster shows the aftermath of an incident at the Hulton Pit in December 1910
Memorial: This postcard commemorates the death of 168 miners in an explosion at the West Stanley Colliery in Durham
Dangerous work: A second postcard commemorating the 1909 West Stanley explosion shows pictures of all 168 people killed, left, while another shows an image of a group of brothers waiting for the body of one of their siblings at a mine in Hampstead'
Author John Hannavy has used a postcard collection - many of which were the work of one family-run studio which printed thousands of the sepia-toned tributes - to compile a history of Edwardian mining.
The Gothards from Barnsley would often rush out cards just two or three days after a fatal accident below ground.
Some of the examples in Mr Hannavy's fascinating book include a disaster at the Maypole Colliery in Abram, near Wigan, Greater Manchester, which saw 76 men killed in 1908 and a tragic explosion at the West Stanley Colliery that saw 168 miners perish in 1909.
Heroes also got recognition for their bravery, courage and sacrifice. In the Hampstead Coilliery disaster in March 1908, one miner Join Welsby lost his life while trying to save of 25 colleagues - 'The Yorkshire Hero' proclaims a postcard tribute to the 31-year-old.
Inferno: This postcard was brought out after a fire at the Hamstead Colliery Disaster in 1908
Lives lost: An explosion at the Maypole Colliery saw just three miners brought out alive
Devastating: 76 men lost their lives at the Maypole Warner Colliery in 1908
Grim: This postcard commemorates a 1908 disaster at the Midsomer Norton Mine
Hard working: It wasn't just disasters illustrated in the series of postcards. This example shows a group of workers plying their trade in 1898
Mr Hannavy said: 'The era was the heyday of the picture postcard with hundreds of millions sent every year.
'Coal mining featured heavily - just about every colliery in the country appeared on a postcard featuring mining activity above and below ground.
'They were collected as mementos - and a small percentage of every one sold for - a penny for a plain one and 2p for a coloured one - went to a fund for the families of those miners who lost their lives.
'Many of the cards were beautifully tinted introducing the life of a collier to an ever-wider audience.
'And locally-produced cards commemorated major and minor events - including mining disasters which cost hundreds of lives.'
Big business: Most of the postcards were produced by a single family-run Barnsley, Yorkshire, print studio
Hero: The funeral of a miner called J. Welsby is shown in this example of an Edwardian postcard
Brave: This postcode shows the streets of an unknown town packed for the funeral of John Welsby who is described as a 'hero'
Graphic: Unidentified bodies shown after an explosion at the Darr Mine in Jacobs Creek
The cards are now considered very collectible - some rare examples can fetch as much as £100.
In 1910 the nation’s dependence on coal was so great there were more than 3,200 collieries in Britain producing 264 million tons of the stuff.
But the industry has been in decline ever since - in 1979 there were 170 working mines producing 130 million tonnes a year.
Going up: Workers are brought to the surface after a hard day at the Tilmanstone Colliery
Helping hand: A pit pony pictured bringing coal to the shaft at the Brayton Colliery
And by 2010 the number of pits had shrunk to just three after cheap foreign imported coal decimated the domestic market.
In the first quarter of 2013 the UK pits still producing dug out around 4 million tonnes - while imports during the same three-month period exceeded 12 million tonnes - 15.8 per cent up on the same period in 2012.
The book Edwardian Mining In Old Postcards is published by Halsgrove Publishing and costs £9.99.
Treacherous: Miners are pictured testing the roof to see if it holds at one colliery
Heavy work: Men are pictured digging the coal seam at one of the hundreds of mines across the UK
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