As a result of both Maasmechelen's location near the border and its coalmining history quite a few of its current inhabitants are from Dutch, German, Eastern European (e.g., Polish) or Mediterranean (among others Italian and Turkish) origin.

Up to this time agriculture and coalmining had been the main occupations.

Sunderland is widely known for its coalmining and shipbuilding heritage.

Coalmining had a long history locally, and was, at one time, responsible for subsidence damage to some buildings.

Today, there is less intensive agriculture labour and there is no coalmining in the area.

Other major strikes occurred on the waterfront, in the coalmining and timber industries in the late 1920s.

The nationalization of the coalmining and steel industries in 1948 saw the group forced to sell off its interests in these fields.

By the 20th century Dosthill had been transformed into a coalmining and brick making village.

The village mainly supported itself by farming, though there was some coalmining; the remains of a wagonway have been recorded.

To the north the ridge broadens out into Merthyr Common, an area heavily altered by opencast coalmining.

An era ends in the Rhondda, South Wales, when the last coalmine closes after more than 100 years of heavy coalmining in the region.

Hulluch was on a part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais coal seam and coalmining began here in 1902 and stopped in 1978.

Its theme paid homage to the industries of the north-east of England, past and present, depicting coalmining, ship building, textiles, glass making and other related industries.

The hammer and pick charge on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side refers to the former coalmining in the local area and the old mining tradition.

In 1775, the Elector Palatine bestowed bequests upon the mine foremen Meixner and Weiß, thereby starting the more extensive phase of local coalmining.

Lamey, Christina M. "Davis Day Through the Years: A Cape Breton Coalmining Tradition."

The valley, along with Haine and Vesdre valleys form the sillon industriel, the historical centre of the Belgian coalmining and steelmaking industry, and is also called the Walloon industrial backbone.

On the other side of the bend sinister wavy is an ear of grain representing agriculture, and the field tincture on this side, sable (black), recalls the coalmining that was once common in Breitenbach.

The South Wales Valleys, a centre of the coalmining and steel industries, was also devastated by the depression where towns such as Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea had unemployment rates reaching above 25% at certain times.

From the late 19th century and into the 20th century the adverse effects of the decline of local coalmining and dependent industries in the area were ameliorated by the emergence of Whitley as a seaside holiday resort.

Once a thriving village, due to the local coalmining, it is now little more than a few private houses, and the former Westwood County Junior Mixed and Infant School is now a housing complex where the houses are named after the rows of colliery houses that were demolished in the early 1970s.