The  Sea Coaler

The sea coal washed ashore is the light sediment carried by the currents from the  dumped mine waste further up the coast, still washing ashore thirty years  after the last mine closed.  Once a lucrative business employing hundreds along the  coast, now  only two wagons continue to collect the  coal.
Steve Ross, one of the last of the sea coalers, who works the beach at Middleton, Hartlepool scraping the coal off the sand as it is brought in on each tide  turning the beach black. In his eightie, Steve lays his claim patch of coal by carving his name in the beach, filling his truck with 3-4 loads between each high tide.