Might be a daft question but ......

Homes and Retreats
StephenLee

Might be a daft question but ......

Post by StephenLee »

I had dinner last night with a chap who is a local historian, broadcaster and author. He specialises in the industrial past of the Black Country, particularly coal mining.

Last night he showed me some coal board maps that showed coal seams that came to the surface on my land which were considered too small for industrial exploitation.

Old Scrotum, a delightfully rustic neighbour, remembers that between the wars, people armed with picks, shovels and a wheelbarrow would dig coal to heat their own homes or to sell. He implied that this occurred at night suggesting that it was in some way covert.

My question is, if I did find coal on my land, could I just dig it up and use it ? Or do 'mineral rights' automatically belong to the crown ? Any ideas ?

Stephen
User avatar
diamond lil
Posts: 9757
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:42 pm
Location: Scotland.

Re: Might be a daft question but ......

Post by diamond lil »

Well that would depend on whether you wanted to phone up the coucnil and ask them...or whether you wanted to just float along there quietly on a moonless night with a pick and shovel ;)
I come from a mining village and there's a long and revered tradition of thieving :mrgreen: plus there was a big open cast mine nearby- during the miners strike the place was crawling with people and nobody dared to stop them. Also a lot of land was owned by the NCB, who no longer exist... 8-)
smileyt

Re: Might be a daft question but ......

Post by smileyt »

Absolutely no idea, but I'm with Lil on this one. If it's on your own land, who's going to know? :twisted:
bulldogeagle

Re: Might be a daft question but ......

Post by bulldogeagle »

Ditto, keep your gob shut and help yourself. :lol:
Dutchie Delta

Re: Might be a daft question but ......

Post by Dutchie Delta »

Tell none, no trouble.