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i have just obtained couple of very interesting books one on the Kent Coalfield this is particularly interesting story supported by some newly published Black and White photos and the other on Lothians Shale Oil Industry written by the respected Mining Historian Guthrie Hutton "Those Dirty Miners" - A History of the Kent Coalfield, J P Hollingworth, A4, Sb , 96PP A painstakingly researched history of this small but fascinating coalfield. The material covers the period from the late 19th century to its final closure and encompasses the colliery of Shakespeare at Dover, several lost collieries such as Wingham and the four productive collieries of Tilmanstone, Snowdown, Chislet and Betteshanger. Also contains a fully illustrated chapter by Tom Heavyside on Kent’s Last Days of Colliery Steam. Full of informative detail and with many previously unpublished photographs. £16.00 Shale Oil - A History of the Industry in the Lothians, Guthrie Hutton, SB,57pp The fascinating story, written by the well respected Mining Historian Guthrie Hutton, begins with visionary chemist from Glasgow, James Young, and his innovation and tenacity in developing and refining the process of extracting usable oil from the Lothian shale fields. Much has been written about mining and Scottish coal but relatively little about the shale oil industry which brought whole villages into existence and transformed an entire area west of the capital and south of the Firth of Forth. Includes a series of black and white photos of the industry. £7.99 Available from myself at www.moorebooks.co.uk and other good bookshops Mike