2015-07-18 (Day 199)

We went to visit my parents today, but for a change we took the back road through Harthill.

Harthill is a mining village which, like so many similar villages, suffered badly when the pits shut down. It is having to deal with the challenge of finding continuing reasons to exist while still honouring its past.

One way of recognising its history is this statue, by James Paterson, a student of world renowned sculptor Andy Scott (http://www.jpfab.co.uk/sculptures.html).

Yet while the miner is respected for the horrible work he did, even here he can't escape from that which replaces him. The wind turbine in the background brings with it both advantages and problems compared with coal, but whether we like it or not that is where our energy is increasingly coming from.

We adapt to survive.