Only one pit pony left

One of the last two pit ponies has died, aged 29. The Welsh pony, called Carl, retired from Ellington Colliery, in Northumberland, in 1994 and was being cared for by the National Coal Mining Museum, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

The museum said: “Carl will be sorely missed as he was loved by all who met him. That leaves only Sparky. He is 35 years old.” More than 70,000 horses worked in the mines 100 years ago but by 1994 there were fewer than 20.