Abandoned pits of former mining town fuel green revolution

Project in Seaham, County Durham, will use water from mine shafts to heat 1,500 new homes

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Kevin Shaw remembers Seaham in its mining heyday, when the three pits in the town provided thousands of jobs and the network of red-brick terrace houses overlooking the sea were packed with miners and their families.

It was a totally different place then all right," says the 63-year-old looking out from a seafront cafe across a shimmering North Sea. It was a very strong community, everyone had a connection to the mines ... coal wagons would rattle across this road and down to the docks."