Irony is lost as taking coal to Newcastle becomes reality LONDON (AFP) - Taking coal to Newcastle has become reality, as the northeast English city once famous for exporting mountains of coal from nearby pits starts importing the fuel instead. AFP/File Photo Newcastle's Tyne Dock has received its first cargo of Russian coal, and it expects to import up to 70,000 tonnes by December, the local Evening Chronicle newspaper reported. It will be used to power a smelter in Northumberland run by Canadian aluminium group Alcan. Keith Wilson, managing director of the Port of Tyne, recalled that in its heyday, the Tyne river -- which runs past Newcastle into the North Sea -- was the largest exporter of coal in the world. "We do not export now, but it is ironic that we are now starting to import it," he told the newspaper. In an editorial, the Evening Chronicle regretted the development, which came 20 years after bitter strikes that led to the demise of large-scale coal mining in Britain. "What next?" it asked. "Selling sand to Arabs and snow to Eskimos. A sad day indeed for our once-proud mining communities."