The industrial revolution was enabled by the rapidly declining price of first iron and later steel. Making iron requires bringing together iron ore, coal, and

The industrial revolution was enabled by the rapidly declining price of first iron and later steel. Making iron requires bringing together iron ore, coal, and limestone in a furnace. These are heavy, and transporting them by horse drawn wagons any distance is expensive. England was fortunate in having coal mines, iron mines, and limestone quarries either co-located or on the same river so barges could be used. So once charcoal was exhausted and coking developed as the reducing agent, England had a distinct advantage in producing cheap iron. Once cheap iron was available, it could be used for rails, wheels for mining carts, mining tools, pumps, and eventually steam engines, one thing feeding another in a virtuous cost cycle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrous_metallurgy#Transition_to_coke_in_England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrous_metallurgy#Transition_... https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/ https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british... https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/iron-mining-in-the-british-isles/ https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/iron-mining-in-the-british...