Abstract: Coal in the roof of a seam being mined by the long wall method is recovered by supporting an elongated area of the seam roof using a plurality of cradle supports, the front cradles being moved forward stepwise parallel to the long wall to form a passage with cantilevered roof supporting arms of the rear cradles. When the rear cradle at one end of the passage is moved forward into engagement with the front cradles, the coal in the roof is left unsupported, is collapsed, and is removed via a conveyor and a loader in the passage.