I was talking with a friend who mentioned "taking tea to India". It made me wonder what the equivalents are around the world. "Taking coals to Newcastle" is the UK's.
Yes and no. It's a circular relationship. The proverb is known to have already existed in Ancient Greece. The pantheon (the version that existed before Xerxes torched the place) was apparently inhabited by tons of owls, especially it's roof construction. Since the pantheon was a temple to Athena, people assumed Athena held Owls holy and the owl became linked to Athena, and since Athena was the goddess of wisdom, Owls became a symbol of wisdom. Since the city and her patron goddess are related by name, Athens is linked to owls as well.
But for the meaning: It's to be taken literally. There were many owls in Athens, so they'd not exactly need any more.
Australia also has a Newcastle (in New South Wales, north of Sydney). Not sure if it has/had coal mines, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Australians using the phrase may be referring to their Newcastle, and even unaware of the English one.
Australia also has a Newcastle (in New South Wales, north of Sydney)
Yes, that's why I mentioned it. When I said "works well in Australia", what I meant was "in theory, the same logic you used to apply it to Newcastle-upon-Tyne could be used to apply it to Newcastle, NSW", and not that it actually is used in Australia (I know I've never heard it).
Not sure if it has/had coal mines
Not just does it, but it is in fact home to Australia's largest coal-shipping port. In fact, Port of Newcastle is, according to Wikipedia, the world's largest coal terminal.
I feel like the closest in the deep south is just "preaching to the choir". A redundant task which ignores a probably better path or explaining something to someone who doesn't need it explained to them.
We also use "taking coals to Newcastle" here in the Midwestern U.S. (Something about being descended from former British colonies...) But I've heard plenty of riffs on that idea, like, "bringing corn to Iowa."
In Spanish we have "llevar leña a la montaña" (take firewood to the mountain) as well as "llevar hierro a Vizcaya" which is take iron to Vizcaya, a city in Spain
In Poland it is „nosić drewno do lasu” (bring wood to the forest). Similar, but a bit different (pointless not just by being pointless, but by being impossible): „nie zawrócisz kijem Wisły” – 'you won't turn Vistula (our biggest river) with a stick'.
Kind of an odd saying, I'm 100% sure Newcastle uses gas for their grill and not a single fast food place uses charcoal grills. If you brought coal to Newcastle, they would have no use for such a thing.
It's an archaic saying but that doesn't mean that the meaning has been lost.
Almost the entire industrial revolution was coal powered and the most common fuel for heating homes was coal. Coal used to be an extremely popular and useful commodity.
Edit: I now see that you thought the town of Newcastle was the fast food chain White Castle lol. I did wonder why you were going on about grills!