It is also the case in Cornwall.
There seems to be little understanding of the past, of the significance of what they did, or what they found, or what they contributed to present scientific understanding.
There seems to be little to discriminate about the remains or the significance about various pieces of wasteland, whether it's something like Wheal Concord, a small tin mine which did nothing in the 1980's, or Consols, which was one of Cornwall's top 3 copper big hitters.
We quickly obtain superduper status for places like the Crowns at Botallack, yet more significant milestones are neglected, buried and abused.
I suppose, whilst it is profitable for people like Prince Charles to gain ownership of vast swathes of old mining land, as that's what happens in Cornwall, or for people like the various 3rd sector superduper sustainable future stewards is that it makes a load of wealth go from the general population to them.
Rather than trying to hold on to a load of crappy waste land with some partially buried features of little modern relevance, apart from the awe inspiration of those who understand, maybe it is better to record it accurately and then make the land useful in other ways.
After all, what did the miners do and what did they destroy in the process? In the old days, there was most certainly no romance for industrial history, just as there is now.
Recently, there have been a whole series of shafts and sites obscured by people who have little interest in their histories, or their future potential. I'm sure it has long been the case. Perhaps it might be an idea to educate the next generation with an appreciation their immediate forefathers lacked.
Cornwall Studies Library is full of documents of things which were destroyed to make way for various developments. It is sad, but then again, so are certain aspects of progress.
On that drunken note, goodnight.