Well expressed Ickok, I couldn't have written better. Throughout the years I have experienced the stuffy club/society situation you describe and it's very off putting especially to newcomers trying to start caving/mine exploring, the stuffy nosed so and sos whom you describe often forget that they were once young and had to start! Fortunately I can reflect back to the comradery and freedom of my early caving days in the 1950's/60's when we swopped plans, write-ups of caves/mines (because there was such a lack of accessible records in those days), planned meets and digs together, met up in the pub together etc. etc., then most mines and caves were accessible as long as we previously sought permission. Transport was the difficulty and meant that we could only access local areas where bus and train services allowed us weekend exploration. We walked everywhere carrying our gear, wore old cast off clothes for caving, paper machie helmets, carbide lamps, used flash powder to take photos, it's horrifying looking back, we must have despoiled quite a few mines we explored in the process! So we were far from perfect but we did not deliberately destroy artifacts, and if we found some poor soul on their first trip on their own exploring a mine, we offered them a trip with us, mostly our offer was accepted, sometimes they stayed with us, sometimes they joined other clubs, but they learnt through us the basic rules of cave and mine exploration and what not to do or destroy.
For people not to vandalise mines they have to be taught, one cannot learn without experience, but unfortunately there are ignorant people out there unwilling to blend in and learn and think it great fun to destroy rock formations, minerals and arifacts without giving any thought to the destruction they may have caused because they don't know any better, they are no better than children. I'm afraid that it's become a very selfish world to live in these days. Present day people haven't got much idea of history, it would appear from the experience of my grandsons that the history I was taught at school is no longer taught, and apart from studying geology it was history that attracted me to mine exploration against just plain caving. I wanted to know about the people who worked in and around the mines, and it was the artifacts that they left behind that got me even more interested. If they are removed or destroyed how will people learn about the miners of old.
Aditnow is one of the best websites I've come across on the internet for the information that is on it, through the people who participate by contributing photos, plans, documents and debating on the forum, I've made friends on it and learnt a lot. Without it, which unfortunately at the same time has the downside fault giving access to everyone, thus allowing unscruplous mine explorers to exploit the information contained upon it, we would be worse off. Regardless of such people we have to keep it open (in fact with all the information that it contains I begin to worry about what will happen to it in the long term - have you any long term plans for it's preservation Simon? Perhaps a new topic!) but at the same time if one has a mine one is very sensitive of (such as my favourite lead mine in Derbyshire), one hardly dares mentions it and certainly doesn't give it's location. One sadly has to be discreet.
This problem is one that is going to remain with us for evermore and I cannot see any easy answer to solving it.