In 1984 the miners in the UK went on strike because of goverment proposals to close 20 coal mines. After a year long strike the miners returned to work and the coal mines started to close. Over 30 years 140 mines closed and now there are less than 10 left within the UK. The coal, well its still down there, deep in the earth. Places like Woodhorn are now museums.
The 1984 miner's strike must be one of the greatest tactical errors ever. Sadly, change always affects some people negatively but without it we would not survive...
Here if a business closes, it normally is just torn down. Seems you Brits make a museum from most anything. But, I'm not saying that is bad, I like that you do that. Once a place is gone, it's gone. This was a big part of your history.