I agree Paul, people look back with fond memories of the pits. They are part of our heritage and have played a huge part in shaping the communities, they're gone, full stop,period. Nothing lasts forever. Bedlington is a much cleaner, prettier place without them. I for one would not like to return to the days when the skyline was dominated by a mountain of pit waste and there was a taste of soot and sulphur in the air, the gold old days weren't as rosy as people painted them. As they say " Nostalgia is not what it used to be "