Yes, I remember listening to the BBC radio ballads with interviews with men who'd worked in mining and heavy industry. These were genuine communities; pretty everyone you socialised with would be people you worked with. And there was a lot of culture - people talked about learning about poetry and being introduced jazz music from older colleagues in a ship yard.

But the thing that really stood out to me was this: men who had worked in the mines were happy with their lot and had lots of positive things to say about their working lives, but when they were asked if they would want their children to work in mines their answer was a definite no.