Didn't we have a lovely day...

Didn't we have a lovely day the day we went to ..... The Black Country Living Museum?  We surely did.  Yesterday Jill and I took ourselves off to catch a bus to Dudley to visit the Museum, (Joe had been a couple of years ago and Graham was dog sitting).  We had a very straightforward journey, one bus, a £1.60 fare and a 5 minute walk and we were walking into this open air celebration of  life and work in the Black Country of the 19th and early 20th century.  The 'Black Country' is the area west of Birmingham and south of Wolverhampton that was blessed with an abundance of rich coal, iron stone, limestone and fire clay - the stuff that fueled the industrial revolution!  

 The transport section of the Museum is extensive with numerous examples of the motor cars and motorcycles that were built in the area, as well as working relics of the days of trams and trolley buses.  This single deck tramcar (above) was built in 1920 at Tividale and operated on the Dudley-Stourbridge tramways until 1929.

 The pit-head at Brook Shaft. This is a real pit, one of the 600 or more that were sunk in this area. See info below.

 The telegraph in the wheel house at Racecourse colliery

Single cylinder steam engine to wind the cage up and down the mine shafts and pump out water.

 Dudley Transport clock

 The 'cage' that lowered men and boys down the mine shaft at Racecourse Colliery

 Limekiln cut with a 19th C icebreaker on the right - we could do with that out on the cut now..

 Open all hours....

 The 'mangle' in the background is a 'mangle' because it has wooden rollers - those with rubber rollers were called 'wringers' - you learn something everyday don't you?

We had just been sitting the boatman's cabin aboard 'Peacock' and having a chat.

This rusty hulk (to be restored) is also an icebreaker, or at least it was..

 Another view of FMC Peacock with the Strip Mill in the background.

 These are solid brass sweet moulds

And this contraption with the moulds loaded is used to roll the confectionery and create the sweets

 A parade of shops circa 1930's with a real and functioning chippie!  We enjoyed a bag of chips that had been cooked in beef dripping for our lunch.  The chips were not wrapped in newspapers though...

A posh parlour of 1910

There was so much to see that we didn't manage to cover the whole site but it is so interesting that we will be going back again and as this is a museum that is constantly being added to it is somewhere that would draw me back every couple of years anyway - super place!!