A Short Introduction To The Black Country

The Black Country.
A Myth

I bet you have a questioning look in your eyes as you reading the heading.

Yes that’s right, a myth.

A myth can be defined as an invented story, concept or idea and that exactly describes what the Black Country is.

Ask someone from Walsall where the Black Country is and then ask the same question to an Albion fan from West Bromwich and their answers will more than likely conflict.

The reason behind this is because no one officially knows where the Black Country starts or ends, from either side or top to bottom.

This is the wonderful enigmatic mythology of the Black Country, passed down generation to generation through Chinese whispers and hearsay until we have what we have today. Consisting of the four boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Walsall, the Black Country has been continually evolving, with major transformation from the 1960’s to the present.

Each separate borough has its own distinctive towns, popularized by its industry, markets or even its local football team.

Separately there is a huge division with Wolverhampton and West Bromwich due to its very famous football teams, but what binds them together is the Black Country and its proud residents. A bind that’s as strong as the iron ore that formed the Working Man Statue that graces the Cinder Bank Island in Dudley.

The Borough of Dudley, South West of the Black Country, is nationally known for its famous castle and zoo and often referred to as the capital of the Black Country.

Its rich historical roots go back a 1000 years with the castle, as well as its surrounding industrial towns.
Stourbridge has long been associated with its world renown glass making whilst Kingswinford has its historical connection to Guy Fawkes and gun power plot. Brierley Hill’s once famous Round Oak steel works have paved the way for the Merry hill shopping centre, and in contrast the green belt and Mucklows Hill of Halesowen.

North of the Dudley borough lies the Wolverhampton borough, and its new city status which was given to Wolverhampton in 2000 as part of the millennium elebrations. Wolverhampton is also the most controversial of the Black Country boroughs due to its localized division of its Black Country Status. Some simply say it is part of it, some don’t.It’s a major part of the west midlands, like Birmingham, and in a lot of ways Wolverhampton as a thriving metropolitan city hold up on its own. Although a serious engineering and manufacturing industry in the Industrial Revolution (in particular locks and keys), it’s more notable from the late 20th century for its breweries, Dunlop factories and Aerospace business. The surrounding towns of Willenhall, Bilston, Tettenhall and Sedgley have all helped craft the established borough.

Walsall is the third borough of the Black Country and the area is closely associated with its leather saddles and buckle industry, with many buildings such as the Saddlers Centre retaining the local heritage by name.
Although modernization of Walsall seems to be an ongoing trend of the borough since the 1970’s and now the inclusion of the recent art gallery in 2000, Walsall has remained firmly grounded. It’s a very accessible borough, with the M6 motorway entwined into Walsall and its intricate bus station spreading the populous to other parts of the Black Country and further beyond.

The fourth but certainly not the least borough is Sandwell. This borough itself is the baby of the bunch, being formed in 1974 after the Warley borough was altered and by 1986 it was a unitary authority in its own right after the collapse of the West Midland County Council. Closely bordering Birmingham and its region, Sandwell’s industry has declined and like the three other boroughs its modernization would make it unrecognizable to the 1900’s.

Through the chain making and introduction of the first UK minimum wage in Cradley Heath to the world famous Hawthorns ground of West Bromwich, The railways of Smethwick linking up the Black Country to the outer reaches of the West Midlands to Tipton and its canal routes, efficiently used throughout the Industrial revolution, Sandwell has a vast heritage that molds the boroughs integrity.

So we have discussed the four boroughs of the Black Country and we can say in terms where it is, but its boundaries have shifted and altered just like the towns though the ages. Through the people of the Black Country, with their hard working attitude and determination of preserving what they believe the Black Country to be, It will always remain and will never be forgotten and that’s all that matters.

The Black Country maybe a myth but its people have created it into legend.

The images in this blog are courtesy of Black Country Genealogy and Family History

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A Short Introduction To The Black Country

The Black Country. A Myth

The Black Country.
A Myth