Travel Eye on the Black Country (England)

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Overview:

Tour the Black Country and you travel a trail through time, from a primeval shallow sea, to the birth of the Industrial Revolution, to the modern day. A visit to The Black Country reveals a rich seam of art, crafts, tradition and culture set amidst historic towns and inviting green countryside.

Just thirty minutes by bus or train from Birmingham International Airport you can watch Black Country artisans in authentic 18th- and 19th-century workshops busy at their crafts. Well worth a visit are the leatherworks at Walsall, the Red House Cone and Broadfield House glass-making museums at Dudley and the enamelling workshops at Bilston. Alternatively, discover the origins of famous names like Chubb and Yale at the Lock Museum in Willenhall.   Alternatively, visit the Black Country Living Museum at Dudley, where you will see the painstakingly reconstructed original buildings and cross the portal into Victorian times, magically recreated for you.

In Wednesbury, you'll find one of the world's largest collection of Ruski 1930s pottery. The stunning New Art Gallery in Walsall opened in February 2000 and features the magnificent Garman Ryan Collection - over 350 internationally important paintings by artists like Picasso and Van Gogh.

Prepare to be amazed by the colourful flotillas of narrowboats and myriad of canals that twine through the towns and countryside.

Perhaps you prefer to walk along quiet nature trails or through peaceful green countryside where you can see historic castles and stately homes. Or spend time at Sandwell Valley Country Park, home to rare, native farm breeds like the Tamworth pig.

For entertainment, come to Wolverhampton. Spend an evening within the Victorian splendour of the Grand Theatre, or dine at one of the many restaurants and enjoy the varied nightlife in style. There are exciting opportunities for shopping too, like the vast Merry Hill Centre, factory shops, street markets and crafts centres where works of contemporary Black Country artists are for sale and on display.

Throughout the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton you'll find traditional real ale pubs, excellent restaurants and the warm hospitality and dry sense of humour that Black Country people are famous for.

Whatever your age or interest, The Black Country beckons with its unique, living heritage - truly a place of surprises and delights.

Locality:

The Black Country located in the county of Staffordshire is not a place or a region but a term used for the collective towns and cities of Walsall, Willenhall, Wednesbury, Dudley..etc for it's significance in industry in the 18th and 19th century. It gathers it's name from the pollution and 'smog' that was present during this historical period.

Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:

Things to see and do

• Sandwell Valley Country Park
• Walsall Leather Museum
• Dudley Zoological Gardens
• Moseley Old Hall (National Trust)
• Wightwick Manor (National Trust)
• Red House Glass Cone
• Royal Brierley Crystal Experience
• Black Country Living Museum
• Wolverhampton Art Gallery
• Himley Hall & Park     

Events

January:   Pantomine, The Grand Theatre
June:   24 hour Mountain Bike Race (Sandwell Valley Country Park)
July:   Summer XS (Himley Hall & Park)
August:   V Festival (Weston Park)
September:   Dudley Glass Festival (Dudley Glass Quarter)
October:   Walsall Illuminations (Walsall Arboretum)
November:   Walsall Arboretum (Himley Hall & Park)
December:   Christmas Evenings (The Black Country Living Museum)