The Black Country Living Musuem

On Monday, we had to go up to Birmingham so hubby could have his 2nd epidural to help with his back problem. His appointment wasn’t until 4.30, so we decided to make a day of it and visit the Black Country Museum in Dudley, only 40 mins from where his appointment was.

I’ve wanted to go there for a while, as I’m interested in how people lived from the early 20th century onwards. Also we are big fans of the series Peaky Blinders and some of the filming took place there.

It was very busy with lots of families on their summer holidays having a day out, but it certainly didn’t feel crowded, as it is set in 26 acres. In many of the cottages there is someone dressed in the appropriate clothing of that time, feeding the range with coal, knitting or running the business. He or she will tell you the history of that particular building or about the family that lived there. I was fascinated!

Certain shops were actually open for business. There was a tailors shop where one half was in the 1920s, all vintage stock shown and the other side you could but new flannel grandad collared shirts, tweed caps, waistcoats, Trilby hats etc. A traditional sweet shop, you could see the lady making the sweets in the back room. A bakery, where I couldn’t resist buying some Lardy cake, hubby had a huge Viennese Whirl!

If you were wanting something more to eat there was the Bottle and Glass Inn. Traditional ale and cider on offer with Cob rolls filled with cheese. Or there was the traditional Hobbs fish and chip shop, with everything cooked in beef dripping and served in large handmade paper cones. We opted for this and had to queue for about 30 mins. They were delicious!

In the schoolhouse, you could sit in a lesson. There was one taking place when we looked at the school and as we were a bit pushed for time, we couldn’t wait for the next one, maybe next time.

For me, one of the most interesting bits, was looking at the way people lived back then. Most of the cottages were very poor and with the exception of the 1930s house, which had an actual oven, they all had their blackened ranges for heating and cooking. The lit ones were kicking out some heat! Most houses were back to back houses. There were a few lone cottages dotted about, one being the tilted cottage, so named because of mine subsidence. Some residences had just a yard with an outside loo, others had a garden where veggies and fruit were being grown and again the outside loo.

The foundry and canal was very interesting. This was where some of the Peaky Blinders scenes were filmed in each series. The barges lined up with smoke puffing out of their little chimneys, a massive pile of chains that had been made and piles of coal everywhere. It was fascinating.

So here are some of the photos I took, hope you find them interesting......

By the way, later in the day, hubby’s epidural went well, although his back is not good at the moment. We’re hoping this is just the settling down period and that his back will go on to improve even more.
The remainder of this week has been catching up on chores, going the gym and dodging the awful downpours of rain we’ve been having!

Thursday evening, we went to a quiz night at hubby’s golf club and our team won. Can’t believe it! Yesterday was Blue Cross and I baked them a fruit cake this week.

I’m off to watch Exeter City this afternoon. Thankfully the weather is better, so I should keep dry. Hope you all have a lovely weekend, thanks for popping by, cheerio for now, Ann x