Established in 1975, the Black Country Living Museum is a remarkable collection of history and heritage from across the Black Country. The site now covers some 26 acres of reconstructed residential and industrial buildings, complete with live demonstrations and staff in period costume working in shops and houses. The experience is very much like stepping into a time warp.
You really need a full day to do the museum justice. It shows how people lived and worked from the eighteenth century through to the modern era. An electric tramway system operates on site, and many of the buses and vehicles can be seen in working use throughout the year. Coal was mined here, and visitors can even take a tour underground to experience what life in a coal mine was like.
The visitor centre at the entrance provides background information on the Black Country and sets the scene for the rest of the visit. Facilities include a gift shop, a real working pub, a restaurant and canal trips. A walk through the reconstructed village reveals how local people once shopped and the goods they purchased. Visitors can call in at the sweet shop or bakery and sample traditional products, see what an old school classroom looked like, or watch a silent film at the cinema.
The museum has gone to great lengths to provide a realistic and immersive insight into the region’s past. It should be high on any list of places to visit in the West Midlands. Children enjoy it just as much as adults, and there is always something new to discover.
Among the many attractions are tram rides, cast iron houses, an underground mine, Racecourse Colliery, the Newcomen engine, cottages, workshops, schools, fairground rides, lime kilns, shops of every kind, foundries, canal trips, forges, rolling mills, boatyards and Victorian tea rooms.
Tipton Road, Dudley, West Midlands. Tel: 0121 557 9643
For more photographs of the Black Country Living Museum click here.
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