Enjoy the Black Country of yesteryear (Black Country Museum)

Member Name: MisterReview

Product:	Black Country Museum
Date:	14/08/09 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well run museum site.

Disadvantages: Food was pricey and not really that special

The Black Country Living Museum is a heritage site dedicated to the industrial past of the midlands, particularly the Dudley Area. The site was a former railway goods yard and in its expansion now also covers the site of a disused coal mine and lime kilns.

As a Living musuem, its staff are dedicated to living the life of the role of a person from the era represented by the museum, which I understand to be the early 1900s.

The area consists of what can be loosely termed I suppose as a typical urban area of the period. So we have shops, school, church, factories, a coal mine, houses, and even a funfair.

The site is set next to a canal and has canal basin within its perimeter.

This really does look like the set from an old film, and at any minute you expect your surroundings to appear at you as if viewed in scratchy old black and white or even sepia tones.

On entering the museum, you spend some time in a large centre of interpretation which allows you to get a feel of the history, generally for the British industrial revolution, but also more specifically, local industrial history.

Out the other side of the centre you are taken on a tram ride, past the fun fair down, to the main area, essentially representing the outskirts of a small village.

I arrived at lunch time and made a bee-line for the restaurant, which was pricey, but not overexpensive. The food filled a hole, but wasn't great to be honest - sausage and chips to be precise, with overdone sausages. I was hungry and from that point of view enjoyed the filling-up process, but didn't really enjoy the food.

Straight out of the restaurant, you are onto thet banks of a canal basin, with various industrial buildings and machinery, and a barge-yard, comprising wooden sheds. This looks old and battered and worn, and has a beauty that you won't see in a modern industrial yard.

Walking around the canal and over a bridge we come to the village centre, with mock ups of old shops, though I am to understand the buildings themselves are original buildings, that have been moved brick by bricvk from their original sites and re-erected. If I recall correctly most of the shops are actually selling goods just like the ones from the original day.

You can also visit a beautiful old school building, as well as a church, and there are 'actors' on hand to increase the exxperience and answer any questions for you.

The pub is uncomfortable, just the way it would have been, compared to today. The beer was welcome and so would a packet of crisps have been, but I was told in a gruff and unfriendly manner, that 'crisps weren't invented in 1902', so that told me!

The funfair is delightful and has many old traditional rides and an amusement arcade to waste money on.

Further on back towards the entrance (walk back, it is pleasant) you will also see some very old cottages, again these have been 'rescued' and rebuilt. They really do look wonderful inside, and the 'residents' of the cottages are very knowledgeable of their buildings.

There is also a coal tunnel which you can explore, but sadly I missed the last entrance to that.

You really do need to get here early in the day and spend the whole day here. I felt a bit rushed trying to get around, and honestly don't know where the day went.

All was a bit vague, but I understand your ticket does allow you another visit (maybe even more), though you need to request this, furthermore you need to specify if you DON'T want your details taken from you for the charity relief scheme that many of these places latch onto.

Summary: A fantastic full day out, with plenty to see and do.