Where all our grannies worked

 ‘Almost everyone in the country will have a grandparent or great grandparent who worked in industry and industrial heritage provides soul to the places where they were brought up’ says English Heritage.  We reckon they might have a point.  In any case we are now being given a chance to help promote the places which have given the Black Country its character and which are now threatened.  Comments and pictures of places like Langley Maltings (image), damaged by fire in 2009, can now be uploaded to a Flickr group run together with national archaeology groups.   So if there’s something nearby that you think shouldn’t be forgotten now’s your chance to pitch in.  Most of the Black Country sites recorded already happen to be in Sandwell (some as part of a great set of photos of all the listed structures in West Brom). Meanwhile unknown to them Google have aleady recorded a piece of history in their images of Langley Maltings before the fire.

Rich history in the landscape now online

Details of historic buildings, structures and archaeological sites in Wolverhampton and Walsall have now become available online for the first time. They can be searched using Heritage Gateway, a national resource which also holds similar information from around the country. The data gives descriptions of more than 3,000 features and includes the ability to see each one in Google Maps.
So, for example, to find all the canal bridges in Wolverhampton (there were 76 when I looked), go to the ‘County/District/Parish’ tab in ‘advanced find’ and choose ‘City of Wolverhampton’ (see image – you can also choose ‘Walsall’). Now click on the tab labelled ‘What’, enter ‘canal bridge’ and hit ‘search’. You might find some history on your doorstep you didn’t know was there!

Historic Maps of Dudley

Dudley Council now provides an online archive of historic mapping and aerial photography. The facility allows you to select the address you wish to locate to display the current mapping at that location—you can then choose to view historic mapping and aerial imagery from the 14th century to the present day. Go to the online mapping facility at: http://www.dudley.gov.uk/environment–planning/planning/historic-environment/historic-maps-of-dudley.

Corner Shops: A Social History

Based on work in the Black Country, a new website has been launched about the social history of the corner shop. The website has been created by the English Heritage Outreach Team and Black Country Touring and aims to inspire others to document and explore the contribution of corner shops to our heritage. Information sourced from The Corner Shop Project has already been presented in a variety of ways: theatre, schools projects, a touring exhibition and an archive. The website features videos, oral history extracts, images and practical case studies to support corner shop themed studies. Visit www.thecornershopproject.co.uk.