Black Country Living Museum

This morning we awoke to another  beautiful sunny day. We had a lovely breakfast and sat outside with a coffeee whilst we waited for the Black Country Living Museum at Dudley to open.

The museum was amazing. When you think of a museum, this is not what you would expect. It is a living museum, with houses and community buildings set in 26 acres around the canal basin.

We walked around the houses, many of which had people in them to tell you the story of the houses and the family that lived there. I found it fascinating to see how people lived in the past. The museum has houses and shops dated from the 1800’s to post war.

The shops have staff in there who again tell you the story around the shops and the goods in there. There are other people wandering around in costume telling tales and helping people out.

There is also a working fairground, a school, a chapel, a mine, a pub and lots of industrial buildings. Many  of the buildings originated in the Black Country and were taken down and reconstructed in the museum. Even the tilted house, which came from an area of mine subsidence has been rebuilt with the correct tilt to recreate the subsidence.

We had a tour down the mine where the enthusiastic  guide, George told us all about the mine and the people who worked there.

We then had excellent fish and chips for lunch and of course had to buy sweets from the old sweet shop to eat later on. During the day the buses were running up and down the site and an occasional vintage vehicle passed by from the showroom on site.

Everyone that worked there was so friendly and helpful, giving lots of historical information and being genuinely interested in who we were and where we had come from. I would definitely recommend a visit here if you get chance.

Moving on to modern regeneration

Back on the barge, we thencontinued on to the Wolverhampton level canal and then the Birmingham main line. This took us through some very built up areas outside Birmingham, including travelling under a long stretch of motorway which was under construction, supported by scaffolding. The workers carried on working whilst we travelled underneath, causing a rainfall of watery cement to fall on the boat (and the driver)

Continuing further along we went through three locks. These were a little run down and were much harder to wind and open than the ones we passed through yesterday. Unfortunately as we were approaching the locks my friend stepped off the boat whilst it was moving and fell headlong onto the path. She is now sporting a lovely graze down her arm and knee.

We then carried on into Birmingham where we moored up at Cambrian Wharf right outside the sea life centre and the Birmingham Arena. This is a beautiful area which has had some regeneration and is lively and bustling. There are lots of bars and restaurants.  The buildings are beautifully restored and the area looks very smart.

Other than the slight mishap, it’s been another great day!