Black Country Society
@blackcountrysoc
The Society is concerned with the history, people, places and lifestyles of the generations that lived, worked and played in the area and those currently making a difference.
The Summer edition of The Blackcountryman magazine is now available to buy from Framers Gallery in Worcester Street, Wolverhampton. 96 pages full of Black Country goodness. Includes a feature on Wolverhampton based photographer and podcaster Graham Stubbs.
Tomorrow: A City War-Walk "Wolverhampton's Great War Railwaymen". Led by Quintin Watt. Meet at The Queen's Building, Victoria Sq, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LD at 2pm. Walk to last between 1.5 to 2 hours.
Wednesday 15th July, A City War-Walk "Wolverhampton's Great War Railwaymen". Led by Quintin Watt. Meet at The Queen's Building, Victoria Sq, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LD at 2pm. Walk to last between 1.5 to 2 hours.
Sweet Heritage! A history of sweets and chocolates in the West Midlands with Emma Barran-Scott. Free to attend. Booking is essential so email localhistorycentre@walsall.gov.uk or call 01922 652212.
Tonight at 7.30pm at Dudley Canal and Caverns. "Paranormal Black Country Ghostly Tales Through the Ages". Presented by Author, Richard O'Connor.
Test your knowledge, and find out just how much your friends and family know – or don’t know – about the Black Country with this excellent quiz book. On sale now in our online shop! www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop
Some of our books are close to selling out! Each of the titles in this photo is down to the last few copies. Nip over to www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop to get yours before they’re gone!
Dr. William Norris: The Black Country’s forgotten medical pioneer with Kevin Goodman . Join us tonight at 7.30pm. Please email blackcountrysocietyvhg@outlook.com for the link.
This Wednesday at Dudley Canal and Caverns, 7.30pm. "Vulcan's Temple", The Story of the Soho Foundry. Presented by Author, Andrew Lound.
We don't just run talks! Yesterday we visited Bradley Canal for a guided tour and presentation of the ongoing project to restore Bradley Canal Locks. Thank you to all those who attended, we hope you enjoyed it, we certainly did! A few pictures of the day.
FAMILY HISTORY SURVEY INVITATION - 'THE ROLE OF MATERIAL OBJECTS IN FAMILY HISTORY PRACTICES' You are invited to participate in a research study about how people practise family history in everyday life with the use of material objects.
Wednesday 13th May: Bradley Canal Project Visit (Presentation & Walk). At Bradley Senior Citizens Centre, Wilkinson Avenue, WV14 8PS. Please assemble at the Bradley Senior Citizens Centre from 13.30 for a 14.00 hrs start. Walking the route will take approximately 90 minutes.
New in stock is ‘The Power to Change the World’. A book about the life of James Watt, edited by Malcolm Dick, chair of the Black Country Society. Recommended. Get yours at www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop
Lichfield, 14th April 2026 — Lichfield Waterworks Trust is pleased to announce it has been awarded a grant of more than £47,000 by Historic England to support a comprehensive architectural survey of Sandfields Pumping Station.
John Morris is a Black Country poet with an eye for the comical and absurd. His book ‘A Black Country Chap’s Life of Rhyme’ is now in stock in our shop. www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop
Clash of empires: the Far Eastern War revisited. Monday 20th April 2026 1pm at Birmingham & Midlands Institute. Presented by Ian Binnie.
We’re delighted to be stocking a selection of volumes of Black Country poetry by West Midlands publisher Offa’s Press. All of these are available in our online shop! www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop
We hope the March event will be the first of many. We’d love to take “The Black Country Society presents…” to venues all across our region, so if you’d like one where you live, get in touch and we’ll see what we can do to make it happen.
Finally, singer-songrwiter Alex Vann took to the mic and reminded us how powerful and beautiful the human voice and acoustic guitar can be when they work together. There was a singalong, of course – what event would be complete without a singalong?
Next, Jane Seabourne guided us through her attempts to make bread pudding, memorably describing it as “a way of recycling stale bread” and wondering whether – as someone not native to the Black Country – she could really do so successfully.
A packed house was treated to poetry from Emma Purshouse (the first Poet Laureate of Wolverhampton) which encompassed the flamingoes in Dudley Zoo in one piece and the Dudley Port factory explosion of 1922 (which took the lives of nineteen young women) in another.
The first of these was held at KTeas Cakes in Wolverhampton city centre on the afternoon of Saturday March 7th, and we’re over the moon to report that the trial run of “The Black Country Society presents…” was a resounding success!
New! But old! We’ve got copies of many of the back issues of the Blackcountryman in stock, going right back to when we first started. These are £2.00 per issue. To find out whether we have the issue/s you’d like, fill in the shop contact form at www.blackcountrysociety.com/contact
Memories of Ted Galley is the writings of a First World War soldier in the Worcestershire regiment, and we’ve just ten copies left. Get yours at www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop Once they’re gone, they’re gone!
The Stourbridge War Memorial pamphlet is almost sold out – we’ve just three copies left in stock. Get yours at www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop Once they’re gone, they’re gone!
‘We didn’t realise our language was part of our heritage’: Language and Coal Mining in the East Midlands Professor Natalie Braber. 19th March, 5.30pm at Wolverhampton University, Wulfruna Building MA221 Join online: teams.microsoft.com/meet/3356778... ID: 335 677 868 607 45 Passcode: 9tn9Zu3x
We’ve just eleven copies left of Remembrance. Get yours at www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop Once they’re gone, they’re gone!
This afternoon, The Black Country Society presents- A Listen and A Loff! Our first social event of 2026, at K-Teas Cakes in Wolverhampton, Saturday 7 March at 3pm. Come along for an afternoon of Black Country entertainment! Seats are allocated on a first-come first-served basis!
There are now just three – yes, three – copies of ‘Black Country Miners: A Struggle For Justice’ left in our online shop. Get yours at www.blackcountrysociety.com/shop Once they’re gone, they’re gone!
Tonight, 7.30pm at Dudley Canal and Caverns. "An introduction to Dudley Canal and Caverns". A talk focusing on the canal network within Dudley, its heritage and its industry. Presented by Rhi Edwards, Programme and Events Manager at DCTT.