Black Country Living Museum
The Black Country Living Museum deals with the history of the Black Country, the heart of industrial England, with recreated buildings from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought to life by costumed demonstrators and trained educational guides. The museum occupies a twenty six acre urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle.About every two years, the Museum runs a trolleybus event and invites other trolleybuses to visit. The number of visiting trolleybuses tend to vary a lot from perhaps only a couple to ten or so. During the events, they try to run the trolleybuses all week, but it does depend on the availability of volunteer crews. It is interesting to hear the comments of visitors when they experience the trolleybuses - usually along the lines of “why don’t they bring them back” from those old enough to remember them to “what a good idea” from those who are younger.
The Black Country is a large industrial area to the north-west of Birmingham and this museum is a reminder of how things used to be here 100 years ago. It comprises many historic buildings, taken down from elsewhere and re-erected to make an authentic town of a century ago. Highlights include an old-fashioned funfair, a narrowboat ride and a trip down a coal mine, light is deliberately kept to the levels that would have been experienced by the miners so it’s unsuitable for young children. All children and adults, however, can take a lesson in an 1840s school and tour round a Victorian sweetshop, chemist’s, nail-making shop and stables amongst many other exhibits. This is a genuinely interesting living museum and a tour of at least three hours is recommended.
Collections description
Since 1976 the museum has operated from an open air site near Dudley. The museum has specialized in relocating characteristic buildings from the Black Country area to this site. The museum’s collections now total almost 40,000 items, ranging from the buildings through to large machines and vehicles, tools and domestic items, and an archive of photographs, books and ephemera. In 2003 the Black Country Living Museum acquired the site and collections of the Lock Museum (now Locksmith’s House) in Willenhall.
2 for 1 entry to the Black Country Living Museum, allowing you to make a big saving when you travel by train. To get these great savings, simply complete the voucher in the leaflet or the appropriate online voucher and hand it in to the attraction on the day you visit. This popular tourist attraction is within easy walking distance of Tipton station. Please note this promotion is not available with any other offers. Discover a fascinating world when you visit this urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle at the heart of the Black Country.
Located at the Tipton end of the Dudley Tunnel, this 26-acre museum is focused around an historical recreation of a typical 19th century industrial town. Historic buildings from sites around the Black Country have been deconstructed and rebuilt on this site to create an authentic historic environment with pubs, houses and shops.
The Museum as an Event Venue:
The Black Country Living Museum offers a corporate venue with a difference just nine miles from Birmingham City Centre. The award winning Museum can host anything from a meeting for eight to an exclusive evening for more than a thousand. This unique venue can offer facilities for conferences, exhibitions, product launches, training days, evening receptions in the modern Museum galleries and evening hire of the whole Museum for that important company occasion. The Museum is ideally situated in the heart of the West Midlands motorway network, with ample car parking facilities.
