The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton, around the South Staffordshire coalfield. It has a combined population of around one million. The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, in the English West Midlands. ... This article is about the British city. ... Wolverhampton is a city in the historic county of Staffordshire and metropolitan county of the West Midlands. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ...

By the late 19th century, this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation. The South Staffordshire coal mines, the coal coking operations, and the iron foundries and steel mills that used the local coal to fire their furnaces, produced a level of air pollution that had few equals anywhere in the world. This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... Fe redirects here. ... A foundry is a factory which produces castings of metal, both ferrous and non-ferrous. ... Steel Mill was one of Bruce Springsteens early bands and performed regularly on the Jersey Shore, in Virginia, and also in California from 1969 till January 1971. ... Air pollution is the modification of the natural characteristics of the atmosphere by a chemical, particulate matter, or biological agent. ...

It is popularly believed that The Black Country got its name because of pollution from these heavy industries that covered the area in black soot. There is an anecdote (of dubious authenticity) about Queen Victoria ordering the blinds lowered on her carriage as the royal train passed through. However, historians suggest that it is more likely that the name existed even before the Industrial Revolution; outcroppings of black coal scarred the surface of the local heath, and the presence of coal so near the surface rendered the local soil very black. Queen Victoria redirects here. ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ...

The Black Country is also known for its distinctive dialect, which differs slightly in various parts of the region.

Despite its close proximity to Birmingham, the vast majority of the Black Country's population refuse to claim membership of the city, and are fiercely proud of their area's identity as a separate region.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

The bounds of the Black Country, however, are controversial, and the whole of Wolverhampton is included by some and not at all by others. The usual 21st century definition of the Black Country, encompasses the three Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The town of Dudley is sometimes referred to as being the Black Country's (unofficial) capital. A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England, covering urban areas within metropolitan counties. ... The Metropolitan borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ... Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ... The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a metropolitan borough of the county of West Midlands, England. ... Wolverhampton is a city in the historic county of Staffordshire and metropolitan county of the West Midlands. ... Map sources for Dudley at grid reference SO9390 Dudley is a town in the West Midlands, England. ...

An older, more precise, de facto definition uses geology and follows the outcroppings of the South Staffordshire "thick" coal seam known locally as the "thirty foot seam", as bounded by the eastern and western boundary faults and on the north by the Bentley fault (which divides the South Staffordshire coalfield from the adjoining Cannock Chase coalfield. Near Halesowen and Stourbridge, the coal seams outcropped, providing a southern boundary. On this basis parts of Walsall, Wolverhampton and Stourbridge are not part of the Black Country but West Bromwich is, although here the thirty foot seam is at relative depth. These delineations are still of importance locally. South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. ... Cannock Chase (grid reference SK000165) is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. ... Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England. ... , Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. ... The Public by Will Alsop. ...

A useful guide for outsiders is to regard the M5 and M6 motorways as the eastern boundary but this, even using the 21st century definition is only approximately correct, as Smethwick is to the east of it and most of Walsall lies north east of the M6 motorway. The definition is simply wrong using the older geological definition. The M5 near J28, Devon This article concerns the M5 motorway in England. ... This article concerns the M6 motorway in England. ... For the former parliamentary constituency, see Smethwick (UK Parliament constituency). ...

The Black Country has coalesced into a single conurbation, but is unusual in that it has no single centre, having grown up from a number of historic market towns and industrial villages that have coalesced during the 20th century. It remains essentially polyfocal with many of the towns and villages remaining recognisable communities and in some cases resenting having been subsumed into a metropolitan borough whose centre is elsewhere.

The Black Country lies wholly within the West Midlands County, but was formerly divided between the ancient counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire. Curiously, the ancient parish (and pre-1965 municipal borough) of Dudley was once a detached part of Worcestershire within Staffordshire and some still consider Dudley to be Dudley, Worcs. Even more strangely, until 1845, much of the parish of Halesowen, including Oldbury and Warley Salop (but not Cradley or Warley Wigorn) was a detached part of Shropshire. The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... For the condiment, see Worcestershire sauce. ... For the condiment, see Worcestershire sauce. ... Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England. ... Map sources for Oldbury at grid reference SP3194 Oldbury is a town in Englands Black Country. ... Cradley is a small village in the Black Country of Worcestershire, near Halesowen and the banks of the river Stour. ... Shropshire (pronounced /, -/), alternatively known as Salop[6] or abbreviated Shrops[7], is a county in the West Midlands of England. ...

The Black Country comprises parts of the city of Wolverhampton, and the towns of:

Bilston is a town in Englands West Midlands. ... Blackheath Marketplace Blackheath is a suburb of Rowley Regis, a town in Englands Black Country, part of the administrative district of Sandwell. ... Map sources for Brierley Hill at grid reference SO9286 Brierley Hill is a town in Dudley Metropolitan Borough, West Midlands, England. ... Coseley is a town located within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands. ... Cradley is a small village in the Black Country of Worcestershire, near Halesowen and the banks of the river Stour. ... Darlaston is a town in Walsall in the West Midlands of England. ... Map sources for Dudley at grid reference SO9390 Dudley is a town in the West Midlands, England. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Great Bridge is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. ... Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England. ... Lye is a caustic solution used for glass and soap making. ... Netherton is a town in the West Midlands within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. ... Map sources for Oldbury at grid reference SP3194 Oldbury is a town in Englands Black Country. ... Quarry Bank Originally a small village situated between Lye,Brierly Hill and Cradley Heath, to the west of Birmingham ,England. ... Rowley Regis is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands county, and a part of the Black Country. ... Sedgley is a town in the West Midlands of England, but formerly in Staffordshire. ... , Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. ... The Tipton is also the name of a fictional hotel on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and a term to describe low-grade sportscards. ... , Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. ... Warley is a place in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom. ... , For the legal principle, see Wednesbury unreasonableness. ... Wednesfield (population about 35,000) is a town in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. ... The Public by Will Alsop. ... Map sources for Willenhall at grid reference SO9698 Willenhall is a small town in the West Midlands of England, with a population of approximately 40,000. ...

History

Industrialisation in the Black Country goes far back. It was already an area where metal working was important as far back as the 16th century, due to the presence of iron ore and of coal in a seam 30 feet (9 m) thick, the thickest seam in Great Britain, which outcropped in various places. Many people had an agricultural smallholding and supplemented their income by working as nailers or smiths, an example of a phenomenon known to economic historians as proto-industrialisation. Fe redirects here. ... Coal Example chemical structure of coal Coal is a fossil fuel formed in ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

By the 19th century or early 20th century, many villages had their characteristic manufacture, but earlier occupations were less concentrated. Some of these concentrations are less ancient than sometimes supposed. For example, chain making in Cradley Heath seems only to have begun in about the 1820s, and the Lye holloware industry is even more recent. Lye is a caustic solution used for glass and soap making. ...

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, coal and limestone were worked only on a modest scale for local consumption, but during the Industrial Revolution by the opening of canals, such as the Birmingham Canal Navigations, Stourbridge Canal and the Dudley Canal (the Dudley Canal Line No 1 and the Dudley Tunnel) opened up the mineral wealth of the area to exploitation. Advances in the use of coke for the production in iron enabled iron production (hitherto limited by the supply of charcoal) to expand rapidly. A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ... For other uses, see Limestone (disambiguation). ... Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals linking Birmingham, England to Wolverhampton and the Black Country. ... Stourbridge Canal The Stourbridge Canal links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction) with the town of Stourbridge. ... The Dudley Canal is a canal in the West Midlands, England. ... The Dudley Canal is a canal in the West Midlands, England. ... Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley No. ... Coke Coke is a solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. ... Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. ...

By Victorian times, the Black Country was one of the most heavily industrialised areas in Britain, and it became known for its pollution, particularly from iron and coal industries and their many associated smaller businesses. This lead to the expansion of local railways and coal mine lines. The Line running from Stourbridge to Walsall via Dudley Port and Wednesbury closed in the 1960s, but the Birmingham to Wolverhampton via Tipton is still a major transport route. The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Air pollution Pollution is the introduction of pollutants (whether chemical substances, or energy such as noise, heat, or light) into the environment to such a point that its effects become harmful to human health, other living organisms, or the environment. ... Dudley Port railway station is a suburban railway station in the West Midlands. ... , For the legal principle, see Wednesbury unreasonableness. ... The Tipton is also the name of a fictional hotel on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and a term to describe low-grade sportscards. ...

The anchors and chains for the ill-fated liner RMS Titanic were manufactured in the Black Country in the area of Netherton. Three anchors and accompanying chains were manufactured; and the set weighed in at 100 tons. The centre anchor alone weighed 12 tons and was pulled through Netherton on its journey to the ship by 20 shire horses. For other uses, see Anchor (disambiguation). ... A broad metal chain made of torus-shaped links. ... For other uses, see Titanic (disambiguation). ... Netherton is a town in the West Midlands within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. ... Look up ton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Shire draft horse The shire horse is a breed of draft horse. ...

The area soon gained notoriety. Charles Dickens's novel The Old Curiosity Shop, written in 1841, described how the area's local factory chimneys "Poured out their plague of smoke, obscured the light, and made foul the melancholy air". In 1862, Elihu Burritt, the American Consul to Birmingham, described the region as "black by day and red by night", because of the smoke and grime generated by the intense manufacturing activity and the glow from furnaces at night. Dickens redirects here. ... The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens. ... Elihu Burritt (December 8, 1810 – March 6, 1879) was an American philanthropist and social activist born in the town of New Britain, Connecticut in 1810. ...

It is said that J. R. R. Tolkien based the grim region of Mordor on the heavily industrialised Black Country area in his famed novel The Lord of the Rings. Indeed, in the Elvish Sindarin language, Mor-Dor means Dark (or Black) Land, and is sometimes even referred to within the novel as "The Black Country". Tolkien redirects here. ... Mount Doom and Barad-dûr in Mordor, as depicted in the Peter Jackson film. ... This article is about the novel. ... Sindarin is an artificial language (or conlang) developed by J. R. R. Tolkien. ...

The Black Country today

The heavy industry which once dominated the Black Country has now largely gone. Mining ceased in the area in the late 1960s, and clean air legislation has meant that the Black Country is no longer black. The area still maintains some manufacturing, but on a much smaller scale than historically.

Much but not all of the area now suffers from high unemployment and is amongst the most economically deprived communities in the UK; this is particularly true in parts of Sandwell and Dudley, and to a lesser extent Wolverhampton. As with many urban areas in England, there is also a significant ethnic minority population in parts; resistance to mass immigration in the 1960s and 1970s led to the slogan "Keep the Black Country white!". CIA figures for world unemployment rates, 2006 Unemployment is the state in which a person is without work, available to work, and is currently seeking work. ...

The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley recreates life in the Black Country in the early 20th century, and is a popular tourist attraction. Trolleybuses at the Black Country Living Museum. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Black Country dialect

If you're daft enough to come down here on your way home, your tea will be spoilt.(1997)^[1][2]

The traditional Black Country dialect preserves many archaic traits of Early Modern English and even Middle English^[3], and can be very confusing for outsiders. Thee, Thy and Thou are still in use, as is the case in parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. "'Ow B'ist", meaning "How beist thou?" is a common greeting, with the typical answering being "'Bay too bah", meaning "I bayn't be too bad". "I haven't seen her" becomes "I ay sid 'er". Black Country dialect often substitutes the word "ar" for "yes". Several word pronunciations have been changed as well: "you" is pronounced "yow"( pronounced yo with a silent w,and not yaw like the Harry Enfield stereotype), whereas "go", which is often pronounced "goo" or "gooin'" for "going", is more in line with pronunciations in the Midlands.It is also quite common for broad Black Country speakers to say agooininstead of going (Please note that not all of the phrases used here to illustrate Black Country dialect can be heard throughout the entire Black Country area; most refer to the Dudley area alone.) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Shakespeares writings are universally associated with Early Modern English Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 1400s) to 1650. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... For other uses, see Yorkshire (disambiguation). ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ...

Inhabitants are proud to be known as Black Country "folk" and resist hints at any relationship to people living in Birmingham, calling Birmingham "Brum-a-jum" (Birmingham's colloquial name is Brummagem, a corruption of its older name of Bromwicham — and hence West Bromwich) or Birminam (missing the g and h out and saying it the way it's spelt). Residents of Birmingham (Brummies) meanwhile often refer to their Black Country neighbours as "Yam Yams", a reference to the use of "Yow am" ( or yow'm) instead of "You are", and not because they say i yam instead of I am,in fact the phrase om is often used instead of I am in the area. Dudley residents often refer to the people of Birmingham as 'Dummy Brummies'. Also, the town of Walsall can be pronounced either War-sall or Wor-sull. , Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. ...

The strong Black Country dialect is less commonly heard today than in the past.However,A stronger variation of the dialect (than the one frequently used) appears to be heard quite often in conversations between older Black Country folk.

As the image shows, a road sign containing local dialect was placed at the A461/A459/A4037 junction in 1997 before the construction of a traffic island on the site. This island was completed in 1998 and was the first phase of the Dudley Southern By-Pass which was opened on 15 October 1999. The A461 is a main road in Great Britain that links Lichfield in Staffordshire, with Stourbridge, West Midlands, passing through Walsall & Dudley. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ...

• Black Country Dialect Dictionary The dialect of the Black Country area remains perhaps one of the last examples of early English still spoken today.
• Black Country Sayings

The word endings with 'en' are still noticeable in conversation as in 'gooen' (going), callen (calling) and the vowel 'A' is pronounced as 'O' as in sond (sand), hond (hand) and mon (man). Other pronunciations are 'winder' for window, 'fer' for far, and 'loff' for laugh — exactly as Chaucer's English was spoken. Local dialect was (and probably still is to a lesser degree) quite distinctive between the different towns and villages of the Black Country.

Media

The Black Country is home to two radio stations Beacon Radio and Classic Gold 990/1017 while the city of Wolverhampton has its own local station called 107.7 The Wolf. Both Beacon and Radio WABC (now called Classic Gold) have broadcast since 1976 from transmitter sites from Turner's Hill in neighbouring Rowley Regis. Beacon Radio is the name of an Independent Local Radio station in the Midlands of England, previously known as Beacon FM, and Beacon Radio 303 before that. ... Classic Gold 990/1017, is a United Kingdom radio station. ... 107. ... Turners Hill (sometimes written Turners Hill) is the highest hill in the West Midlands conurbation of England. ... Rowley Regis is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands county, and a part of the Black Country. ...

The Express and Star is the region's newspaper and publishes eleven local editions from its Wolverhampton headquarters (for example the Dudley edition will have a different front page from the Wolverhampton or Stafford editions). Incidentally the Express and Star, traditionally a Black Country paper has expanded to the point where they sell copies from vendors in Birmingham city centre. The Express & Star is an evening newspaper based in Wolverhampton, England, publishing 11 different editions covering the Black Country, Birmingham and areas of the wider West Midlands from Tamworth to Kidderminster. ... This article is about the British city. ...

External links

• Black Country Humour T-Shirts
• Black Country Urban Park plans
• BBC Black Country
• ITV Local ITV Local, featuring Aynuk, Bob Warman and Keith Wilkinson (reporter) and Black Country comedians
• Sounds Familiar? — Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
• The Town Council of 'Lower Bornal' - Black Country Humour
• The Ancient Manor of Sedgley Local History website
• The Wordsley School

Bob Warman is a British television presenter who worked for Yorkshire Television in the 1970s, but has spent his subsequent career at ATV and Central Television, mostly presenting regional news programmes. ... Keith Wilkinson is a British television reporter. ...

Further reading

• Raybould, T.J. (1973). The Economic Emergence of the Black Country: A Study of the Dudley Estate. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5995-9.
• Rowlands, M. B. (1975). Masters and Men in the West Midlands metalware trades before the industrial revolution. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• Gale, W. K. V. (1966). The Black Country Iron Industry: a technical history London: The Iron and Steel Institute.
• Higgs, L. A Description of Grammatical Features and Their Variation in the Black Country Dialect Schwabe Verlag Basel, 2004.
• Beach, Ian. Black Country Dialect Dictionary
• The Black Country 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
• BBC Black Country BBC website for Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton
• Black Country Living Museum
• Black Country Society - publishers of the quarterly "Blackcountryman" magazine ISSN 0006-4335
• Yampy - Extensive Black Country website
• Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain Part II Iron Ores of South Staffordshire. Google Book Search

David & Charles (also David and Charles) is a publisher specialising in illustrated non-fiction books. ... Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ...

References