Category Archives: environment

“Slums” of the Black Country: Anvil Yard, Cradley Heath

Posted on December 14, 2015 by

Not far from the Lye Waste lies the ancient manor of Cradley. At the first talk I gave at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in the summer, somebody mentioned to me that I ought to check out Anvil Yard. It turns out, the history of … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, environment, History, Housing, Slum, Space, Worcestershire | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Slums” of the Black Country: Waste Bank, Lye

Posted on December 7, 2015 by

The South Staffordshire coalfield defines the Black Country for many purposes, but as a culturally-defined region, its borders are highly porous. Wolverhampton is in or out, depending on who you ask; Walsall preferred to be out, at least in 1866. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, environment, History, Housing, Landscape, Maps, Slum, Space, Stourbridge | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Slums” of the Black Country: Gold’s Hill, West Bromwich

Posted on November 23, 2015 by

The Black Country is constructed not just upon topography but upon geology. Mines can only be built where there’s something to mine; other sorts of works require proximity to those materials; infrastructure is built around, and to meet the demands of, the geology. … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, Canal, environment, Housing, Maps, Public Health, Slum | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Slums” of the Black Country: Eel Street, Oldbury

Posted on November 2, 2015 by

The Post’s next community is one I’m loathe to try and explain in detail. Oldbury was infamous as one of the most polluted towns in the country – so much so that Dr Janet Sullivan recently completed a top-notch PhD thesis on … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, Canal, environment, Everyday Life, History, Housing, Maps, Public Health, Slum | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Slums” of the Black Country: a tour of Willenhall

Posted on October 26, 2015 by

It comes as no surprise that our loquacious correspondent was a fan of the eminent art critic, writer and proto-environmentalist John Ruskin, whose prose was classically Victorian (read, excessively wordy). In his Birmingham Daily Post article of 11th June 1866, we are introduced … Continue reading →

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“Slums” of the Black Country: Quarry Lane, Bilston

Posted on October 19, 2015 by

If there’s been some research into Carribee Island in the past, and a little into the Mambles in Dudley, there’s almost nothing to be googled on another of the Birmingham Daily Post’s ‘low-lights’ of the Black Country, the next in a series … Continue reading →

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All the pieces matter

Posted on June 2, 2015 by

Disclaimer: I’m no expert on American history, not at all. I’m keen that any theory I want to study be portable though, so I’m attempting here to look at a TV series I’ve been re-visiting through a particular lens. No Black … Continue reading →

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The Planner’s Eye

Posted on April 24, 2015 by

Heath Town Estate, Wolverhampton, by Smileyface on the Skyscraper City website. Click the pic for a link to some truly frightening pictures of the estate at its worst. Multi- and inter-disciplinary research is a major part of academia these days, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, Block Capital, environment, half baked theories, Housing, Maps, Space | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Taking the waters

Posted on January 21, 2015 by

The eighteenth century was, for many of the new middling sorts and gentry, the era of leisure. If you were very well-heeled of course, you had nothing to do but leisure, and the historical traces of Pensnett Chase, for instance, hark … Continue reading →

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Great Dodford

Posted on December 31, 2014 by

In 2009 I cleverly broke my hip while cycling home from work. My recuperation was aided by a boxset of the first series of The Wire, a gift from work; we quickly purchased all the following series, essentially because it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in environment, Housing, Worcestershire | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments