I'm Wednesbury born and bred. This video bought a tear to my eyes. About 9mins in, we helped each other for free. We didn't have money anyway. Yes you didn't rob your neighbours or go shoplifting. The Women being interviewed in the market are some of the amazing people that raised me and made me what I am today. Black Country and proud.
@user-sc3ts6lf8r sorry, I ignored your comment, I thought you were being sarcastic,lol. In my defence I did fall down the stairs and knocked myself about a bit. I'm sure if Mom and Dad were here they would recognise your Gran, she looks very familiar. I used to hate shopping in Wednesbury with Mom, she seemed to know everyone. It took ages to get it done. Happy Xmas, av a good un.
Filmed in the year I was born, how our landscape has changed. The best of times and the worst, our industry fed the world with innovation and design since Abraham Darby first smelted iron from ore. I'm a Babcock time served welder and learned my trade in Tipton but our industry has sadly gone, successive governments and over zealous unions saw to that. We made the world once but now aged 54 I'm one of the youngest welders I know and the last of our proud generation. So many foundries I welded in are all gone now, housing estates sit where factories once stood... Damn those who sold us out over the years.
@@Ashley_x_Smith hi, I know sad isn't it. I have a welding story. My Dad turned up for his first day at work at the age of 13 to work with his Dad's riveting gang. My Grandad said I have got you a place with another gang, riveting is a dying trade. It's a new technology called welding. He went on to become one of the best welders in the country, working for all the big names, the old park, onion'ses, fosters etc, eventually ending up at FH Lloyds Wednesbury and then the Tipton works. He worked on the Thames barrier and what was the biggest earth mover in England, it was nicknamed the big Geordie. He did everything from co2, electric arc, submerged arc and electro slag. He was the first welder in the country to use the electro slag, it was a prototype built for Lloyds by esab of Sweden. It could butt weld plates 15in thick. Happy times, he said you could quit your job in the morning and be working somewhere else by the afternoon. How times have changed.
What wonderful people these are! My grandfather was a West Virginia coal miner and blacksmith, cut his life short, but he had a huge heart. Tough as a rail tie, yet smiled through it all. Both the Black Country and Appalachia have seen better days but their history is proud with the pulse of raw soul. Great doc, thank you.
Im american and lived in the west midlands. I’ve even played non-league football in dudley. Brierley Hill. I returned to california but i dont care what anyone says. Black Country’s my second home
I currently live in Cradley and our local chip shop is called The Chainmakers' and I live in an old terrace like the ones on here. The gardens and houses where I live still have old terraces that were used to make the chains, a part of my house at the back was originally a workshop.
Proud to be born bred and still living in Quarry Bank , my dad was a stamper in a drop forge, my grandmother worked on a big drilling machine making shackles, hard working , hard living people, no messing about in the 60s " If yo plade up yo got a Quarry Bonk Paling "Greetings from the Black Country ,Happy New Year Everyone
Great time capsule. All my family on my mother's side are from West Bromwich, so although I've lived all my life in Birmingham I feel a tremendous attachment to the Black Country.
A valuable reminder of how brutal heavy industry life was (it still is, of course, in parts of the world). I do miss the camaraderie of our British pubs in those days though. Long gone now.
Saturday night, mum,dad in the pub,dad,Dom’s,mum talking to friends, PIano going packed out,they employed a waiter,2 prices,one for best room and snug,one for tap room,once got a rollicking for buying a pint in tap room, and taking it into the best room happy days
During the Great Strike my grandparents (Grandfather worked in a Bilston Foundry) had a piano and were told to sell it by the Union before they'd get any subsistance. My grandmother made my mother a blazer and skirt so she could attend the Grammar school ... cash for the material came from a 'better off' Aunt. Hard times indeed!
when I was very young (70s) My Nana used to live opposite a pub, every night we stayed over, we could hear he piano and singing, usually old war songs. favourites seemed to include "Roll out the barrels" or "while cliffs of Dover". It s a gastro pub now.
What a special documentary this was. Thank you for posting it. The ladies were sweet, gentle and pleasant to listen to. Heaven help the man who dared fistfight a chainmaker. Enormous arm and upper body strength. Greetings from a former steeltown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ❤
Many happy memories brought back of visiting my maternal grandparents in Darlaston - lovely picture of the people, the accent, the humour and the hard work and tough lives they had.
For many years I thought my heritage originated in Wales .Last year I discovered it was actually West Bromwich .It transpired my Great Grandfather stood up against a mine owner after an accident which claimed many lives .He was forced out of town and settled in South Yorkshire..
It is striking that these people look so much healthier and happier than people today, despite the pollution and the poverty, they appear to have some thing that seems to be gone today, a strong sense of identity, and a pride of place. No one looks obese or undernourished or drug addled. The dog and cock fighting is horrible to hear about though.
@@Chris-wytthe NHS was there from 1948. People, especially men, aged quickly through living the life so clearly shown here. Work was hard and often dangerous - as the chain makers showed early in the film. Heavy smoking and drinking will not have helped. We forget the harshness of working class life through the early twentieth century far too quickly.
I too grew up in the Black Country at Coseley. Went to Mount Pleasant school and then High Arcal in Sedgley. Black Country people are the nicest folk I have ever known in my 72 years - by a distance.
Wow...I was born in the fifties but in the early eighties I used to work at Butlins and every night just before closing time, everyone would head over to 'The Pig and Whistle' for a sing song , songs like 'I am the Piano Man' , the place was heaving and with the singing, the building literally shook ! Great times !
I was born in Halem hospital West Bromwich, Brought up in Wednesbury until 6years old and thereafter in Tipton. I now live in Wales. It's difficult to explain to people how special Black Country culture has been and how different my childhood has been from other people brought up in other areas. This video has reminded me of all that but I can't help but notice that most people interviewed are talking with their "posh" voice and not he really broad Black Country dialect I remember.
grey pase and bacon!! i vaguely remember eating this in the wheatsheaf(holdens pub) west brom near carters green, on match day!! around 1979! and it wuz bostin!1
@MrPercy112 also, this video is about chain making, not glass blowing.. not all glass blowing was done in Brierley Hill was it?. The old one at Amblecote isn't classed as a black county area, it's bordering Wordsley, Stourbridge and Amblecote. The video is about chain making, and it does give borders.
Oh well, if Google says so, then who am I to disagree? Is the ‘Black Country’ only defined by chain-making then? Any road up, I hope you have a good Christmas. 👍
No wonder my grandparents left Dundee in 1919 and came too East London in RSA. Thank you Grandad McCulloch and Nanny. RIP. Glad you not around to see the disaster SA is now since 1994. You would weep.
My family are😢 from the Black Country and the Jewellery quarter- I'm so proud of the connections despite growing up in Cheltenham and attending a private school ❤
Ditto! My Gran (born in Smethwick in 1896) finally lived in a flat in one of the new tower blocks shown in the film and could never get over her grandaughter going to private school where we lived on the Isle of Wight. 😊 I’m proud to have family from every one of those towns and villages the narrator mentioned….our ancestors worked on the anvil of the world. Bless them. They were tough.
I bought my first wife's engagement ring (a long time ago) from the Jewellery quarter from a man, my aunty knew, and we bought it via a back door - it was quite cheap but a huge blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. So probably knocked off eh? My uncle drove car transporters - so everybody got new batteries for their cars... The 'black economy' right?
very interesting video. I must confess that as I live in Northamptonshire, I only had a very vague idea of where the black country was, so it was nice to have it's boundaries defined. thankyou for sharing
All of that great natural wealth just sitting there under the ground. There are countries that would love to have been so blessed. The ignorance of our political class knows no bounds.
Superb piece of history 👏👏 born in willenhall the skilled industry that was prevalent in our area has long since gone.My grandparents used to run The Bell in willenhall and my uncle was a lock-maker, so sad the uk has become a dump.An era of respect ladies were ladies gentleman were gentlemen,no stabbings,murders,litter and low life behaviour.
No, integration built Britain. Most of them came from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the North, hence our strange accent. They worked hard together and played hard. My family came from Ireland, but they integrated, I'm not Irish, though I am proud of my roots, I am 100% English and 200% Black Country.
Yes it was a hard life but they got on with it ,they knew no other way, it was no good moaning unless you where born with the Gentry, it was the way many people had to lived, hard working but proud people.
Any one of these characters could've been an uncle or aunt of mine. My mum comes from the Black Country (Smethwick) and she had 12 brothers and sisters (my grandma was blind). When I was little we lived in Coseley as did a number of uncles and aunts. We moved away to WSM but often went back to visit - I was 15 in 1969 - so can remember what these places were like and people such as portrayed here. (Voice over was a bit patronising - probably some Oxbridge bloke who got a job in TV through patronage and had never got his hands dirty.)
Bilston born a Black Country mon, l have seen horses pulling barges on the cut [canal] and 3 kids drowned in them also. Times when neighbors borrowed a cup of sugar or a shilling for the gas, hard workers and heavy drinking, pawn shops to see you through till payday, in a way good times,
I've lived most of my life in the Black country and wouldn't live anywhere else good friendly folks This Country wouldn't be as rich without its Industry making everything
I think it's where the term, Hard as nails, and even they get hammered. Comes from. I remember the squalor and the acceptance of the people who never thought things would change so most people ended up drowning their sorrows in beer down the pub whilst the women looked after the kids on very little money. Each relying on others though everyone was in the same boat. Most people would still be living like this if we hadn't voted in a decent Labour government. I've heard of dog fighting and badger baiting but never witnessed it though I've helped as a kid on look out drinking the gambling sessions in the wrenna. I remember hearing about Speka letting someone loose his rot down in the celar when someone bet his old poodle against it. They left them together while they fought it out and after a couple of minutes it went quiet. When they opened the cellar door they were all surprised to find the old poodle walk out and the big dog dead. I do know cockfighting also went on and many people kept chickens some also kept pigs. The people were hard and kept themselves to themselves as there was a lot of thieving and trouble amongst the communities. Everyone lived and survived in poverty. They'd turn in their graves today knowing the others have voted in a war mongering gang of ruthless Neoconservatives.
This is great, thanks for posting this. I'm a Brummie, living in New Zealand. I've got to show this to my wife (she's a Kiwi...addicted to Jaffa cakes and Wotsits!) it will be interesting for her. By the way, I put the captions on, when the 90 years old lady said "furnaces" the caption replaced it with..."penises" 🤣😂🤣 so when good old Phil Drabble started talking about cock fighting that started me laughing again!
I'm a bummie and baggies fan, so that makes me a black country bloke! I'm also in love with NZ, been there twice !?!? Hitch-hiked there in 1992, and used the trains from Aukl and to Invercargill, and cycled all the way back?!!
@@genevievedolan1288I'm from what used to be the "potteries" and I think a phrase will explain it. "Am youm oright" translates as"are you alright". this was an `am yam` someone from the black country I think.
I was in a pub in Bridgnorth some years ago when I heard a woman say to her friend that West Bromwich was in the Black Country, to which I shouted across the pub, "no it ay". Well it was that or "cobblers" 😁. Talk about the tension of a cock fight 🤣. There's many a taan surrounding the real Black Country that every so often, when it suits, or is fashionable, that like to have signs that say something like "Wolverhampton in the Black Countrry", but as the film suggests, real Black Country folk are quite territorial, even if yowm daan another road yowm foreign, so such signs as decribed above are indeed cobblers. Great upload!
@@philhawley1219don powell drummer slade, off stowlawn bilston. jon brookes wednesbury, martin blunt portobello both of indie band the charlatans.
As a lad in the 6os in wednesbury, i heard my dad say "thee bist cosnt cost" to a mate of his(you cant ,can you?). I thought he knew a foriegn language
& the government & monarchy stick their nose up at the black country after what the black country contributed to the wealth of the country. God bless & protect the black country & its citizens ❤
Like Middle English Chaucer language the Canterbury Tales 🎶fascinating video, learnt a great deal re understanding/acceptance Born Portland House 🏰 Wednesbury
They were dressed in quality material despite their poverty - good wool and cotton - not like the rubbish we wear today - all plastic and polyester that hardly last one wash! We can’t afford wool and quality (not cheap) cotton today despite increased wealth and comfier lifestyles. They were tough, hard-working and grateful for everything they had, despite the fact life was unforgiving. But I hate dog and cock fighting - totally unnecessary - just satisfies the perverted violent senses of men.
Black Country bred... all of this is still there and very vibrant if you go the rite pubs, the working man clubs, black Country family pride, we still av it, when the families gather at Christmas, all the young uns an babies, cousins an uncles, yeh we av a laugh, gray pays an baycun all the way haha
The British get trolled for bad teeth but these people’s teeth look good for the most part. Possibly better diets with less sugar. Also no one seems to be obese.
I'm Wednesbury born and bred. This video bought a tear to my eyes. About 9mins in, we helped each other for free. We didn't have money anyway. Yes you didn't rob your neighbours or go shoplifting.
The Women being interviewed in the market are some of the amazing people that raised me and made me what I am today.
Black Country and proud.
❤🫶
@user-sc3ts6lf8r sorry, I ignored your comment, I thought you were being sarcastic,lol. In my defence I did fall down the stairs and knocked myself about a bit.
I'm sure if Mom and Dad were here they would recognise your Gran, she looks very familiar. I used to hate shopping in Wednesbury with Mom, she seemed to know everyone. It took ages to get it done. Happy Xmas, av a good un.
Wolverhampton me ar kid
God bless ya
Filmed in the year I was born, how our landscape has changed.
The best of times and the worst, our industry fed the world with innovation and design since Abraham Darby first smelted iron from ore.
I'm a Babcock time served welder and learned my trade in Tipton but our industry has sadly gone, successive governments and over zealous unions saw to that. We made the world once but now aged 54 I'm one of the youngest welders I know and the last of our proud generation. So many foundries I welded in are all gone now, housing estates sit where factories once stood...
Damn those who sold us out over the years.
@@Ashley_x_Smith hi, I know sad isn't it. I have a welding story. My Dad turned up for his first day at work at the age of 13 to work with his Dad's riveting gang. My Grandad said I have got you a place with another gang, riveting is a dying trade. It's a new technology called welding. He went on to become one of the best welders in the country, working for all the big names, the old park, onion'ses, fosters etc, eventually ending up at FH Lloyds Wednesbury and then the Tipton works. He worked on the Thames barrier and what was the biggest earth mover in England, it was nicknamed the big Geordie.
He did everything from co2, electric arc, submerged arc and electro slag. He was the first welder in the country to use the electro slag, it was a prototype built for Lloyds by esab of Sweden. It could butt weld plates 15in thick. Happy times, he said you could quit your job in the morning and be working somewhere else by the afternoon. How times have changed.
What wonderful people these are! My grandfather was a West Virginia coal miner and blacksmith, cut his life short, but he had a huge heart. Tough as a rail tie, yet smiled through it all. Both the Black Country and Appalachia have seen better days but their history is proud with the pulse of raw soul. Great doc, thank you.
The men in them foundry’s were bloody tuff guys . You wouldn’t mess with them.
Im american and lived in the west midlands. I’ve even played non-league football in dudley. Brierley Hill.
I returned to california but i dont care what anyone says. Black Country’s my second home
Respect Brother 😊
🫶❤
❤
Your welcome to come back any time .i visited your beautiful state in 1993 ..couldn't get over how friendly everyone was...
This is brilliant
I currently live in Cradley and our local chip shop is called The Chainmakers' and I live in an old terrace like the ones on here. The gardens and houses where I live still have old terraces that were used to make the chains, a part of my house at the back was originally a workshop.
Like back to back ouses
@siouxiebelle33clark35 yes! 🤣🤣👌👌❤️
The pub in quarry bonk used to be called the chain makers as well ay it
Q: What’s the difference between a buffalo and a bison?
A: Ya carnt wash ya ‘ands in a buffalo
My grandad playing piano and Whistling
Awesome 😊
That must have been a sight to see. What part of his anatomy he use to tickle the ivories?
My mom and dad were from West Brom, grandparents from netherton and I grew up in Colley gate. It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happened.
it does make me cry
the best of humanity is behind us
❤🫶
what, all the abuse talking place in schools and institutions
@@strappaplank6017which doesn't happen now........does it?
Even more reason to be the best of humanity NOW!! Take stock from your ancestors and bring forward the best they had to offer
@@scarlettskies100well said.
This is amazing to watch, born in 1997 in West brom, find it really fascinating seeing how things were back then for people.
Proud to be born bred and still living in Quarry Bank , my dad was a stamper in a drop forge, my grandmother worked on a big drilling machine making shackles, hard working , hard living people, no messing about in the 60s " If yo plade up yo got a Quarry Bonk Paling "Greetings from the Black Country ,Happy New Year Everyone
Great time capsule. All my family on my mother's side are from West Bromwich, so although I've lived all my life in Birmingham I feel a tremendous attachment to the Black Country.
Sorry to hear about your family being from West Brom, must've been tough growing up with that stigma?
What an evocative documentary of the demanding lives of a time long gone. Terrific video, of a terrific community, proud and deservedly so!
Seeing the steelworkers reminded me of my dad, a coal man from Birmingham. Tough life he had.
A valuable reminder of how brutal heavy industry life was (it still is, of course, in parts of the world). I do miss the camaraderie of our British pubs in those days though. Long gone now.
Saturday night, mum,dad in the pub,dad,Dom’s,mum talking to friends,
PIano going packed out,they employed a waiter,2 prices,one for best room and snug,one for tap room,once got a rollicking for buying a pint in tap room, and taking it into the best room happy days
It’s a shame we have lost the art of the piano and a good old singsong..You can feel the warmth and togetherness..Now it’s Everyman for himself 😢
During the Great Strike my grandparents (Grandfather worked in a Bilston Foundry) had a piano and were told to sell it by the Union before they'd get any subsistance. My grandmother made my mother a blazer and skirt so she could attend the Grammar school ... cash for the material came from a 'better off' Aunt. Hard times indeed!
when I was very young (70s) My Nana used to live opposite a pub, every night we stayed over, we could hear he piano and singing, usually old war songs. favourites seemed to include "Roll out the barrels" or "while cliffs of Dover". It s a gastro pub now.
What a special documentary this was. Thank you for posting it.
The ladies were sweet, gentle and pleasant to listen to.
Heaven help the man who dared fistfight a chainmaker. Enormous arm and upper body strength.
Greetings from a former steeltown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ❤
Many happy memories brought back of visiting my maternal grandparents in Darlaston - lovely picture of the people, the accent, the humour and the hard work and tough lives they had.
My mom and dad used to work in the factorys in bilston that's where they met Bradley's was the name of the factory i miss them so much
For many years I thought my heritage originated in Wales .Last year I discovered it was actually West Bromwich .It transpired my Great Grandfather stood up against a mine owner after an accident which claimed many lives .He was forced out of town and settled in South Yorkshire..
A truly wonderful documentary. Thank you so much for making this available.
That made me feel homesick and i still live in Wednesbury, what's has happened to it ? Who allowed this to happen?
It has happened to many Towns they call it progress ,but somethings are not always for the best, but they can never take your memories from you
It is striking that these people look so much healthier and happier than people today, despite the pollution and the poverty, they appear to have some thing that seems to be gone today, a strong sense of identity, and a pride of place. No one looks obese or undernourished or drug addled. The dog and cock fighting is horrible to hear about though.
The men died at 60.
@@nicolad8822because medicine wasn't available yet.
@@Chris-wytthe NHS was there from 1948. People, especially men, aged quickly through living the life so clearly shown here. Work was hard and often dangerous - as the chain makers showed early in the film. Heavy smoking and drinking will not have helped.
We forget the harshness of working class life through the early twentieth century far too quickly.
Rickets and T.B. Na, I'm good.
Now it's just crack addicts
This area helped form the wealth of Britain and yet it's Monarch couldn't bare to look at it. That speaks volumes.
The Monarch are nothing more than professional bludgers.
Speaks volumes we even have a monarch.
@@chrisschepper9312👍
Yeah, they've always been a bunch of self entitled shites.
Horrible auld cow!
Just watched this video warmed my heart to see I'm 68 and from the lunt a little place in Bilston memories a if only Tara al l hope thee bist allright
Where or what is the "lunt"?
BC born n bread and proud. Our dads and grandads were some of the hardest men around!
Great video Proud to be from Coseley in the black country what made Great Britain
I too grew up in the Black Country at Coseley. Went to Mount Pleasant school and then High Arcal in Sedgley. Black Country people are the nicest folk I have ever known in my 72 years - by a distance.
My childhood is the black country and i can honestly say we were much happier back then and we didnt have much other than family. Now all gone
My family is black country born and bred , I'm proud of it .
You should be. These people are a credit to the nation.
awesome film awesome people awesome time
This was fantastic to watch.
Wow...I was born in the fifties but in the early eighties I used to work at Butlins and every night just before closing time, everyone would head over to 'The Pig and Whistle' for a sing song , songs like 'I am the Piano Man' , the place was heaving and with the singing, the building literally shook ! Great times !
I was born in Halem hospital West Bromwich, Brought up in Wednesbury until 6years old and thereafter in Tipton. I now live in Wales. It's difficult to explain to people how special Black Country culture has been and how different my childhood has been from other people brought up in other areas. This video has reminded me of all that but I can't help but notice that most people interviewed are talking with their "posh" voice and not he really broad Black Country dialect I remember.
lol, we all have that silly "posh voice" it always makes me laugh, yet we're all guilty of doing it.
i too was born in halem hosp
Sister from another mother!
I live in Leeds now my accent is still the same even some of my muckas on the street now say I yam or I cor do that
@user-sc3ts6lf8r Om gud mush ow am yow ? I kno are hark at the wind it’s bin bad aye it bab ?
grey pase and bacon!! i vaguely remember eating this in the wheatsheaf(holdens pub) west brom near carters green, on match day!! around 1979! and it wuz bostin!1
What is grey pase? What is pays? Peas? Very curious about this dish….love to hear more if anyone knows…
@@genevievedolan1288 HI, they are grey pigeon peas, not unlike yellow or green dried peas. Soaked and then boiled with bacon.
this reminds me of my childhood days.
Thanks for posting this v interesting programme
Unbelievable that the chain making was 1969, looks more like 1869. Looks an incredibly hard job nonetheless.
Done my fair share bashed metal for forty years in and around wolvo. That's why I loff at these kids who think they're hard done by .
My Great Grandad came from Stourbridge/ Brierley Hill. I’ve never been but heard so many stories that it’s built into my psyche.
Stourbridge is not really classed as black country at all, Brierley Hill and brockmoor were mining areas also.
@sp-1973: an awful lot of Brierley Hill glass-blowers might disagree?
@@MrPercy112 they might, but they can Google the boundaries...
@MrPercy112 also, this video is about chain making, not glass blowing.. not all glass blowing was done in Brierley Hill was it?. The old one at Amblecote isn't classed as a black county area, it's bordering Wordsley, Stourbridge and Amblecote. The video is about chain making, and it does give borders.
Oh well, if Google says so, then who am I to disagree? Is the ‘Black Country’ only defined by chain-making then? Any road up, I hope you have a good Christmas. 👍
No wonder my grandparents left Dundee in 1919 and came too East London in RSA. Thank you Grandad McCulloch and Nanny. RIP. Glad you not around to see the disaster SA is now since 1994. You would weep.
what an amazing film.
My family are😢 from the Black Country and the Jewellery quarter- I'm so proud of the connections despite growing up in Cheltenham and attending a private school ❤
Ditto! My Gran (born in Smethwick in 1896) finally lived in a flat in one of the new tower blocks shown in the film and could never get over her grandaughter going to private school where we lived on the Isle of Wight. 😊 I’m proud to have family from every one of those towns and villages the narrator mentioned….our ancestors worked on the anvil of the world. Bless them. They were tough.
I bought my first wife's engagement ring (a long time ago) from the Jewellery quarter from a man, my aunty knew, and we bought it via a back door - it was quite cheap but a huge blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. So probably knocked off eh? My uncle drove car transporters - so everybody got new batteries for their cars... The 'black economy' right?
Great video. Proud to be a black country lad
Born 1947 in Willenhall at last someone sets straight the Blackcountry bounderies properly
very interesting video. I must confess that as I live in Northamptonshire, I only had a very vague idea of where the black country was, so it was nice to have it's boundaries defined. thankyou for sharing
1969 i was born in April of that year. Things have changed so much.
2 generations back this was my grandparents, and they were in and around the area for a good few generations back before then ❤
enjoyed that thanks for sharing
Thats cool living in 4al history, kind regards from Aotearoa/ New Zealand
Bloody hell those pubs, I remember them, well the last of them
Hard times tough area ,but the elite factory owners well cashed up
Thank you for showing us of times gone past. Enjoyed regards 😊😊😊
Real english people great stuff
Thank you for sharing.
James Whale was from Dudley , he went to Hollywood and directed Frankenstein !
Not the radio presenter then?
Yes , he is 125 this year....@@sandgrownun66
GREAT! Thanks
real people . wouldnt give you tuppence for todays youth
Wouldn’t have that problem if your generation didn’t let in everyone from around the world.
In 69 my family was in hilltop:::running the cottage spring pub :::I used to go to wensbury baths with my mates::and I remember the market
Them were slightly happier days people laughed and smiled no greed and selfishness hardly safer communitys looked out for each other...
All of that great natural wealth just sitting there under the ground. There are countries that would love to have been so blessed. The ignorance of our political class knows no bounds.
Superb piece of history 👏👏 born in willenhall the skilled industry that was prevalent in our area has long since gone.My grandparents used to run The Bell in willenhall and my uncle was a lock-maker, so sad the uk has become a dump.An era of respect ladies were ladies gentleman were gentlemen,no stabbings,murders,litter and low life behaviour.
Don't you mean a dumping ground?
what have we become
Limp wristed bed wetters.
And we are constantly told diversity built Britain. Yeah ! Right.
No people had to work hard for little money and in bad conditions but they were the backbone of this country
No, integration built Britain.
Most of them came from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the North, hence our strange accent. They worked hard together and played hard.
My family came from Ireland, but they integrated, I'm not Irish, though I am proud of my roots, I am 100% English and 200% Black Country.
@@mesparky9I don't think he means that kind of diversity
Same old comments on anything like this.
@mesparky9: nicely phrased! 👍 Mind, the basis of the accent is far older, dating back to the Saxon Kingdom of Mercia.
Shame on royalty. What a hard,hard life these people lived. Shocking.
Yes it was a hard life but they got on with it ,they knew no other way, it was no good moaning unless you where born with the Gentry, it was the way many people had to lived, hard working but proud people.
Aw those peas with bacon sounds gorgeous 🤤
Any one of these characters could've been an uncle or aunt of mine. My mum comes from the Black Country (Smethwick) and she had 12 brothers and sisters (my grandma was blind). When I was little we lived in Coseley as did a number of uncles and aunts. We moved away to WSM but often went back to visit - I was 15 in 1969 - so can remember what these places were like and people such as portrayed here. (Voice over was a bit patronising - probably some Oxbridge bloke who got a job in TV through patronage and had never got his hands dirty.)
Bilston born a Black Country mon, l have seen horses pulling barges on the cut [canal] and 3 kids drowned in them also. Times when neighbors borrowed a cup of sugar or a shilling for the gas, hard workers and heavy drinking, pawn shops to see you through till payday, in a way good times,
My Dad used to swim in the cut up by the Sana at Moxley.
The "chap" with the beard and duffle coat ( remember them ?) Was on the open university, im sure 🏴✌️
You might be right as I recognise him from somewhere
Dr John Fletcher, founder of The Black Country Society.
A living hell. You can see the hardship in their faces. And these people were the backbone of this country.
I've lived most of my life in the Black country and wouldn't live anywhere else good friendly folks This Country wouldn't be as rich without its Industry making everything
Loved this i was very surprised to learn Wolverhampton is not part of the Black Country i am Wolverhampton born and bred
It is despite what some claim brumajum isn't .
Yome a Yan Yam then; which is near enough to make no difference.
I think it's where the term, Hard as nails, and even they get hammered. Comes from.
I remember the squalor and the acceptance of the people who never thought things would change so most people ended up drowning their sorrows in beer down the pub whilst the women looked after the kids on very little money. Each relying on others though everyone was in the same boat.
Most people would still be living like this if we hadn't voted in a decent Labour government.
I've heard of dog fighting and badger baiting but never witnessed it though I've helped as a kid on look out drinking the gambling sessions in the wrenna. I remember hearing about Speka letting someone loose his rot down in the celar when someone bet his old poodle against it.
They left them together while they fought it out and after a couple of minutes it went quiet. When they opened the cellar door they were all surprised to find the old poodle walk out and the big dog dead.
I do know cockfighting also went on and many people kept chickens some also kept pigs.
The people were hard and kept themselves to themselves as there was a lot of thieving and trouble amongst the communities.
Everyone lived and survived in poverty.
They'd turn in their graves today knowing the others have voted in a war mongering gang of ruthless Neoconservatives.
Warmongering yes, but a standard of living today by even the non working classes are far beyond those who worked 12 hours a day back then
Yes, labour has always been the enemy of the working man
Hard working people
But Happy in there way
No coverment pay outs
The salt of the Earth
now sadly no more
Remarkable
Labour are riddled with insane ideologies now.
This is great, thanks for posting this. I'm a Brummie, living in New Zealand. I've got to show this to my wife (she's a Kiwi...addicted to Jaffa cakes and Wotsits!) it will be interesting for her. By the way, I put the captions on, when the 90 years old lady said "furnaces" the caption replaced it with..."penises" 🤣😂🤣 so when good old Phil Drabble started talking about cock fighting that started me laughing again!
Nice to have some Black Country folks living in New Zealand Roger Gutteridge
I'm a bummie and baggies fan, so that makes me a black country bloke! I'm also in love with NZ, been there twice !?!? Hitch-hiked there in 1992, and used the trains from Aukl and to Invercargill, and cycled all the way back?!!
Amazing people. if only we could bring them back.
I'm black country born & proud
If you’re travelling in the Midlands and you start hearing folk saying “Yam, Yam” then you know you’re in the Black Country ! 🤣
What does yam yam mean?
@@genevievedolan1288I'm from what used to be the "potteries" and I think a phrase will explain it. "Am youm oright" translates as"are you alright". this was an `am yam` someone from the black country I think.
Aren’t Yam Yams Wolverhampton folk?
@@MrPercy112yep used as a derogatory term by all and sundry usually Brummies thing is we're proud to be called it . Slang version of you are .. ya am
@stephenjones6500: I’ve never regarded it as being derogatory, and you should indeed be rightly proud. Besides, who cares what Brummies think? 😉
I suppose nobody can do the skilled trades shown in this film anymore.
because mostly,they aren’t there
superb
Amazing , thank you .
I was in a pub in Bridgnorth some years ago when I heard a woman say to her friend that West Bromwich was in the Black Country, to which I shouted across the pub, "no it ay". Well it was that or "cobblers" 😁. Talk about the tension of a cock fight 🤣. There's many a taan surrounding the real Black Country that every so often, when it suits, or is fashionable, that like to have signs that say something like "Wolverhampton in the Black Countrry", but as the film suggests, real Black Country folk are quite territorial, even if yowm daan another road yowm foreign, so such signs as decribed above are indeed cobblers. Great upload!
I agree the Black Country seems to stretch it's borders as each year goes by
I was born on the tantany west bromwich im proud to be a blackcountry mon we are yam yams and proud
The Black Country gave the world one of heavy metal music's greatest icons -- Rob Halford of Judas Priest!
You forgot to mention the godfathers of heavy metal black sabbath
@@timetraveller9321 they didn’t forget, Sabbath were all born and raised in Birmingham (not the Black Country).
Zig Zig Sputnik came from Bloxwich. Beat that!
@user-sc3ts6lf8r I was thinking that West Brom
@@philhawley1219don powell drummer slade, off stowlawn bilston. jon brookes wednesbury, martin blunt portobello both of indie band the charlatans.
🫂 hugs to my Yam Yam friend Phil ❤
👋 💋😘
🐕23:28 Phil Drabble of "One Man and His Dog" fame.🐕🦺
As a lad in the 6os in wednesbury, i heard my dad say "thee bist cosnt cost" to a mate of his(you cant ,can you?). I thought he knew a foriegn language
& the government & monarchy stick their nose up at the black country after what the black country contributed to the wealth of the country. God bless & protect the black country & its citizens ❤
Like Middle English Chaucer language the Canterbury Tales 🎶fascinating video, learnt a great deal re understanding/acceptance Born Portland House 🏰 Wednesbury
They were dressed in quality material despite their poverty - good wool and cotton - not like the rubbish we wear today - all plastic and polyester that hardly last one wash! We can’t afford wool and quality (not cheap) cotton today despite increased wealth and comfier lifestyles. They were tough, hard-working and grateful for everything they had, despite the fact life was unforgiving. But I hate dog and cock fighting - totally unnecessary - just satisfies the perverted violent senses of men.
How right you are sir
Now it come from abroad
From you know where
Black Country bred... all of this is still there and very vibrant if you go the rite pubs, the working man clubs, black Country family pride, we still av it, when the families gather at Christmas, all the young uns an babies, cousins an uncles, yeh we av a laugh, gray pays an baycun all the way haha
Nows its Kebabs and a fight.
The British get trolled for bad teeth but these people’s teeth look good for the most part. Possibly better diets with less sugar. Also no one seems to be obese.
True. British had better teeth in the olden days for sure!!!
What a medieval world this was and within my own lifetime… I was 4 and to be honest, I’m glad we don’t live like this anymore.
😢 EXPLOITED AND SCORNED UNKNOWINGLY ENRICHING THE MOST EVIL OF GREEDY OWNERS 😢😢 MAKES YOU SICK TO THE STOMACH 😢😢
They were cruel to dogs though
Remember it well
Great people
Is that the greyhound pub in bilston at 3.11?
Sorry I don't know I'm not from that area but somebody may be able to answer for you
Yes it is been set on fire and thankfully it can be repaired
David Bowie has a great song "Black Country Rock"
Anyone know who the narrator was (in the duffelcoat).
He sounds like a presenter on Central news or Midlands today from the 80s, ill try find out 😊
Dr John Fletcher - now sadly deceased.
Read History at Merton College, Oxford.
@@lordclog8747Reg Harcourt
12:23. Closer. Closer. *Too* close...
People on here should listen to the band the SHORT HEATH BOYS a proppa black country group