Friday

Black by Day Red by Night - A Glimpse into Black Country!

When I first heard, I was surprised by the term "Black Country". So I was tempted to visit the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, which is about 20 minutes drive from Birmingham.

There seems to be no geographical or political boundaries that mark the Black Country. After reading the clippings in the museum, it seems that this district got its name since 18th century because of coal mining and industrialization. 

Painting that depicts a mining scene.

The museum was a blend of traditional display stuff and also they had re-created Black Country as described in the above quote. In fact, the village, cottages, shops, barns, and even people roaming the streets were dressed in period costumes. Walking through the museum was like stepping back in time.

Here is a local confectionary...

We bought some hard boiled sweets and the shopkeeper too started to chat with us like a typical friendly villager. In those days, it seems that they were using beetle blood to make pink icing, of which she showed us the sample...aiyk

Menswear specialist - the corduroy in display was of very high quality...

In true sense, it was a living museum in every aspect. At one point, we were standing in the middle of the road and looking at the map, trying to find our way to go to the boat canal. An old lady, of course, dressed in 18th century fashion came up to us and casually asked us if we needed help.

Canals were mainly used to transport coals from the mines...

Boat trips were available...

But we skipped the boat trip, as we had to rush to the mines as it was nearing closing time...

The trip was roughly for 30 minutes and it was a mock mine, but still the experience was awesome. We had to stoop low and walk in utter darkness and only one dimmed torch was given for every group of five. We had to walk closely and get used to darkness. The atmosphere was so thick that I was starting to get choked and was wondering how people slog in there for whole day!

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