Press Releases
16 December 2011
Museum’s Fundraising Appeal hits Halfway Mark
A campaign to raise £60,000 to restore the world’s only working full size replica of the Newcomen engine is steaming ahead at Black Country Living Museum and has already reached the halfway mark! £30,000 for vital restoration work has been donated by Black Country businesses and the Dudley Museum is celebrating reaching the milestone in time for the Newcomen Engines 300th birthday in 2012.
9 December 2011
Ticket Countdown to Museum’s Christmas Evenings Friday 16, Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 December 2011
The ticket countdown has begun to Black Country Living Museum’s Traditional Christmas Evenings. Tickets still remain for Friday 16, Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 December 2011 and bosses urge visitors to book up fast to avoid disappointment
8 December 2011
New BBC Two drama series films at Dudley Museum
An explosive new drama series for BBC Two will be filming a number of scenes at Dudley’s Black Country Living Museum early next year. Set in the 1930s, the drama follows a black jazz band in London during times of extraordinary change.
10 Novemeber 2011
Museum in it’s ‘Element’ with Chemistry at Work Day
Students will be in their ‘element’ at Black Country Living Museum when they take part in a ‘Chemistry at Work’ day. The Chemistry at Work Event is one of several being held throughout the United Kingdom sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Monday 7 November
Museum Shines the Spotlight on the Black Country in London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Route
Black Country Living Museum will shine the spotlight on the Black Country’s rich and diverse heritage when the Museum hosts the Olympic Torch relay on Saturday 30 June, 2012. The Olympic Flame will shine the light on the region, showing the rest of the country the best it has to offer, as the countdown to the Games begins.
27/10/11
Major £10.1 million boost for Castle Hill regeneration scheme
A transformational regeneration scheme which will almost double visitor numbers to Dudley’s major tourist attractions to over one million people, create jobs and improve the local economy has been launched. The ambitious scheme will involve major infrastructure improvements at the 200 hectare site which is currently home to Dudley Zoological Gardens, the Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Canal Trust.
28/10/11
Museum Salutes Black Country Heroes
A Wolverhampton war memorial honouring soldiers who served in both world wars will be at the centre of a Remembrance Service at Black Country Living Museum at 10.30 am on Friday 11 November, 2011.
19 October 2011
Museum turns up the Heat on Bonfire Night
Sparks will fly at Black Country Living Museum when Bonfire night (without the bang) gets underway on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 November, 2011. This year the Dudley destination boasts two dates for its traditional event and visitors can turn up the heat as they enjoy the region's most talked about celebration.
12/10/11
Gore and Grime is a Scream at Halloween
Horrible historians at Black Country Living Museum are set to disgust and delight with a Halloween Gore and Grime Trail which takes places during the half term holiday, from 23 to 30 October, 2011. Ghostbusting visitors can follow a revolting route around the Museum site encountering putrid props, scary spiders, repulsive rats and a hidden mystery surprise to win a prize.
12/10/11
Gore and Grime is a Scream at Halloween
Horrible historians at Black Country Living Museum are set to disgust and delight with a Halloween Gore and Grime Trail which takes places during the half term holiday, from 23 to 30 October, 2011. Ghostbusting visitors can follow a revolting route around the Museum site encountering putrid props, scary spiders, repulsive rats and a hidden mystery surprise to win a prize.
04/10/11
Hair-raising Hocus Pocus on Halloween
Dutch courage is recommended for a hair-raising event at Black Country Living Museum on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 October, 2011 when spirited Halloween hocus pocus proves a scream on ‘fright night’.
04/10/11
Trade Union Heroines Remembered
The pioneering work of a formidable group of Black Country women ‘The Iron Ladies of Cradley Heath’ will be honoured at an event celebrating their achievements at Black Country Living Museum on Saturday 22 October, 2011.
24 August 2011
World’s only working Newcomen Engine replica in final steam
This bank holiday weekend will be the last chance for visitors to see the historic Newcomen Engine in steam at the Black Country Living Museum, before it undergoes a programme of refurbishment to prepare for it’s tercentenary celebrations in July 2012.
10 August 2011
White City Black Country
A world premiere at the Black Country Living Museum on 27, 28, 29 August 2011 This August the prestigious National Youth Theatre will stage a spectacular new promenade piece of theatre at the open-air Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, exploring the Olympic heritage of the region.
3 August 2011
Black Country Crafty Toy Creations
What did men, women and children from 100 years ago do in their spare time? Each visitor this summer is invited to find out, by taking part in the Black Country Living Museum’ s new programme of crafting activities. Visitors can follow the life and leisure family trail, where they are challenged to discover the letters around the Museum to find out about Black Country life and leisure during 1850-1950.
29 July 2011
Half Price Family Fun
Black Country Living Museum will be throwing open its doors after hours on Saturday 20 August for a Half Price Night of traditional family entertainment.
7 July 2011
Newcomen Engine
The 8 July, 2011 sees the 25th anniversary of the formal opening of the Newcomen engine. The Black Country Living Museum feel that this is a great occasion to announce that the Museum will shortly be starting work on the engine as part of the preparations for the Tercentenary in 2012.
26 July 2011
School's Out and Learning's In at Black Country Living Museum
School's out and learnings in at Black Country Living Museum where parent's can teach their kids a lesson in the old-fashioned schoolroom and bring history to life for the summer holidays, from Saturday 23 July - Sunday 4 September, 2011.
11 July 2011
The world’s largest celebration of Black Country Vehicles
The Festival of Black Country Vehicles is an annual gathering of cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles all built in the Black Country and sees over one hundred vehicles on display around the Museum’s 26 acre site. It also celebrates that the Black Country was a major centre for vehicle manufacturing.
6 June 2011
GENUINE BLACK COUNTRY PIT DIRT GIFTED TO MUSEUM
A leading property company and landowner has come to the aid of Black Country Living Museum by providing genuine pit spoil for its mine display.
Kingswinford-based London and Cambridge Properties Ltd (LCP) allowed contractors to remove 120 tonnes of ‘tocky dirt’ from part if its land holdings at Tansey Green. The material was then transported to the heritage site where it has been used to restore the mounds over the Museum’s underground mine attraction.
1st June 2011
National Youth Theatre search the Black Country for Olympic tales
The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is on the hunt for stories and memories from the Black Country and the rest of the West Midlands to help inform their new Olympic heritage project called White City/Black Country. This two year project will explore the significant role played by the Black Country in two UK Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948, and has been made possible by the announcement of a £50k grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
May 2011
Museum Commemorates Anchor Centenary
100 years ago, on the 1st May, the world’s largest anchor was transported from Noah Hingley’s works in Netherton to the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast destined for the world’s most famous shipwreck – the Titanic. A 16-tonne full-size working replica anchor has been exhibited at Black Country Living Museum since October 2010 and to commemorate this historic journey the Museum has unveiled a new exhibit to accompany the anchor during Easter holidays. The
12 May 2011
A DREAMY MIDSUMMER COMEDY!
In the summer of 2011 the UK’s most acclaimed open-air touring theatre company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, will present William Shakespeare’s most popular and hilarious comedy, the magical feast A Midsummer Night’s Dream!
5 May 2011
Museum opens its doors after dark
Building on the success of last year's event Black Country Living Museum will be throwing open its doors after hours on Saturday 14th May at half the usual daily admission price, as part of the ‘Museums at Night’ event. The pan-European event was launched in 2005 and sees over 1000 museums and galleries in over 30 countries across the continent opening their doors after dark.
29 April 2011
Museum’s Street Party Success
Hundreds of flag-waving revellers descended upon Black Country Living Museum in Dudley today to celebrate the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William to Catherine Middleton at one of the country’s most unique street party celebrations.
3rd May 2011
Shakespeare at the Museum
The magic of Shakespeare will be coming to Black Country Living Museum during an open air production of A Midsummer Night's Dream on Friday 24, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 June, 2011. Visitors can watch Shakespeare’s tale of love and enchantment come to life against the backdrop of the Museum’s historic boat dock and canalside.
1st May, 2011
Museum Commemorates Anchor Centenary
100 years ago, on the 1st May 2011, the world’s largest anchor was transported from Noah Hingley’s works in Netherton to the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast destined for the world’s most famous shipwreck – the Titanic. A 16-tonne full-size working replica anchor has been exhibited at Black Country Living Museum since October 2010 and to commemorate this historic journey the Museum has unveiled a new exhibit to accompany the anchor during Easter holidays.
20 April 2011
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
A Black Country museum is offering people the chance to rediscover traditional skills and unleash their own creativity. Black Country Living Museum is launching a new series of art and craft workshops designed to inspire and excite. The courses, which will be held against the impressive backdrop of the Museum’s Canalside village, will offer a unique experience of the World’s first industrial landscape.
18 April 2011
Museum Reaches Fever Pitch over Royal Hitch
A wedding dress exhibit will be unveiled at Black Country Living Museum over the Easter holidays, just in time for wedding fever to sweep the nation. The 1930s Wedding Dress was worn by Olive Small on her marriage to Norman Yates at Brierley Hill in July 1938. The couple celebrated their Diamond wedding anniversary in 1998 and received a telegram from the Queen expressing her ‘warm congratulations’ on the milestone.
6 April 2011
Museum Bites Back at Backpackers Bible
The latest edition of the ‘backpackers’ bible’ – The Lonely Planet’s Travel Guide, has singled out Black Country Living Museum only as being ‘worth a trip’ to the region, describing the Museum as “a perfect recreation of a 19th century mining village, inhabited by a cast of characters in period costume.”
07 April 2011
Museum Brings Back the ‘Spirit of the Street Party’ for Royal Wedding
Inspired by celebrations of yesteryear, Black Country Living Museum is planning a right Royal knees up to celebrate the marriage of Prince William to Catherine Middleton on Friday, April 29, 2011.
7.3.11
Museum Launches New Book
Black Country Living Museum is hosting the launch of a new book, Town House Architecture, by David J Eveleigh, Director of Collections, Learning and Research on Tuesday 8 March at 12.30pm. David, a leading authority on the history of everyday domestic life, has previously published 12 books about social history and domestic life.
February 2011
Hands on Activities for a Headache Free Half Term!
Swap classrooms for cobbled streets and a timetable of holiday fun at the Black Country Living Museum from Saturday 19th February – Sunday 27th February. History is hands on and activities for all age groups will keep children entertained for hours and take the headache out of half term for parents!
7 Juy 2011
Newcomen Engine
The 8 July, 2011 sees the 25th anniversary of the formal opening of the Newcomen engine. The Black Country Living Museum feel that this is a great occasion to announce that the Museum will shortly be starting work on the engine as part of the preparations for the Tercentenary in 2012.
10 March 2011
MP Flies the Flag for Award-winning Museum
James Morris MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis will be going on a tour of Dudley's award winning Black Country Living Museum on Friday 18 March 2011 to highlight the importance of tourism to the region during British Tourism Week.
