Press Releases
March 2010
Mum’s the Word for Free Event!
Sunday 14 March, 2010 Stuck for inspiration this Mother’s Day? Mums go FREE at the Black Country Living Museum on Sunday 14th March where mothers of all ages can enjoy a trip around the award-winning Dudley Museum FREE OF CHARGE when accompanied by a paying child!
March 2010
Make Smoking History!
The Black Country Living Museum has teamed up with Dudley NHS to make smoking a thing of the past. The museum which is setting up a tobacconist shop is hoping to find smoking memorabilia dating between 1935 and 1939 to deck out its shelves and Dudley NHS is hoping smokers will stub it out and consign their habit to history!
January 2010
Museum Unveils New Exhibition
The Black Country Living Museum has teamed up with Smethwick Heritage Trust to present a new exhibition entitled ‘Smethwick’, as part of the Museum’s permanent display ‘Heart of the Black Country – The Black Country and You’.
January 2010
Novel Debut for Museum Inspired Book
Halesowen-born writer, Anna Lawrence Pietroni, returns to her roots and the source of her inspiration – The Black Country Living Museum, to launch her debut novel ‘Ruby’s Spoon’ on Saturday 6th February 2010. Anna will present a talk in the Workers’ Institute followed by a book signing in the Museum shop. Normal Museum admission prices apply.
December 2009
Museum Toasts Record Year
Champagne corks popped at The Black Country Living Museum as staff toasted a successful 2009 before welcoming in the New Year. The Museum enjoyed a 10% increase in visitor numbers during 2009 together with a sell out Christmas season - with almost 12,000 tickets for festive events being snapped up by December 1st.
December 2009
Rare Car Motors Back in Time for 100th Anniversary
A rare 1930 AJS Saloon car, believed to be one of just 33 still in existence in the world, was today reunited with its original owners, A. J. Stevens and Company, at the Black Country Living Museum - just in time to celebrate the Wolverhampton motoring company’s 100th Anniversary!
November 2009
New Development is a Hard Habit to Quit!
The museum which is setting up a tobacconist shop on its new 1930s high street needs memorabilia dating between 1935 and 1939 to deck out its shelves. Preedy’s Tobacconist Shop is set to open at the museum next summer and had more than 40 shops in the Midlands. The Dudley attraction is hoping to strike it lucky and set fans aflame with a public appeal for all things smokin!
9th November 2009
Museum Stands on Ceremony for War Memorial
A Wolverhampton war memorial honouring soldiers who lost their lives in both world wars was at the centre of a Remembrance Service held at the Black Country Living Museum today.
October 2009
Bright Sparks Turn Up the Heat on Bonfire Night Tickets Sales
Thursday 5th November 6.30pm – 10.00pm Pre-book only on 0121-520-8054
Bright sparks have turned up the heat on Bonfire Night ticket sales at the Black Country Living Museum where demand for the 5th of November Guy Fawkes extravaganza has rocketed. Tickets are smokin’ hot and selling out fast and more than half of the pre-book only tickets have been snapped up!
October 2009
£50,000 Gift Helps Museum Drive Accessibility Forward
A £50,000 gift from ‘The Patrick Trust’ family charity will ensure history is accessible to all, the Black Country Living Museum has announced today. Thanks to the generosity of Birmingham-based businessman, Alex Patrick, who is a trustee of the Trust, the gift enables the award-winning museum to address access issues on its historic site and to purchase a multi-accessible period bus.
October 2009
Doris Drives History Forward with a £50,000 Gift for Dudley Museum
A vintage vehicle called Doris is ensuring history is accessible to all at the Black Country Living Museum thanks to the generosity of Birmingham-based businessman, Alex Patrick. The businessman, who is a trustee of The Patrick Trust, dug deep into the coffers and donated a £50,000 gift enabling the museum to address access issues including the purchase of a multiaccessible period bus through his family charity ‘The Patrick Trust’.
Saturday 26th September, 2009
All Aboard for 100th Birthday Celebration!
A double-decker tram will be celebrating its 100th birthday on Saturday 26thSeptember at the Black Country Living Museum after a 25 year restoration project returned the open-topped tram, which was once used as a coffin store, back to its former glory.
September 2009
Summer Sales Beat Christmas Rush
Tickets to sell out events at the Black Country Living Museum will be going on sale today, giving early birds the chance to beat the Christmas rush! Visitors are urged to book up early for this year’s magical events which include Halloween at the Museum, Traditional Bonfire Night, Santa Hunts and Traditional Christmas Evenings to avoid disappointment.
August 2009
One Wedding and a Funeral at the Black Country Living Museum
Forget Dawn and Garry’s Eastenders wedding or Danielle’s dramatic funeral – the soap storyline of the year takes place at the Black Country Living Museum on Bank Holiday Monday. The Museum’s resident soap stars get hitched and also lay a loved one to rest but in the time honoured tradition of all soap sagas proceedings do not go to plan.
August 2009
Centenarians Reunited at the Black Country Living Museum's Historic Boaters’ Gathering
Two centenarian canal boats will be reunited at the Black Country Living Museum’s Historic Boaters’ Gathering on Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th September, 2009, along with 25 other historic working boats. 101 year old tunnel tug, Sharpness who used to work the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Tunnel, will moor alongside 100 year old President, the only preserved steam powered narrowboat on the canals today.
August 2009
Museum Sitting Pretty after Bench Donation
The Black Country Society has ensured visitors to the Black Country Living Museum will be sitting pretty this summer with a £1000 donation to the Streets Ahead Campaign for a specially commissioned bench. The bench will be situated in Folkes’s Park which was formally opened by His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester in the spring of this year.
August 2009
Festival Signs Up Headline Act
Robb Johnson, one of the finest singer/songwriters working in the UK today,along with his band the Irregulars will be this year’s headline act at the Women Chainmakers’ Festival which takes place on Saturday 12th September, 2009 at the Black Country Living Museum.
July 2009
Christine Blower Headlines at Chainmakers' Festival
General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Christine Blower is to be the main speaker at the 2009 Women Chainmakers' Festival which returns for its fifth year at the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley on Saturday 12th September, 2009.
July 2009
Air Your Dirty Laundry in Public and Win a VIP Day!
The Black Country Living Museum is getting in a bit of a lather over its latest new attraction – the Brew House at the Museum’s Tilted Cottage. The Museum is recreating ‘Washday Monday’ and is appealing to the public to air its dirty laundry in the hope a few ‘soap stars’ come forward with their wash day memories. The story that scrubs up the best will win a VIP trip to the award winning attraction and two lucky runners up will each recieve a family ticket which admits 2 adults and up to three children.
July 2009
Friends Chip in for Restoration
The Friends of the Black Country Living Museum have chipped in with a £1000 cheque towards the restoration of elaborately decorative tiled wall panels in Hobbs Fish and Chip Shop.
July 2009
Neighbours from Hell – Back by Popular Demand!
Fizzog Theatre Company will be treading the boards at the Black Country Living Museum over the summer holidays and will shine the spotlight on School Holiday Activities from Saturday 18th July - Sunday 6th September 2009.
June 2009
New Attractions Gear Up for Motoring Festival
The Black Country Living Museum’s 2009 Festival of Black Country Vehicles promises to be the torque of the town with new motoring attractions and dream drives making a winning formula on Sunday 26th July, 2009.
June 2009
Jazz It Up Aer Kid!
Top national and international acts will gather together at the Black Country Living Museum on the 11th July to play Jazz at the Museum, an exclusive jazz extravaganza celebrating 25 years of the Birmingham International Jazz Festival.
June 2009
Red Letter Day for Midand Red Bus
A red letter day is planned at the Black Country Living Museum for the D9 Midland Red Bus which celebrates its 50th birthday on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th June, 2009. The Black Country Museum Transport Group will be going off their trolley as they mark the occasion with a bus trip down memory lane. The
June 2009
VOLUNTEERS STEP BACK IN TIME TO WELCOME ROTARY MEMBERS
Visiting Rotary Club members from across the globe have been given a taste of the Black Country’s heritage courtesy of volunteers from the Black Country Living Museum.
May 2009
Schools Out and a Timetable of Fun is In!
Swap classrooms for cobbled streets and a timetable of holiday fun at the Black Country Living Museum from Saturday 23rd May - Sunday 31st May, 2009. Take a history lesson like no other and avoid the half term headache whilst keeping children absorbed for hours! Travel back in time to the early 1900s where modern conveniences like washing machines, cookers and bathrooms are just a twinkle in the eye and dolly tubs, black leaded grates and 'buckets and chuck its' are the must-have gadgets of the era!
2009
HELP MUSEUM HIGHLIGHT HUMPHREY’S HISTORY
The Black Country Living Museum is looking for help with the next phase of its ‘Old Birmingham Road’ project, the construction of a block of four shops which formerly stood in Oldbury.
May 2009
New Museum Director Appointed
The Black Country Living Museum today announced the appointment of Andrew Lovett as its new Museum Director and Chief Executive. Andrew Lovett is currently Director of Corporate Resources and Deputy Director at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead and will take up the post, which has been held by Ian N. Walden O.B.E. for the past 33 years, on August 3rd 2009.
May 2009
100 Year Old Boat Steams Ahead to Birthday Celebrations
President the only preserved steam powered narrowboat on the waterways today, celebrates its 100th birthday on the 2nd May 2009 at the Black Country Living Museum with a party fit for a centenarian, before undertaking a 5-month Birthday Tour of the canals and waterways.
April 2009
Museum gets Green Light from Waste Fund
The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley is celebrating a £132,550 grant from the Veolia Environmental Trust, which will be used to recreate history at the award-winning Dudley attraction.
April 2009
May Day Celebrations at the Black Country Living Museum
May Day celebrations get off to a colourful start when the centuries old tradition of Maypole Dancing kicks up its heels at the Black Country Living Museum on Monday 5th May. Children from the Harlequin Youth Theatre with be demonstrating some fancy footwork as they perfrom a Maypole dance and weave their way around the Maypole in the school yard.
April 2009
Museum Turns to the Dark Side!
For one night only the Black Country Living Museum will be throwing open its doors after hours and on Saturday 16th May, as part of the European ‘Nuit des Musées’, the Museum will be offering visitors the chance to enjoy some nocturnal culture!
Saturday 4th April – Sunday 5th April
Museum Friends Enjoy Some Good Clean Fun
Join the Friends on a journey into the past as they move into houses and cottages in the canal-side village including Pitts Cottage, the Brook Street back-to-backs and the Nailmaker’s House. Discover how families coped before the advent of washing machines, fridge-freezers, vacuum cleaners and the indoor loo!
March 2009
Whisk up a Winner for Easter
Take the scramble out of Easter and whisk up something special this holiday with a trip to the Black Country Living Museum. Enjoy a cracking programme of activities guaranteed to put the spring back into your step!
March 2009
A Royal Walk in the Park
His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester visited the Black Country Living Museum on Friday 20th March, 2009 to inspect the recently completed Workers’ Institute and declare the adjacent Folkes Park open.
Sunday 22nd March, 2009
Mum’s the Word for Free Event!
Mother’s Day is made to order this year when Mum’s go FREE at the Black Country Living Museum on Sunday 22nd March, 2009. Mother's of all ages can enjoy a trip around the award-winning Dudley attraction FREE OF CHARGE when accompanied by a paying child!
March 2009
Visitors get Starry-Eyed over Museum Observatory
Visitors to the Black Country Living Museum will be over the moon with the latest event to be hosted at the award-winning Dudley attraction. Volunteers from the Pendrell Hall Observatories Group will be hosting a Victorian Astronomy and Technology Day giving visitors the chance to ‘see stars’ in the Museum’s own Victorian-style observatory.
February 2009
Museum Project Motors Ahead thanks to Heritage Lottery Fund
A major new attraction ‘The Black Country Motor Company Limited’ has been unveiled at the Black Country Living Museum today thanks to a £347,500 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, matched by a major grant from the European Regional Development Fund and a grant from the Lord Austin Trust and volunteers. The cash boost paved the way for a new home for the Museum’s highly prized collection of Black Country built vehicles and is the latest development in a major £10 million expansion plan which will see the Museum literally double in size.
