The website of the
Black Country Society
Established in 1967 to Support, Record, Preserve and Celebrate the distinct
Character and Nature of the West Midlands area known since the mid nineteenth century as 'The Black Country'
Book launches 2021
Book launches 2022
Black by Day, Red by Night. The Black Country – 500 years in 50 Voices.” by Brendan Clifford. at the Black Country Society AGM, March 23rd, The Courthouse, Tower Street, Dudley
Born and bred in the Black Country, Brendan has lived in Sandwell for over thirty years. In 2021 he published a well-received book “Black by Day, Red by Night. The Black Country – 500 years in 50 Voices.” This was featured on BBC Radio WM, Black Country Radio and in the Express & Star and it was launched with the Black Country Society in March 2022. Brendan has shared his learning on J.M.W. Turner’s journey to the Black Country and the watercolours Turner produced to various groups and he has written about it for the academic journal, Midland History. He has also written numerous articles for the Black Country Society’s journal, The Blackcountryman and is currently a member of the Black Country Society Committee.
Programme
1:30pm: Doors open with tea and coffee and opportunity to purchase books
2:00pm: Overview of the Day. Dr Malcolm Dick OBE, Director, Centre for West Midlands History, University of Birmingham
2:10pm: Introduction. Dr Ellen McAdam, President of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society
2:20pm: George Demidovicz, Honorary Research Associate, University of Birmingham, The Soho Manufactory, Mint and Foundry: Where Boulton, Watt and Murdoch Made History
2:50pm: Questions
3:10pm: Short break (water and juice will be available)
3:30pm: Malcolm Dick, James Watt, 1736–1819: Culture, Innovation and Enlightenment
4:00pm: Book signing and wine reception with further opportunity to purchase books
5.15pm: Finish
The Soho Manufactory and James Watt - 1.30 April 9th 2022 University of Birmingham
Main Lecture Theatre Floor 1 Arts Building
George Demidowicz has worked for many years on the archaeology and history of the three Soho manufacturing sites associated where Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch pioneered industrial innovation and production in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His findings are now published in a splendidly illustrated and well-researched hard-back publication by English Heritage and Liverpool University Press, The Soho Manufactory, Mint and Foundry: Where Boulton, Watt and Murdoch Made History. The event is an opportunity to hear about this new book which illuminates the heritage of Birmingham and the Black Country and purchase it at a reduced rate of £28 (normal retail price is £40).
The second part of the afternoon launches another book which was published at the start of lockdown by Liverpool University Press. James Watt, 1736–1819: Culture, Innovation and Enlightenment, edited by Malcolm Dick and Caroline Archer-Parré, contains essays by leading scholars which focus on his contributions to science and technology, his intellectual world, family life, links with the slave trade and the massive Watt archives at the Library of Birmingham. The paperback can be purchased at the reduced price of £18 (normal retail price is £24.99).
Programme
1:30pm: Doors open with tea and coffee and opportunity to purchase books
2:00pm: Overview of the Day. Dr Malcolm Dick OBE, Director, Centre for West Midlands History, University of Birmingham
2:10pm: Introduction. Dr Ellen McAdam, President of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society
2:20pm: George Demidovicz, Honorary Research Associate, University of Birmingham, The Soho Manufactory, Mint and Foundry: Where Boulton, Watt and Murdoch Made History
2:50pm: Questions
3:10pm: Short break (water and juice will be available)
3:30pm: Malcolm Dick, James Watt, 1736–1819: Culture, Innovation and Enlightenment
4:00pm: Book signing and wine reception with further opportunity to purchase books
5.15pm: Finish
