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'
Virtual Heritage Group 2023
For members and non-members
An online Zoom group primarily for Society members and others who live outside the Black Country or who have difficulty getting to face-to-face meetings.
To join a particular event, please send an email to societyblackcountry@gmail.com requesting the Zoom link.
Recordings of the meetings can be accessed from the button to the right. Access to the most recent recordings (less than a month old) will require the usual Society Password.
An Ecclesiastical Affair - Chris Baker
Wednesday February 8th 7.30pm
This presentation will tell the story of events in the Black Country village of Pensnett in the 1860s and 1870s - about the relationship of the vicar of Pensnett in 1870 with a teenage pupil teacher at the church school, an illicit trip to the circus in Birmingham, a clergy discipline trial, a series of anonymous and scurrilous pamphlets and letters circulating in Pensnett about the incident, and a nationally reported libel trial. And what happened afterwards.
Mary Macarthur and the Cradley Heath Lockout - Andrew Homer
Wednesday March 8th 7.30pm
In 1910, the chainmaking women of Cradley Heath downed their tools and went on strike under the leadership of Mary Macarthur and the National Federation of Women Workers. Although the strike or ‘lockout’ was about local wages, it was to have national repercussions. The authority of the newly formed trade boards to address the plight of workers in the sweated industries, and enforce minimum wages, was about to be tested right here in the Black Country.
Black Country Memories
Wednesday April 19th 7.30pm
An opportunity to submit a photograph of Black Country people, places or artefacts (old or modern), or a poem, story or piece of music (or anything else) that stirs their Black Country memory. These will all be collated into a PowerPoint presentation, (if appropriate) and the contributors given three or four minutes to talk about their memory. Email societyblackcountry@gmail.com with your ideas.
Francis Brett Young - Jack Price
Wednesday May 10th 7.30pm
More than any other author, Francis Brett Young is recognised as the novelist of the Black Country, but what exactly does his Black Country constitute? Join Jack as he explores Brett Young’s fictional portrait of the British Empire’s beating industrial heart, looking specifically at the areas and time period Francis Brett Young depicts to directly interrogate the message he is trying to get across to the reader. Jack will consider the importance of Brett Young’s novels today, both to Black Country folk but also to ‘outsiders’.
Black Country History Quiz Night
Wednesday June 14th 7.30pm
A lighthearted evening to test your historical knowledge of the Black Country