Black Country Living Museum

Black Country Living Museum

The Black Country Living Museum (formerly The Black Country Museum) is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings, located in Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The museum occupies a 26 acre (105,000 m²) urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle in the centre of the Black Country conurbation. It was first opened in 1976, on land partly reclaimed from a former railway goods yard, disused lime kilns and former coal pits; and since then many more exhibits have been added to it. Most of the buildings are original but have been relocated from elsewhere.

Electric trams and trolleybuses transport visitors from the entrance in a recreated factory to the village area with thirty buildings situated by the canal basin. The museum is one of only three in the UK with working trolleybuses, the others being The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft and the East Anglia Transport Museum near Lowestoft. Nearby Walsall retained its trolleybuses until 1970.

Coal mine displays include underground workings, colliery surface buildings and a replica of the 1712 Newcomen steam engine. In all, forty-two separate displays have either been re-erected or built to old plans to create a living open air museum.Houses, shops and public buildings have been rebuilt to create a single early 20th century street, peopled by staff in period costume. Some of these buildings are still used in their original function, such as the pub, the sweet shop, the church and the 'chippy'. Others are faithful replicas of their last use, with goods in the windows. Still others are only shells of the originals, such as the bath house. By immersing the visitor in the everyday objects of life, it becomes clearer how things connected.

Visitors to the museum may also take a narrowboat trip on the adjacent canal, into the Dudley Tunnel.

Museum trams

*Dudley Tram No 5 built in 1920. This was the Museum's first tram. It is currently in semi-retirement as it has worked much more here than for its original owners; it is currently out of service undergoing attention to its trolleypole and bodywork.
*Wolverhampton Horse Tram No 23 built in 1892. It is the Museum's oldest tram, and is currently on display at the back of the Tram Depot.
*Dudley Tramcar No 34 built in 1919. Returned to traffic in 1997 after restoration, it is now used regularly at the museum.
*Wolverhampton Open Top Tramcar No 49 built in 1909. Returned to traffic in 2004 after a 25 year restoration, is now in regular service in the museum.

Motor buses

*Daimler CVG6 GEA 174 built in 1948. Currently undergoing restoration, the framework is complete and the main outer body panels are going on; completion is planned in another two years.
*Midland Red BMMO D9 6342 HA. In service following restoration.

See also

*Summerlee Heritage Park

External links

* [http://www.bclm.co.uk/ Black Country Living Museum]
* [http://www.itvlocal.com/central/news/?player=CEN_News_26&void=115595/ ITV Local report at museum by Keith Wilkinson (reporter) ]
* [http://www.virtualmidlands.co.uk/demos/trapshop.htm 360 views of the Black Country Living Museum]


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