STARSAILOR
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Step Back In Time
I went home to Birmingham for a few days this week and decided to Visit the Black Country living museum..... What an amazing place...... its a replica of an early 1900 - 1940 Black Country town....... each building as been carefully taken apart where it originally stood and rebuilt with care to create a little world of escapism.......
As you walk towards the village part of the museum a tram passes by, a house made of cast iron stands to your left and you are invited to look inside...... indeed step inside to see the house as it would have been.......
Walking further on and you see a replica coal mine....... with the pit wheels turning and people dressed for a hard days work down the pit........ A small cottage stands crooked in a well kept garden...... I over hear a guide say that this was one of the first houses in the region to have wallpaper...... costing the equivalant of £490 a roll.........
A fairground is the next thing you pass....... coconut shy's, swing boats, helter skelter...... and as you walk people in themed dress walk past and bid you a good afternoon........
And then you arrive in the Village, the first thing that hits you is the smell...... of fish and chips..... cooking in an authentic 1930's chip shop...... the only thing that as to be changed is the fryer and the metal cabinets due to hygiene laws but they are cooked in beef dripping and they taste finer than any fish and chips you will ever taste.........
Infact as soon as we got to the Village a man playing the part of a post-man advices us to get in the queue as soon as possible as "if you dow gerrin befowar 12 then yum be looking at a loine a moile long"
Further exploration finds a chemist, pawn brokers, glass cutters, bakers, school, cinema showng classic silent comedies, a Church, hardware store, back to back houses and even a licensed bar complete with open fire and sawdust on the floor where a pint of local brew was enjoyed
by myself.........
So all in all a marvellous place to visit........ the on site workers who play the parts were all as friendly and helpful as you'd imagine of a person living in that era...... you can even register for a lesson at the local school, taken in the style of days gone by....... We were told by one of the workers that the man playing the postman also plays a teacher...... but gets so into the roll that children run out crying.......
It really is a wonderful place for a few hours you are transported to a time when community values and spirit were the order of the day....... if any of you are ever in the Dudley area please visit....... you will not be disappointed........
Here are a few snap shots........
The Hardware Store
The Local Church
Grocer, School Teacher, Postman
Bottle and Glass Inn
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'Why in the World are we here?
Surely not to live in pain and fear?' John Lennon - 'Instant Karma
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Sep/20/2007, 10:27 pm
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