Black Country

The Black Country is a densely populated area north and west of Birmingham. It is located in the West Midlands, one of the six metropolitan counties of England.

The name Black Country is often attributed to the enormous air pollution from industry that has emerged in the area from about 1750. The name is likely to be older and related to the coal, which has long been won here in the open pit.

Larger towns and boundary

The flat and hilly country of the Black Country is located in central England, where the catchment areas of the rivers Trent ( northeast to the Humber ) and the Severn ( east and south ) meet in Birmingham to within a few kilometers. To reserve next parts of the city Wolverhampton following locations are numbered:

The boundaries of the Black Country are controversial, some expect the entire city to Wolverhampton. Notwithstanding the limits drawn by the municipal reform of 1974, the northern boundary to Cannock Chase is uncertain. The metropolis of Birmingham does not belong in any event for the Black Country, although it is often regarded as its center, and here, for example, the Black Country Strategic Health Authority has its headquarters.

Apart from the area that is managed by Wolverhampton City Council, most communities fall in the Black Country in the administrative jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Boroughs Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall. Overall, about 1 million people live in the metropolitan area.

History

Before the 18th century the Black Country was a series of smaller communities and market towns. With the onset of the industrial revolution in the mid-18th century and the discovery of large coal and limestone deposits, the area quickly developed into a site for Mines; the population grew by leaps and bounds.

In the Victorian era was the Black Country one of the most industrialized areas in Britain and was known for its air pollution, in particular through the iron and coal industries and the related factories.

The area quickly got a bad reputation, Charles Dickens described the conditions in his story The Old Curiosity Shop 1841: The factory chimneys " blow their plague of smoke out, dim the light and pollute the sad air ". The American Consul in Birmingham described the region as " black by day and red at night ."

From the air pollution from heavy industry, which enveloped the area with black soot, based on the popular opinion also the name of the Black Country. According to a known, in their veracity but indubitable anecdote arranged Queen Victoria on a ride of her royal train through this area at, let down the curtains on the windows. Historians, however, have pointed out that the name is probably older and of the above ground occurring coal deposits which were to be seen in the landscape, resulting.

The Black Country today

The heavy industry that once dominated the Black Country as is, for the most part disappeared. Already in the late 1960s, many mines were closed and laws on air pollution have ensured that the Black Country is no longer black today. Nevertheless, there are still some industries, but are no longer in the earlier measurements.

Large areas are now suffering from high unemployment and are among the poorest communities in the UK; this is especially true for Sandwell and to a lesser extent for Wolverhampton. As in all urban areas in England there is a significant proportion of ethnic minorities in the population. The resistance to mass immigration in the 1960s led to the racist slogan "Keep the Black Country white" ( "Keep the Black Country white ").

Attractions

The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley represents life in the Black Country in the early 20th century and is a popular tourist attraction.

The Black Country dialect

The spoken in the Black Country dialect is very old and can be very confusing to outsiders. He is a throwback to the Middle English and still contains words like Thee, Thy and Thou. Ow B'ist ( How beist thou? ) Is a common greeting, the typical answer is Bay too bah (I bayn't be too bad ). For I have not seen her ( I have not seen ) will I ay sid 'er. Instead yes ar often is said in the Black Country.

The residents of the Black Country are considered very proud and deny any relationship to the inhabitants of Birmingham, called Brummies. This, in turn, the residents of the Black Country Yam Yams often call because they say in their dialect Yow at the place You are.

The residents see themselves as simple, hard-working people. The strong dialect is now more rarely heard than before.

Famous people

From the Black Country has produced some internationally successful artists, including

Conurbation West Midlands (county) Metropolitan County Surface mining River Trent Oldbury, West Midlands Cannock Chase District Reminiscence John Bonham
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