Brierley Hill was one of those Black Country towns which was identified by the work that went on within its boundaries. Everyone knows that Brierley Hill made steel and sausages and fine pieces of glassware. These activities are now in the past but the memory of such work lingers on while the town wrestles with the problems of regeneration. This book pays plenty of attention to steel, pork products and glass, but also provides a glimpse of the many other aspects of work that have made Brierley Hill such a busy place. People worked in local government and in public sector work which maintained the life of the town, while others worked in retailing and in the provision of transport. While looking at the world of work in Brierley Hill we have taken account of the many types of employment that were to be found in its satellites: the hollow-ware industry of Quarry Bank, the brick-making that went on in The Delph, Silver End and Pensnett, the iron trades in Brockmoor and Harts Hill, and the work on the infrastructure that served all these places. The arrival of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre on Brierley Hill’s doorstep has given retailing a new dominance in terms of providing local employment, but the picture of work in the twenty-first century is still emerging. Who knows what will bring Brierley Hill fame and fortune in the future?
