The Mount Pleasant Local History Group – författare

Quarry Bank Past & Present is the second book produced by The History Press devoted to the recent history of this Black Country township. Two hundred and fifty pictures bring you a glimpse of the many diverse facets of life in Quarry Bank. It may be a small place, but everything within its boundaries is experienced in great variety: of pubs, schools, workplaces, churches, landscapes and land use.The Mount Pleasant Local History Group, led by Ned Williams, have been exploring the past and present life and times of Quarry Bank for several years. The group has often been frustrated in its search for local photographs, yet once the photographs found have been assembled in a collection such as this the group feels it has something worth sharing. We hope you will delight in glimpses of carnivals, school days, pigeon flying, Sunday schools, shops and people. The past and the present are connected in so many ways, and in a small community so many people’s lives are interconnected.In the ‘real world’ of Quarry Bank every part of the township is connected to other parts, often by a mysterious network of footpaths. We feel confident you will be able to ‘connect’ with many pictures in this book: plunge into this treasure island called Quarry Bank.

Brierley Hill is one of the heavily industrialised towns that make up the region known as the Black Country. Like many such towns it can easily be divided into many smaller communities that, while being part of Brierley Hill, have quite an independent existence and identity of their own.This book sets out on a journey across Brierley Hill that begins at the parish church and ends at one of the principal crossroads in the town centre, and then we make our way around the satellite communities of Brockmoor, Bromley and Pensnett. We find ourselves in a world that was dominated by many local pits where coal and fireclay were extracted, much of this coal being used in the manufacture of iron. When steel came along, Brierley Hill became the home to a large and important steelworks at Round Oak. Other companies came into the area to manufacture products using steel and some became very large local employers and integral parts of the community. Large scale industry and mining may have gone but the communities they spawned survive and this books provides a glimpse of the shops, pubs, schools, chapels and churches and other facilities that once made each ‘village’ so self-sufficient, intertwined with their railways and canals of industry.With over 200 historic and fascinating photographs, this book is a must-have for locals and visitors alike, capturing Brierley Hill as it used to be and how it has been shaped into the place that it is today.