by Tim Bridges Paperback, 160 pages with over 150 black and white photographs ISBN: 978 1906663 04 9 £12.95 This book explores Anglican churches in the Black Country and shows a wide variety of architectural styles in the region. Many Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular churches are present, and so are Georgian, Commissioners’, Victorian, Arts and Crafts and modern buildings — an eclectic mix enriched by restorations and rebuilds. An introductory chapter sets the scene of church development in the Black Country. This is followed by a gazetteer which describes each church — its architectural development, fittings, glass, memorials and much besides. Using elements of Black Country history, Tim Bridges brings out the special character of each settlement and its church. Tim Bridges is also the author of Churches of Worcestershire. He lectures widely on church architecture and history. Following many years on the staff of Worcester City Museums, he now works for the Victorian Society. He is also a trustee of the Worcestershire and Dudley Historic Churches Trust, which along the Staffordshire Historic Churches Trust will benefit financially from the sale of each copy of this book. The Folklore of the Black Country by Roy Palmer Paperback, 320 pages, 180 b/w illustrations ISBN 978 1904396 84 0 £12.95 The Black Country’s folklore encompasses a huge range of material and activities including ballads and songs, bull baiting, chainmaking, coalmining, cock fighting, customs and beliefs, the devil, Enoch and Eli stories, epitaphs, festivals, illnesses and cures, ironmaking, morris dancing, nailmaking, prizefighting, wakes and witchcraft. In a series of themed chapters Roy Palmer covers the folklore of an area that contains Bilston, Blackheath, Bloxwich, Brierley Hill, Codsall, Cradley and Cradley Heath, Darlaston, Dudley, Gornal, Halesowen, Lye, Oldbury, Oldswinford, Quarry Bank, Rowley Regis, Sedgley, Smethwick, Stourbridge, Tettenhall, Tipton, Walsall, Wednesbury, Wednesfield, West Bromwich, Willenhall, Wolverhampton. Roy Palmer is nationally known for his researches into folklore. The Defence of Worcestershire and the southern approaches to Birmingham in World War II by Mick Wilks Paperback, 256 pages, 60 drawings/maps; 150 photos ISBN 978 1904396 80 2 £14.95 In the summer of 1940, an invasion of Britain by the apparently invincible forces of the Third Reich was widely expected. In the time-honoured fashion of the British, preparations to meet the invasion were left almost to the last moment. This book attempts to tell the story of how Worcestershire was prepared for defence against both ground and air attack by the enemy. The county was the chosen location for both the Government and Royal Family had it been necessary to evacuate them from London, and the county occupies a crucial location on the southern approaches to Birmingham and the Black Country, whose industries were then busily producing aircraft and munitions The opportunity is also taken in this volume to bring up to date the research into the covert forces recruited in the county. After a career in town planning, but now retired and working as a part-time volunteer researcher with the Worcestershire History Environment and Archaeology Service, Mick Wilks has been researching and recording modern defence sites in Worcestershire for over 12 years. |