We arrived at the mine, just five minutes before the first tour of the day. We took a look at some of the mining lamps used down the mines over the years while we waited for the tour to start. Soon, we were called in and the humans had to get hard hats and a candle-bright torch for the tour. We bears are short so aren't likely to bang our heads!
We walked into the darkness with John, our mine guide, stopping now and again to take in an aspect of the miner's work - mostly dark, areas light up and we are introduced - in a strong Dudley accent - to various characters working in the mines and their break time. It's interesting to see how this has developed over the years and I think the mine gives a great insight, especially for younger humans, into how hard a life their ancestors had. I don't think I fancy mine-work. Too hard for me.
This was the first week the Museum had opened after their winter closure, so some of the volunteers were checking over the steam engines, boilers and such to make sure they were ready for their inspection. Once inspected, they have to get them up and running so they can be inspected again - then they are licenced for a year to demonstrate them to their guests. The guys seemed very keen to get to work and get their babies back to work! As we walked through the park we saw a trolleybus (an electric-powered bus, that rides on wheels not tracks) in action.
We passed the old toll house, saw the double decker bus again - they run up and down from the top part of the museum to near the funfair regularly to help people get around in these historic vehicles. As we headed into the school, we saw some World War I Army soldiers taking part in the Museum's World War I weekend.
Inside the school, we saw a class being undertaken - fortunately, we were just too late to take part. Actually, it looked kinda fun with adults and children alike taking part. However, truants Reddy and I were able to have a little fun in the other part of the school. Though they seem to have forgotten to turn on the furnace!
Then it was time for my favourite part of any visit to the Black Country Living Museum - the fish and chip shop! Love it! The staff are so friendly and they even let Reddy and I help out with cooking the chips!! I think Reddy thought they wouldn't notice if he snagged a few batters! Even veggie assistant Di likes the chip shop now they will make some in vegetable oil, to order - they are normally cooked in beef dripping! Yum.
We didn't have the fish today but it looked fabulous! We wandered through the park as we ate the chips in the fabulous sunshine. Then we headed down to the lower village. Yes, okay, we were heading to the pub! The Bottle and Glass. I quite liked the look of the pork pies, but apparently I'd just eaten (no excuse if you ask me).
There was a lovely warm fire in the bar so I got a bit of a warm while Assistant Paul ordered some drinks - pints of local mild and bitter, warm mulled wine and a cup of tea. It was really busy, so we moved into another of the rooms, with an Inglenook fireplace, so Reddy, his wife Pink Ted and I sat down for a warm and a nice drink.
We caught the end of a nail-making demonstration - blimey that looked time-consuming! Dunno why they don't just pop down to B and Q or something (heehee, I know, I know!) We took a look at the canal basin and checked out the fabulous chain-lifting bridge.
The chain-making demonstration was in about twenty minutes, so we took a wander past the bakery, into the cake and sweet shops. I will cover these on other write ups so will skip for now. We returned to the Chain Shop and watched in awe - again. I've seen this several times, but it's always amazing. The pieces of metal are heated to a straw colour (that's how they could tell the temperature was right) and then pulled out of the heat and bent and hammered into a horseshoe shape.
The edges are brought together and hammered into a weld which is then heated again to form a fire weld (or Blacksmith's weld) to ensure the joint is not weak. Boy, the sparks fly!
Ta-daaaaa. In no time at all the chain is extended, which is a good job as they had to make a lot of chain to earn a living back in the early 1900s.
We headed back up over the canal to the bus stop. It was quite funny because the trolleybus and the double-decker bus both arrived at once - just like in real life! We climbed onto the trolley bus - we'd not done this before! We bears headed upstairs to the front - to drive of course!
The bus stop is outside the car dealership so we went inside to take a look at the car collection. Below left is a Sunbeam Dawn, made just a few miles away in Wolverhampton. Below centre is another Wolverhampton built vehicle - a 1914 Briton Car. The car, below right, looking like Brum is a 1903 Sunbeam.
There was just time to call into the gift shop on our way out of the Museum. Parking costs £3 but as Members, we get a free token when we visit. With multiple visits we've nearly got our joining fee back in car park savings alone. Then there's the ten percent discount on some food and souvenirs. Check out the Black Country Living Museum and see if it appeals to you! We had a great day out, with no little thanks to the weather. I had fun hanging out with my buddy Reddy today! His staff are pretty nice too!
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