Express & Star

COMMENT: We must have pride in the Black Country

Coal and metal both fuelled the fire of the industrial revolution and provided the tools, chains and components that changed the world.

Published

The Black Country was at the heart of this.

Its 30ft seam of coal was so thick that even the soil in some areas was pitch black.

Black by day and red by night, the men in the factories would toil and graft.

Whether it is the ingenious invention of the Newcomen engine, the rich minerals taken from its ground or simply the wit, humour and warmth of its inhabitants, the world has much to thank the Black Country for.

As a people, we have all too often been guilty of hiding our light under a bushel.

Guilty of simply getting on with the job rather than taking the time to celebrate all that makes us great.

That changed a few years ago with the decision to celebrate Black Country Day.

On this day, the anniversary of the invention of the Newcomen engine, the first machine to harness the power of steam, we reflect not just on what we were but what we are today and what hope to be.

For some, today is a chance to discover more about our shared history.

For others it is a chance to revel in a unique and rather beautiful regional dialect.

It may simply be a chance to sup a pint of Holden's, Banks's, Batham's, Sadler's or any of the other delicious beers brewed right here.

Whatever we do with this day, we do it in the knowledge that we are a people who live and work as friends and share a sense of pride in all we can accomplish when we work together.

That is how we choose to view the chain on the front of the Black Country flag, designed by Gracie Sheppard.

Gracie Shepherd designed the Black Country flag

It is about the strong links that join us together in an unbreakable bond.

Patrick Vernon OBE

If Patrick Vernon, who writes on this page today of the chain as a symbol of slavery, lived here now perhaps he would see it the way we do.

But he has not lived here for a long time.

He does not appreciate the brilliance of the Black Country, of what a superb place it is to call home.

That is why today and the Black Country Festival are so important.

We all know why we love this place so much.

It's time we showed the rest of the world.

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