Excitement among volunteers and visitors as popular Black Country Glass Cone reopens following extensive restoration

The Red House Glass Cone in Wordsley was a hive of activity, with families, couple and glass enthusiasts coming to see the Dudley Council-run site after it reopened its doors to the public on Saturday.

The site had undergone a £1.5 million restoration over the last 12 months, with partial closures while essential, but sensitive work has been carried out, and a Christmas craft fair and official reopening event were put on to celebrate the reopening.

The inside of the Glass Cone proved a popular place to stand and take in the sheer scale of the attraction, which towers over the nearby canal and A491 road, while there were also plenty of takers for tours of the underground tunnels.

The Mayor of Dudley officially reopened the site as part of an event funded by Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund, while people were able to enjoy refreshments on site from onsite ‘Café 2 U’, a Christmas choir performed and Mrs Clause and Santa were also present for seasonal photo opportunities throughout the day.

The Christmas Craft Fair, which has been taking place across the weekend, provided seasonal gifts to take home, while a Christmas trail was also part of the event, with the first 150 children who complete the trail to receive a keepsake glass token, made on site by resident artist Bethany Wood.

Site manager Kate Jones said that everyone involved with the Glass Cone was very excited about the reopening of the Glass Cone and spoke about what people could expect from the centre.

She said: "We're really excited because today marks the end of the restoration works that we've done here on the site, with £1.5 million having been spent on the building and site as a whole and it's been one of the hardest, but also one of the most enjoyable and rewarding projects we've ever worked on.

"It's been part of the local skyline for more than 300 years and we want people to come and enjoy it and we want to retell the stories of their ancestors and families who have worked here in the past and share it with us.

"It's a celebration of Stourbridge and its history of glass and we're really proud of that and we've got a lot of local visitors and people who are repeat visitors and it's a really important part of our local heritage."

Among the visitors who were enjoying the newly restored Cone were Bob and Anne Whitehouse from Kingswinford, who said they were regular visitors and were very impressed with the work done.

Bob, 80, said: "Before it was refurbished, we used to come regularly and I was born in Cradley Heath and very much loved the history of the Black Country, so we always wanted to come and see it.

"At one time, they used to have the furnace around here and blew the glass and all that.

"I think it's very nice and they've spent a lot of money on it and made sure it's kept safe as there's only about four in the country like this and it would have been a shame to lose it when it's such an important part of our heritage."

Anne, 81, said: "I think it's lovely and I like the gift shop as everything is so reasonably priced.

"We've been down and seen the place as it was being worked on, with all the scaffolding and everything else, and I think it just looks great."

Councillor Paul Bradley, Deputy Leader of Dudley Council, said: “We are thrilled to be fully reopening, after an incredible programme of works that has been undertaken to protect and conserve this precious site for future generations.

“During the restoration, the cone’s visitor centre, shop and studios have remained open and were recently assessed by Visit England.

"For the third year running, the site has secured gold status from the national tourism agency.”