From the roar of the blacksmith’s forge to the bustle of neighbourhood high streets and schoolrooms, 1974 offers a fascinating glimpse into everyday life across Wolverhampton and the Black Country.
We travel through Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell, exploring local campaigns, community projects, traditional crafts and the people who made the region what it was. Among the familiar faces are a teenage Lenny Henry bringing laughter to a Dudley classroom and Chris Tarrant presenting cheques at a Willenhall pub.
How many of these faces, places and moments from 1974 do you remember? Share your memories in the comments.
- Missed our pictures of life in the Black Country and Staffordshire in 1976? Take a look here
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9. A high-rise future for Wolverhampton's Heath Town
Soaring high above Wolverhampton, this striking aerial perspective from 24 July 1974 captures the newly completed Heath Town housing redevelopment in all its modern architectural ambition. Dominated by prominent tower blocks and interconnected deck-access walkways, the complex represented the cutting edge of post-war urban planning, standing in sharp contrast to the surrounding traditional streets, railway sidings, and industrial factories. Do you remember when the Heath Town flats were brand new, or did you live in one of the high-rise blocks during the 1970s? | Express & Star archive
10. Barmaids take on Banks's brewery
Barmaids unanimously raise their right hands during a packed union meeting in Wolverhampton in January 1974. Backed by the Transport and General Workers' Union and supported by Wolverhampton North-East MP Renee Short, around 200 bar workers took collective action across the region after four women working at a pub in Codsall had their pay cut on brewery instructions. Facing resistance from Banks's brewery chiefs over negotiating rights, the militant barmaids issued a 48-hour ultimatum threatening to escalate their campaign and disrupt local beer supplies if fair wage standards were not met. Do you remember the barmaids' dispute or recall local pubs feeling the pinch of the strike action back in 1974? | Express & Star archive
11. A trailblazing new driver for West Bromwich ambulance service
Clipboard in hand, mother of three Sheila Hawkins stands proudly before an ambulance in February 1974 after making local history as the service's first ever female driver. Living in Fallowfield Road, Orchard Hills, Walsall, and formerly a nursing assistant at St Margaret's Hospital in Great Barr, Sheila applied simply because she loved driving, only discovering at her interview that she was breaking new ground for the service. Her initial weeks were spent training in first aid and learning the ropes alongside an experienced crewman based at Tipton ambulance station. Do you remember Mrs Hawkins taking the wheel in West Bromwich and Tipton, or recall the arrival of the area's first women ambulance drivers in 1974? | Express & Star archive
12. Tackling factory fumes at GKN in Smethwick
A machinist oversees a heavy cold forging machine fitted with a new glass fibre hood at GKN Screws and Fasteners Ltd in Smethwick in February 1974. The pioneering installation was part of a major contract carried out by Staffordshire Industrial Services Ltd of Wolverhampton, designed to eliminate harmful oil mist pollution from the factory air while significantly cutting down deafening noise levels to comply with strict Factory Act safety standards. Did you work on the shop floor at GKN in Smethwick or remember the introduction of these early workplace safety and air filtration systems during the 1970s? | Express & Star archive