From pioneering solar inventions in Cannock to heated neighbourhood disputes over suburban kerbs, 1976 was a year when everyday life across the Black Country and Staffordshire rarely lacked a talking point.
These archive pictures capture a year of summer heatwaves, personal milestones, local campaigns and familiar faces.
Here is a look back at the stories, unusual happenings and everyday moments that shaped life across our towns and villages in 1976.
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5. Standing defiant in the shadow of Ocker Hill
The solitary premises of J & A Perks newsagents and tobacconists at 154 Leabrook Road stands dwarf-like beneath the looming cooling towers of Ocker Hill power station in July 1976. Following the clearance and demolition of neighbouring homes along the road, the resilient little shop found itself isolated on the roadside ahead of planned industrial redevelopment and widening works along Leabrook Road. Do you remember popping into J & A Perks for your daily paper or seeing this dramatic industrial silhouette back in the long, hot summer of 1976? | Express & Star archive
6. A fresh face for the tower at All Saints
Workmen Jeff Fletcher and Glen Attenborough, from specialist Derby clockmakers John Smith, winch a new glass-fibre clock dial into place 50 feet up the tower of All Saints' Church in West Bromwich circa 1976. The modern £1,500 timepiece, measuring five feet across, replaced a century-old cast-iron mechanism that had been dismantled the previous week, restoring a much-loved local landmark for passers-by glancing up to check the time. Did you rely on the All Saints' Church clock to keep you on schedule while walking through West Bromwich in the 1970s? | Express & Star archive
7. Taking to the streets over rent hikes in West Bromwich
Placard-carrying members of the Hateley Heath Tenants' Association march past the Gough Arms pub in West Bromwich in August 1976 during a campaign against a £1.50 weekly rent increase. Bearing slogans urging neighbours to withhold the rise and depictions of an empty-pocketed elephant, the campaign was soon embroiled in controversy after it emerged secretary Ray Churms was a member of the National Front, prompting calls for his resignation to secure the backing of Sandwell council workers. Do you remember the tenant protests outside the Gough Arms during the summer heatwave of 1976? | Express & Star archive
8. High-tech profiling precision at GKN Steelstock
A masked operator monitors an advanced cutting torch in the shearing department at GKN Steelstock in Oldbury in October 1976. Incorporating sophisticated electronics and computer-guided technology, modern profiling machines like this one were capable of cutting intricate, complex shapes across three dimensions with minimal human intervention, showcasing the steady technical evolution of the region's heavy industries. Did you ever work with automated cutting gear or spend time on the shop floor at GKN in Oldbury during the late 1970s? | Express & Star archive