For many people across the Black Country and Staffordshire, the 1980s meant factories, workshops and industrial estates were a familiar part of everyday life. The sound of machinery, the smell of oil and metal, workers arriving for shifts and lorries coming and going were all part of the local landscape.
These photographs take us back to a decade when traditional skills were being joined by new technology. Engineers, machinists, printers, foundry workers and factory teams were keeping production moving, while local firms invested in new machinery, developed new products and won orders from around the world.
From Wolverhampton and Willenhall to Walsall, Dudley, Stafford and beyond, these pictures capture the people, workplaces and businesses that helped shape the region.
Do you remember any of these factories or firms? Perhaps you worked in one of them, or had a family member who did? Take a look through and see how many bring back memories - the pictures are in no particular order - and share yours in the comments.
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45. Oldbury engineering firm plans to take on more workers
Kirby’s Engineers was looking to expand its workforce in April 1987 as orders for its specialist machinery continued to grow. Based in Union Road, Oldbury, the firm already employed 65 people and hoped to take on another 20 or 30 over the following 18 months. The company made machinery for the cardboard box industry and exported around 75 per cent of its output to countries including Germany, France, America and the Benelux nations. Chairman and chief executive Chris Ward, who was part of the team that bought the firm in 1982, is pictured in the expanding workshops. Do you remember Kirby’s Engineers or its Union Road factory? Did you or someone you know work there? | Express & Star archive
46. Inside a Wolverhampton rolling mill
The heavy machinery inside Cable Street Mills in Monmore Green, Wolverhampton, is pictured in April 1986. The rolling mill was part of the region’s steel industry, turning steel billets into finished bars and other products. With its huge machinery, pipes and steelwork, the photograph gives a glimpse of the scale and noise of industrial work in Wolverhampton during the 1980s. Do you remember Cable Street Mills or working in Wolverhampton’s steel industry? Did you or someone in your family work at the site? | Express & Star archive
47. A new assembly line secures jobs at Coseley cooker factory
A £1.5 million assembly line was helping to safeguard the jobs of 1,000 workers at Cannon’s cooker factory in Coseley in June 1983. The new line formed part of a £6 million redevelopment at the company’s Gough Road headquarters. At the heart of the operation was a £125,000 robot welding system made by the British Federal Welder Company in Dudley, helping to speed up production while maintaining quality. Cannon director Bill Jenrick and British Gas marketing director Ron Probert are pictured chatting to worker Maureen Moss during the opening. Do you remember Cannon’s Coseley factory? Did you or someone in your family work there? | Express & Star archive
48. Old skills meet new investment
Old traditions and skills were being combined with new investment in this factory workshop, photographed in July 1985. The machinery and busy workshop offer a glimpse of the industrial work being carried out across the Black Country and Staffordshire during the decade. We don't know where this photograph was taken - can you identify the factory or recognise anyone pictured? Did you or someone in your family work in a similar workshop? | Express & Star archive