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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49. Recovery in the Black Country foundries
Workers are pictured pouring molten metal in a heavy industrial workshop in 1985, capturing the heat, skill and hard work of traditional foundry production. One worker carefully directs the glowing metal towards the moulds while a colleague monitors the operation nearby. The photograph reflects the efforts to modernise and revive traditional manufacturing during a difficult period for the region’s heavy industry. Can you identify this foundry or metalworks? Do you recognise the workshop or anyone pictured? | Express & Star archive
50. Gutter making on the move in Tipton
A mobile guttering factory is pictured in action in Tipton in 1980, as Alcan Rainwater made the most of a wet winter by offering a same-day gutter replacement service. The company was part of aluminium giant Alcan, which also supplied aluminium for the fuselage of Concorde. The unusual mobile factory brought the work directly to where it was needed, offering a glimpse of a very different approach to home improvements. Do you remember Alcan Rainwater or seeing its mobile guttering factory around Tipton? Did you ever have aluminium guttering fitted at home? | Express & Star archive
51. New technology brings jobs to a Stafford firm
Stonehaven Packaging Products was looking to expand and create new jobs after moving into a modern factory in Stafford in March 1987. The company had moved from Victorian premises in Fancy Walk to a new £250,000 purpose-built factory on Tilcon Avenue. The extra space allowed Stonehaven to install new equipment, including a £220,000 colour press - the first of its kind in the UK - to produce flexible packaging for customers including Marks & Spencer, Mothercare, Woolworths and Harrods. Do you remember Stonehaven Packaging Products or its Stafford factory? Did you or someone you know work there in the 1980s? | Express & Star archive
52. Pensnett firm rides a wave of growth
Intralox managing director Roger Iddles is pictured checking an all-plastic conveyor belt installed at a major British food factory in March 1989. The Pensnett company had grown rapidly since setting up in 1985, with UK sales of plastic conveyor belts increasing more than sevenfold. The success had led to further expansion, with Intralox moving into a factory four times larger than its original premises and expecting business to grow by another 50 per cent during 1989. Do you remember Intralox or its Pensnett factory? Did you or someone you know work on the industrial estate during the 1980s? | Express & Star archive