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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29. Another new factory for a growing Cradley Heath firm
Furniture manufacturer Top Craft was expanding again in November 1987, opening another factory at Peartree Lane, Dudley, and creating at least a dozen new jobs. The five-year-old company had already outgrown its original premises and its larger factory in Cradley Road, Cradley Heath. The new site allowed Top Craft to introduce ranges of pine tables, chairs, headboards and beds. Managing director David Sleigh is pictured with Andrew Clarke. Do you remember Top Craft or its Cradley Heath factory? Did you or someone you know work in the local furniture industry during the 1980s? | Express & Star archive
30. When factories had gardens
Willenhall Box Company was being praised for putting a little more greenery around its factory in November 1988. Company gardener Vic Baker had created a garden with lawns, trees and shrubs at the Spring Lane site, impressing Walsall Council officials who hoped other businesses would follow its example. The council said well-maintained industrial sites could make a difference for workers, neighbours and the wider community. Vic Baker, of Darlaston, is pictured in the garden. Do you remember the Willenhall Box Company or its Spring Lane factory? What other local factories do you remember having well-kept gardens or green spaces? | Express & Star archive
31. When training was a family affair
TI Accles and Pollock in Oldbury was taking a family-focused approach to training in November 1984, with five of its six new trainees related to existing employees. The company had introduced the scheme to give sons, daughters, nieces and nephews of its 650-strong workforce a chance to gain experience and qualifications. The trainees spent a year undertaking engineering and commercial courses at the works, which specialised in metal tubing, including shafts for golf clubs. Leon Bradshaw, Andy Hall, Clive Penny and Frances Tonks are pictured with Frances’s father, Joe, while Mrs Mary Debney checks a batch of golf club shafts. Do you remember TI Accles and Pollock or working there? Did you get your first job through a family connection? | Express & Star archive
32. Wolverhampton robots head for America
Welding Robotics and Automation was enjoying an export boom in January 1987, with 70 per cent of its production heading to the United States. The Wolverhampton company had won major orders for computerised welding systems from Caterpillar Tractor and John Deere, including 12 robotic arc welding systems worth around £2 million for Caterpillar. The company had supplied 150 robotic welding systems in just five years, with customers including JCB and local firms such as Albion Pressed Metal and Associated Steels. Workers are pictured assembling one of the systems destined for America. Do you remember Welding Robotics and Automation or working in Wolverhampton’s engineering industry? Did you see robotics and computers beginning to change factory work in the 1980s? | Express & Star archive