A VISIT to the Black Country Living Museum is a great way to gain an insight into what life was like in the 1800s, in fact, it is that highly thought of it was recently used in the BBC’s Victorian reality TV show 24 Hours in the Past.
And there was something even more enlightening about the Red by Night at the venue – there was something more romantic (from a looking back at the past point of view) about being there in the evening.
The popularity of the event has clearly soared year on year and the place was packed.
But, rather than being something negative, that added to the atmosphere and it was great to see the streets, shops, cinema, pub and other areas full of people, showing what the ‘hustle and bustle’ of Black Country streets would have been like almost 200 years ago.
The title of the event derived from an occurrence in 1868 when American diplomat and travel writer Elihu Burritt visited the area and described the area as being ‘black by day, red by night’ because of the black smoke in the day and the fiery red glow of the furnaces through the night. As showed during 24 Hours in the Past, men, women and children worked through the night to produce chains, glass, nails and everytthing in between.
The Red by Night at the museum gave you a taste of that as you walked round – there were fires dotted around the place to provide some pleasant places to have a warm, you could see the glow of heat all around the grounds as glass-blowers, nail-makers, chain makers and forge workers demonstrated their trades.
It was fascinating to watch those at work and equally interesting to hear about the lives of children in Victorian times during a visit to the school classroom.
The place was also brought to life by the street performers who amazed the crowds who gathered around them and the pianist in The Bottle and Glass pub as visitors enjoyed a pint or two and a singalong. Adding to the local aspects of the event was also a real ale bar, featuring beers created and brewed just down the road.
And of course no trip to the Black Country Living Museum would be complete without a stop off for the traditional fish and chips, which tasted even better on what, despite the sunshine in the early evening, turned out to be quite a chilly night,
This truly was a fantastic evening out for all the family, it is just a shame events like this are only once or twice a year.
It would be great to see some more night time events at what is one of the region’s most fascinating historical attractions.
