HIDDEN GEMS of The Black Country Paperback – 144 pages. Author David Harvey & Eric Richardson ISBN 978-1-85794-261-3

There seems to be a shortage of Model Engineering books of late and this one would be more suited to inclusion in the local history section. Nevertheless it is an interesting and well produced volume with some excellent photographs and line drawings. This area has a serious claim to being the cradle of the Industrial Revolution where the local farm labourers were lured into the burgeoning factories of the West Midlands. Working conditions were awful and the smoke and dirt from literally hundreds of back street factories led to the area being known as the Black Country. These industrious people did however manage to produce many fine buildings, monuments, bridges, canal networks, stations and churches. For anyone interested in local history or industrial archaeology this book is an authoritative work of reference. For those who may live in the midlands it is an excellent guide for a day out, as most of the buildings etc. are well worth a visit, and as someone who has lived in the area they are indeed Hidden Gems that deserve rediscovery.

£17.99 A Silver Link Book from The NOSTALGIA Collection

Colin Usher