OCCASIONALLY a story will emerge that puts the Black Country well and truly back in the limelight, and hopefully in two months time sparks made by the hand of a traditional woman chainmaker at work in Cradley Heath, will be lighting up a huge screen on a stage at far away Los Angeles in the USA.
The Bugle has been following the burgeoning career of chainmaker Annette Bradney since the summer of 2010, a span of 18 months that has witnessed the establishment of Annette as a modern day pioneer of this traditional Black Country cottage industry. Back in 2010 she was heavily involved in the centenary celebrations of the famous women chainmaker’s strike of 1910, and has appeared several times at the Black Country Living Museum as the incumbent chainmaker.
This year Annette is hoping to increase her interaction with children at various schools in the area with a view to demonstrating the way many of their ancestors may have earned a living a century or more ago. Her love of local history and the art of chainmaking remains undiminished, and the passion she has for making chain in the traditional way is currently unequalled by any other woman in the Black Country.
News Annette will continue to promote her skill in any way she can to maintain the profile of this traditional local occupation, and the Bugle will be with her every step of the way. So when she contacted us recently with news that was a little out of the ordinary to say the least, we couldn’t wait to establish the full facts. A meeting had been arranged between Annette and Kevin Round, who was acting on behalf of Clint Mansell, the Coventry-born musician, composer and former lead singer with the Stourbridge-based band Pop Will Eat Itself.
Kevin wanted to know whether Annette had any film footage or stills of her making chain that could be used at an event taking place in Los Angeles at the beginning of April, but unfortunately time was short and an immediate response was needed.
Kevin explained. “A mate of mine called Paul Jonson knows Clint Mansell, and in his role as a composer of film scores, Clint is making a couple of rare live appearances with the Sonus Quartet at the Largo in L.A. to promote the release of the music for Massy Tajedin’s film ‘Last Night’, and wants to show, on a giant screen as a backdrop to the evening’s entertainment, images from his native Midlands, which includes chainmaking.” Thankfully both ourselves and Annette were only too happy to oblige and provided Kevin with still images of Annette making chain at the Mushroom Green chain shop back in 2010, which will hopefully raise her overall profile at nowhere other than the home of Hollywood.
