ALTHOUGH our pages are more likely to feature fiery furnaces, ravaged landscapes, and hardy groups of grime-laden workers, we do also occasionally focus on the greener side of our region’s past — as is the case this week, with this fine image from the Smethwick area.
Ancient farmsteads gave sustenance to our forebears long before the Industrial Revolution transformed this proud corner of the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Mercia, with coalmines and ironworks cutting wide, black swathes through the rolling pastures of old.
However, despite the rapid and unstoppable march of industrialisation, many of us can recall remnants of these old farms co-existing alongside the factories and pit mounds of the Black Country well into the last century.
Since then though, much ancient farmland that survived the Industrial Revolution has been swallowed up by housing and retail developments.
This picture is from the Dianne Pye collection.
The charming and evocative image of the the young boy in his breeches, waistcoat and cap, standing next to a longhorned bovine, is attributed to H. Carless, Photographic Artist, of Lightwoods, Smethwick.
We wonder if any readers can suggest precisely where this photograph could have been taken, and can you identify the lad shown?
