A hidden treasure. I have been there on a few occasions, but went on May Bank holiday. It was a…read more lovely and enjoyable day for the family. There were people dressed and you could take photos, music played on instruments from the past. You could go on a tour of the house. Well delivered by the guides. Just go and take a look. Well worth a visit

Choose a day and visit Harvington Hall, it's not very big but it's worth to take a look. A very…read morenarrow lane, twisting past beautiful cottages brings you to this Elizabethan building. There are free parking spaces on site. You can take a historic tour through the mansion which is impressive. A walk around the building along the moat overhung by trees is beautiful on a sunny day. The scones & tea in the antiquarian tearoom definitely have to be enjoyed afterwards!

Founded in the 13th century by King John, the ruins of Halesowen Abbey are a pleasing reminder of…read morethe area's medieval history. The ruins are now under the stewardship of English Heritage and can be visited on foot free of charge (there is no on-site parking, so it best to ark on a nearby housing estate or on the Black Horse pub car park). They sit in the middle of a large field just off the Halesowen bypass/Manor Way. Not much of the abbey remains, though there is a relatively intact gothic archway to admire. Many of the buildings have been incorporated in the nearby farm. It isn't exactly a "must visit" site, but the abbey is probably worth a gander if you are curious and passing by. As Dr Johnson once declared: "It is worth seeing but not worth going to see."

'What's so landmark and historic about a small, anonymous residential road on the edge of Oldbury?'…read more I hear you ask. Well in the case Apollo Road, what's so special about it is that it's where Kevin Rowland lived in the late 1970s, around the time he formed Dexys Midnight Runners. When I moved to this part of the world, I knew that he had once lived round here and was chuffed to find that the leader of one of my favourite bands had lived just a few minutes stroll from own doorstep. However, anyone expecting blue plaques, guided tours or people dancing round in dungarees will be sorely disappointed. Despite it's significance in local music history, Apollo Road does still remain a small, anonymous residential road on the edge of Oldbury. Only really worth a look if you're a big Dexys fan and want to walk down the road trying to work out which house he lived in, whilst humming 'Geno'. That's what I did anyway, and it made me feel good.

William Perry was the Tipton Slasher which, thanks to the Two Ronnies, sounds like either a rogue…read moreBlack Country widdler or a yam yam serial killer. In actuality William Perry was a bare knuckle fighter with an impressive record. The statue is in a park next to his pub and base of operations (The Fountain) and just down the road from the Black Country Museum. Its a nice statue to visit and show the kids that the past is everywhere and not just within the nearby museum's walls. The statue has a greater significance for for me, and probably 000s of others, because I am a blood relative, a descendant of this Black Country Rocky Balboa. Its moving to see in statue form a literal representation of the working class fight & celebrity, from a time before that amounted to a stint on X Factor. How his story hasnt become an art house Brit flick starring Daniel Day Lewis, Bob Hoskins and Gary Olman I will never know. Go and have a look at Grandad Slasher next time you are passing, or I will punch yow in the face.

This is one of the country's longest established preserved steam railways, operating along the…read morescenic Severn Valley 16 miles from Kidderminster to the market town of Bridgnorth. Opened in 1862 to link the line from Worcester to Droitwich Spa to Shrewsbury, the line never really fulfilled its early promise, and the section north of Bewdley was closed to passengers in 1963. The short spur from Kidderminster to Bewdley limped on until 1970, when it too was closed. In the meantime, preservationists had decided to reopen the line from the Bridgnorth end, and in 1970 trains began running again from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade, extending to Bewdley in 1974 and Kidderminster in 1984. The terminus at Kidderminster (known as Kidderminster Town) is adjacent to the main line railway station and, despite its Victorian appearance, is in fact modern, opened in 1984. A number of the stations have yards and sheds for stabling locomotives and carriages; the line is operated mostly by steam trains using former Great Western Railway stock, but there is a good collection of LMS and LNER stock as well. The line also has a growing collection of preserved diesels from the 1950s and 1960s, and operates special diesel galas as well as the regular steam service. The line makes for a great day out, especially for families, and many of the intermediate stations are situated in lovely countryside and are good starting points for walks.

The Severn Valley Railway is a fully working, old fashioned steam railway that runs through the…read morestunning countryside between Bridgnorth & Kidderminster. The trains are divided into Standard seats or First Class comparments, the First Class comparments are ideal for a family trip & wonderful for those with children as it give them the freedom to move about & look out of the windows. The stations along the route are all beautifully maintained in period fashion: it's possible to stop off at the stations & visit the nearby towns as desired or to stay on the train to the end of the route.

Agree with zoefruitcake, Dudley Zoo does a good job housing and caring for the animals, but the…read morepleasure of viewing them might be tempered with the uneasy feeling that it's not really in the animals' interests. Some of the big, intelligent creatures that should be used to huge territories, land based and sky-ward with complex sensory experience, might appear cramped. The tiger was pacing. The orang-outangs have a smallish compound backed by a peeling brick wall (and a continuous electronic clicking from their electric fence, which was annoying me after 5 minutes - they live there forever). The leopards are caged, (albeit in a tall metal space with platforms at seemingly impossible heights for them to lounge on). A new snow leopard is being acclimatised in a small adjacent room. This animal is absolutely stunning - beautiful mottled coat, fluffy feet, really handsome face and a tail as long as its own body. Again it might highlight the conflict between the personal pleasure of seeing it so closely contrasting with its confinement in a relatively cramped area. Other animals seem well located. The lemurs have a wonderful, unfenced walk through park, 'Lemur Wood', where they can roam about and climb trees as they wish - they will come right up to you, completeley unafraid - beautiful creatures, with plenty of space, scope and fellow lemur pals to flourish. In the 'MonkeyTails' house, you can meander through a mini jungle populated by a selection of smaller monkeys, foraging, running and jumping through the vegetation around you. A family of noisy Asian otters inhabits a separated compound within the house. They too are fascinating to watch, lively, alert and playful, snickering between themsleves in a continuous self-supporting banter, seemingly content. The georgeous African hunting dogs have quite a large range to run around in and they too have a well knit pack, which seems self supporting and gives the impression of reasonable contentedness. The meerkats display all the amazing cuteness seen on TV ; one or two standing guard, watching the open skies with relentless concentration, making little squeaky reassurances to the others left to forage and play. They are so close across the low walled compound, you feel you could almost touch them (obviously not). The chimpanzies have a large out-door enclosure along with a big indoor house where they can climb to the rafters, out of each others way. Whether this is enough for creatures so intelligent and human-like is not clear - they wouldn't talk to me. If it were down to me, I would reduce the range of animals and expand the enclosures more in keeping with their inhabitants' natures. However, skipping past the underlying thoughts, Dudley Zoo is a great day out for all ages, a full day, healthy walking up and around the nicely hilly park. Plenty of seats and picnic tables to rest and relax. Good cafe facilities for food and drinks if you didn't pack your own. There are spotlessly clean toilets available too (should be pretty good - if they can keep the chimps house clean, then the gents should be a doddle). As a bonus, crowning the park is the magnificent Dudley Castle. Though included in the Dudley Zoo entrance fee, it almost seems right to review seperately (you might for instance, completely object to zoos but love ancient historical monuments - in this case, you could always keep your eyes shut until you reached the Castle grounds!). If interested, see seperate Dudley Castle review. Getting there by train, arriving at Dudley Port station, is not ideal - approx 3 miles to the Zoo and up hill all the way. (And be very careful who you ask for directions. Take double extra care if whoever you're asking is getting on a bit as well - right and left is bound to be a bit confusing for them. You too could end up pedalling three and a half miles in completely the wrong direction onto the Black Country spine road before realising you were about to visit West Bromwich instead of Dudley Zoo!) Bus number 74 will take you to Castle Gate stop from the rail station. Plenty of trains from New Street, every half hour. Cars do seem more easily accommodated, with large pay and display parking facilities on site. Highly recommended for a great day out or at the very least to stimulate thoughts about the animals - never know, might be an inspirational experience.

Dudley zoo also incorporates a castle. All the animals seem to be kept in good conditions with…read morecaring staff. However some enclosures seem slightly old, could be bigger and in some cases were empty. For the cost of £11 each per entry per adult I feel that the amount is far to much considering the West Midlands Safari Park is this price for wild animals. It would be a good place for younger children but anyone above 7/8 I feel would not appreciate Dudley Zoo.

Old buildings are awesome and town halls have an amazing sense of pomp and grandeur to them whilst…read morestill seeming sparse and under utilised. I have attended many community events here and whilst i'm a huge fan of this Grade II listed building I fear that it's swanky refurbishment and the addition of a bar to make this more of a venue may see the hire prices rise dramatically for those who want to use it for community events. The Town Hall, situated in the centre of High Street, was built between 1874 and 1875 in brick and stone to an Italian Gothic design of the architects Alexander & Henman of Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and the building contractors were Trow & Sons of Wednesbury. I love how it was kept a little bit local in all that international flavour and national architect firms. This is just one of many great gothic inspired buildings in West Brom and it has all the standard trappings of a town hall from that time in that it's fit for purpose and has a good organ and viewing gallery. Whilst I love it when music artists like Laura Marling perform in such spaces I do wonder on its effect on the little people who have used the space for it's tea dances and events for such a long time. Fingers crossed the council get this one right,

I used to go in here as a kid all the time due to my family all living in and coming from around…read morethe area. Me and my husband decided to move back here from the south and be with my family so I decided it was only right to introduce him to the Black Country properly! We enjoyed it in the museum so much because it is one of those places which can take as long as you want it too, we spent a good couple of hours talking to the people who worked there, wandering around and even getting a half pint in the pub. The museum is one of a kind and somewhere I feel everyone has to experience once, whether from the Black Country or not! My husbands family are visiting the Black Country for the first time in a couple of weeks and I've already dedicated a day for this and to go to mad O'Rourkes after (also a necessity when visiting)

We loved this place. It was a great experience that I highly recommend. They have taken great care…read morein recreating a coal mining town. You can also do an amazing tour in the mine. Don't skip it!