BLACK COUNTRY
TOUR SCHEDULE

Welcome to the diversity of the ‘Black Country’ in the West Midlands. This tour will take in some of the greatest sights, sounds and history of the towns of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton and their respective attractions.

Designed for any age and size of group the tour will take in a piece of something for everyone with stately homes, museums and even shopping on the agenda! The following schedule is aimed at giving you a taster of the destinations we will venture to.

DAY 1

Our first day will unfortunately take in the beauty of the M25 and M6! We will leave soon after lunchtime and head north, arriving at the Mount Hotel, Tettenhall by 17.00. Dinner is served from 19.00 so this should give you plenty of time to unwind and freshen up.

DAY 2

After breakfast at the hotel the coach will leave at 09.00 for the 5 minute journey to ‘Wightwick Manor’, pronounced ‘Wittick Manor’. This is a National Trust managed property and is very unique in that this size and style of property is rarely taken on by the Trust.

Wightwick Manor is one of only a few surviving examples of a house built and furnished under the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The many original William Morris wallpapers and fabrics, pre-Raphaelite paintings, Kempe glass and de Morgan ware help to relight the atmosphere of the time. An attractive 17-acre garden reflects the style and character of the house.

At 10.30 we will move on across the M6 in to Walsall and take an interesting delve in to the world of leather from the heart of the industry here in Walsall, the world capital of saddle making. The Museum tells the fascinating story of the trade in a superb Victorian factory where we will be guided through the art and history of saddle-making and given a demonstration of the process. 

Next stop is the Quality Hotel and Suites where we break for a well deserved lunch.     

Finally we will indulge in some retail therapy to end the day in an informal style at ‘The Boundary Mill Stores’, Walsall. This is a huge outlet with up to 70% discount from top designer labels, plus a Marks and Spencers outlet and homeware store. This is a shoppers heaven and even has a coffee shop if you tire from shopping!

By 16.00 we should all be ready to take a drive back to the hotel before rush hour kicks in and spruce up in preparation for the evenings delights!

18.30 and time to depart for an evening of thrills, excitement and intrigue at the most haunted ruins in the West Midlands, Dudley Castle! This will be an enchanted evening where we will firstly dine at the ‘Queen Mary Ballroom’ site and then venture through the ruins of the castle, learning of the history and theories for many of the past events which occurred at the site. Keep your eyes open though..you might get a fright!

DAY 3

Breakfast time and then off for the first stop of the day to RAF Cosford, a fascinating museum with one of the largest and finest aircraft collections in the world. Located right next to an active airfield and RAF station, it boasts acres of space and a vast collection of breathtaking aircraft that you’ll never see anywhere else. Your trip could also be tied in nicely with a regular annual air show, please enquire for details.

By 11.00 should be ready to head off to one of the real highlights of the trip, ‘The Black Country Living Museum’.

You can discover a fascinating world when you visit Britain’s friendliest open-air museum. Historic buildings from all around the Black Country have been moved and rebuilt at the site to create a tribute to the traditional skills and enterprise of the people that once lived and worked in and kept alive the heart of industrial Britain. This is truly a stop for all the family as there is an original fairground, sweet shop, cobblers, school, gift shops etc. The fish and chip shop on site boasts arguably the best fish and chips in the West Midlands as they are cooked the traditional way…beef dripping… so naturally this is where you can break for lunch at your leisure. 

At approx 15.00 we will meet and take the 2 minute stroll down to the canal through the museum to indulge in some ‘legging‘! Basically this was the traditional way of pulling a narrow boat through the tunnels in the mining days, whereby two people lie in the middle of the boat back to back and ‘drive’ the boat by pushing their feet against the tunnel walls. This will be a 45 minute ride through the history and uses of the tunnels in their working day. Two underground audio-visual shows and a skipper-guided tour bring the history of this hidden underground world to life! This completes our day visits so we will now set off to the hotel to prepare for our final evening of entertainment…

At 18.00 we will leave for Dunstall Park, a floodlit racecourse in Wolverhampton for a night of excitement, dinner, drinks and a disco to end the trip in sleek style…and hopefully a pocketful of winnings!!

DAY 4

A spot of breakfast then we will leave at 10.00 for the journey back to Kent.