Beautifying Bilston, 1975

Bilston in the Black Country is one of those areas scarred by the legacy of the Industrial Revolution. It's just the kind of place that planners and landscape architects would love to try to work on. But in 1975 it was local residents were encouraged to turn planner to come up with schemes for beautifying an area which included slag heaps bounded by factories. For their pains they'd win a book token. The charming planner interviewed in this local news report at the time has a few idea of his own: colouring the smoke coming out of the factory chimneys to give it a carnival atmosphere; laying inspiring quotes on the pavement near bus stops; and turning an old gantry into an aviary, or at the very least tacking on some plastic birds.

You can see the news report here.

John Stonehouse was then the local MP, and he made the following statement to the House of Commons on the 18th December 1975. This was only four months after he'd been released from Brixton Prison on remand for faking his own death the year before...

'The area which I represent is called the Black Country. It is called the Black Country for a reason—it is extremely black. It is an area which was blighted by the Industrial Revolution and it has not had enough money spent on it in the past half century to correct the evils that were done to what was once a very beautiful part of the country. The position has not improved in the past 20 years. In fact, it has got worse. Unfortunately, towns like Darlaston, Willenhall and Bilston, right in the centre of the Black Country, are being gradually destroyed by the inadequate attention being given to them by the planning authorities.'

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