Black Country Chapels Author:Ned Williams For 250 years chapels have been at the heart of Black Country life - both social and religious. Poor social conditions in this heavily industrialised area stimulated the growth of religious nonconformity, and chapel influence is strong even today, despite many closures and demolitions over the last few years. While compiling this book, Ned Willi... more »ams has spoken to chapelgoers from all over the Black Country and from a wide range of denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Independent and Quaker) and has recorded their memories. This is, therefore, a first-hand account not only of the buildings themselves - including tin chapels, those converted to other uses, and some that have vanished altogether - but also of the wide-ranging and active social life that surrounded them - Sunday schools, Scouts and Guides, choirs, youth groups, parades and carnivals, outings, sporting events and so on. Illustrated with a wide range of old and new photographs, drawings and paintings, posters and other ephemera, Black Country Chapels will bring back memories for anyone who was born and brought up in the Black Country, and records a fascinating aspect of the region's history that was at the heart of every community - from Amblecote to New Invention, from Tipton to Gornal Wood, from Hell Lane to Paradise.« less