Worrapalava

Oh Worrapalava!Welcome to the second of a series of episodes - a ragbag of reminiscences in verse, song and story about the famous Black Country - The Industrial Midlands.ContentsSister DoraDorothy Pattison was born at Hauxwell Rectory, Wensleydale, in 1832 and was sent to Walsall as a novice by the Christ Church Sisterhood in 1865 to help resolve a staffing crisis. Her nursing was driven by faith rather than medicine and she turned down the opportunity to train as a doctor as time away from her vocation would go against her religious beliefs. She finally sucumbed to cancer at her cottage on Wednesbury Road on Christmas Eve, 1878, and, after a civic funeral, was interred in Queen Street Cemetery. Written and Read by Lynn HawthorneLamp Oil GeorgeA tribute to a local character - George Baker - Written by Keith Gwilliams - Solo - Kerry HalfordHistory - And Where To Find ItA dialect ‘conversation’ describing some of the historical gems around Wednesbury - Written and rated by Keith GwilliamsPainted LadiesA ballad celebrating the canals and narrowboats of the West Midlands - Written by Keith GwilliamsBlack Country AIA dialect poem a confusion brought about by the local vocabulary - Written and Read by Brendan Hawthorne

Welcome to the first of a series of episodes - a ragbag of reminiscences in verse, song and story about the famous Black Country - The Industrial Midlands.ContentsE Day Arf Spake FunnyTells of childhood memories of 1960’s Black Country. It uses true dialect of time and place to tell its story. It received over a million views on social media. Written and Read by Brendan HawthorneAll Around The River TameA pastiche of snippets about the towns and people of the area. Written by Keith GwilliamsWrought From Smoke and FlameA villanelle inspired by the production of Iran and steel - Written by Keith Gwilliams - Read by Kerry HalfordBlack Country Country BluesA song of local words and phrases to help you along with some traditions of the Black Country Written and performed by Brendan HawthorneIndustrial RomanceLooks at the working women of the Black Country raising families against the industrial processes that employed these families through hardship - Written by Brendan Hawthorne and Read by Lynn Hawthorne