Black Country Route Black Country Route The Black Country Route is a road in the West Midlands region of England. The plans for a motorway were drawn up in 1962 to ease congestion in the Black Country towns of Bilston and Willenhall, as well as giving the residents of Dudley, Coseley and Sedgley a more direct link with the new M6 motorway. A town centre by-pass for Bilston, planned to form a spur road to the main route, was given the go-ahead in 1964. By 1968 work had yet to start on any of the route, but it was appearing on maps as
Coal mining in the Black Country was tipped off, thus forming the characteristic 'finger' spoil heaps of most small Black country pits. The rocky waste and clay was known as 'tocky'. The machine also on the rails behind the spoil wagon is an early electrical coal cutter the arm extending from the front moved through an arc and cut a corresponding arc in the coal seam which then allowed the coal to drop down in big lumps. One the shaft was established the sinking engine would either be dismantled and sold on or kept to use in an emergency. Coal mining in the Black Country Coal