GROWING UP IN THE 1950S, 60s and 70s in that enigmatic, wondrous hive of
industrial activity in the West Midlands, Andrew Edwards was a reporter
for The County Express newspaper based in Stourbridge and Brierley Hill.
It was his first job as a teenager, given a chance by proprietor Lt. Col
Moody of the Mark and Moody hierarchy, it propelled Andrew to a lifelong
journalist career.
In this, his second book, he tells of his roots, born in a wobbly house
in Amblecote, and his job in provincial journalism, which took him all
over the Black Country. This was a time before computers or mobile
phones, when any form of desktop digital publishing was far in the
future. Printing presses were mechanical things bigger than double
decker buses and stories were set in hot metal!
These are his reminiscences, meeting Black Country characters like
mayors, aldermen, golden wedding couples, pub landlords, criminals and
even an emerging rock star.
Andrew researches his own family - from his parents love of cycling and
sport and his father's lifetime passion with local Black Country
athletic clubs of which he was a founder member, to glass makers, when
the area produced the best handmade blown glass products in the world.
We also meet his aunty, an assistant matron, steelmaking, book printing,
a founder member of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, and
an army Captain in the Second; his godfather sunk in the South China
sea, canal boatman, a TV and radio comedy gag (joke) writer, with gritty
labourers, nailers and puddlers, going back to 1727.
Plus there's a mysterious family-owned book about agriculture, written
in London just after the Great Fire of London, in 1666.
This book is an eclectic mix of Black Country stories and tales, told in
a humorous style by the author.
Andrew Edwards' first book MCN Days Speedway Nights is available from
Amazon and all good bookshops.
