Local History

Celebrating staffies
It's taken more than 20 years but a group of dog lovers are finally about to open Britain's first Staffordshire Bull Terrier Heritage Centre.
The museum is dedicated to promoting and championing one of the Black Country's favourite hounds and is located on the Holyhead Road in Wednesbury.
Containing a permanent exhibition of all things staffie, the centre represents years of hard work from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Exhibition Group.
"The idea actually began in 1985," said group secretary and former Councillor Robert Evans.
"Myself and an old friend of mine Fred Phillips had a meeting in a pub with some members of the local council and we talked about having a permanent museum in the area dedicated to the Staffordshire bull terrier.
"Unfortunately, it never got off the ground. In 1996 though I was elected to council and decided to pick up the idea where Fred left off. We formed the group, held some temporary exhibitions over the subsequent years and finally achieved charity status in 2005."
Doggy exhibition
The group have now managed to gain a permanent residence for their museum at the old Holyhead Road post office in Wednesbury. They have used a £4,000 lottery grant to get the centre up and running.
The exhibition contains a wealth of staffie memorabilia including a 1950s black and white film that highlights the campaign to get the dogs registered from mongrel to pedigree.
A series of paintings also depict this struggle including one by Joe Mallen who was the first person to register the breed in 1935.
"This is the only heritage museum in the UK dedicated to Staffordshire Bull Terriers," said Robert. "It also contains posters, paintings and models as well as many other staffie-related souvenires that have been donated to the group from dog lovers around the region."
Black Country barking
Crucially though for Robert, the museum is Black Country based, essential given the area's love of the staffie.
"The dog evolved around the Black Country," he says. "Unfortunately they were used a lot in dog fighting and badger bating.
"Breeders started to breed smaller versions of the dog in the 1830s to try and be more low key and out of site when they were engaged in their blood sports. It was decided that the best way to put a stop to this was to get them registered as pedigrees which happened in April 1935.
"Staffies really settled into the home of Black Country folks in 1920s and became synonymous with the working class routes of the area. We're here to promote and celebrate the breed and urge anyone to come and see us."
Best in show
Robert, who has bred and owned Staffordshire bull terriers for over 30 years, hopes that with the new centre this year will be the year of the staffie, in more ways than one.
"They're hugely popular now and can be found all over the country. But staffies have never won 'Best In Show' at Crufts. Maybe this 2009 will be their year."
The Staffordhsire Bull Terrier Heritage Centre is based in the former Hollyhead Road Post Office in Wednesbury.
It will be opened by the Mayor of Sandwell on Friday 13th March 2009 and then is open to the public from Saturday 14th March 2009.
You'll then be able to visit the centre on Thursdays and Saturdays from 11am - 3pm. Admission is free.