Black Country

they had all those organizations

they had managed to pull up into segment one of the overs of the league tables which was pretty tough for some of them west Midland in the black country, the group there has definitely still got some problems.

And there you have a sort of mixed...

Although there's a trend towards merger, there are benefits still that people are using in having group arrangements like in the Black Country, they now have a shared chair in David Nicholson, but different chief executives, sort of two shared chief executives.

So they retain that account, mixed accountable officer status, a bit more of that local accountability and local management that... that Henry was talking about in relation to Humber and in the South, what's called the Foundation Group that Glen Burley and colleagues set up across the West Midlands.

remaining a group and they're kind of using it to flex that a bit as well to have separate now two separate chairs and with it so within one group and separate um kind of lots of separate managing directors and one of the points about i think sort of one of the first group what called itself group model was in was in barts after one of the fame nhs's famous sort of mega mergers gone wrong in in barts um trust which is a single trust, but a group within a single trust as it were, kind of split down to separate hospital management within that and kind of created that model in order to try and retain that local operational focus and management.

That's it.

And what I've always loved about it is, you know, I'm really proud sort of black country girl.

I wasn't always and I spend, you know, half my time these days explaining to people that the black country is actually a real place.

Yeah.

Especially to some of my friends from North and South.

thrill it was brilliant you nearly left that one out for me i was getting on to that but yeah so it debuted there but i used to go around all these saddlery businesses phone them all and say you know if you've got any waste leather turns out there's a lot because you can only cut from certain parts of the hide for strength and durability and whatnot So a lot goes to waste.

But they'd sort of be like, oh no, it's not really for that fashion kind of stuff, love.

And I'll be there with my stubborn black country waltz going, well, I've just made three outfits out of it, Bob.

For blacksmith's son, as I was, furnace and forge in some form or other pleased me best, and I chose to be a working engineer.

So my father, by and by, apprenticed me to a Birmingham ironmaster, and having bidden farewell to Matt and Chadley and the grey old tors in the shadow of which I had spent all the days of my life, I turned my face northward and went over into the Black Country.

I am not going to dwell on this part of my story, how I worked out the term of my apprenticeship, how when I had served my full time and become a skilled workman I took Matt from the plough and brought him over to the Black Country, sharing with him lodging, wages, experience, all, in short, that I had to give, how he, naturally quick to learn and brimful of quiet energy, worked his way up a step at a time and came, by and by, to be a first hand in his own department, how during all these years of change and trial and effort the old boyish affection never wavered or weakened but went on, growing with our growth and strengthening with our strength, are facts which I need do no more than outline in this place.

About this time, it will be remembered that I speak of the days when Matt and I were on the bright side of thirty, it happened that our firm contracted to supply six first-class locomotives to run on the new line then in process of construction between Turin and Genoa.

It was the first Italian order we had taken.

I was not a little proud, you may be sure, when I found myself appointed to superintend the transport of the engines.

Being allowed a couple of assistants, I contrived that Matt should be one of them, and thus we enjoyed together the first great holiday of our lives.

It was a wonderful change for two Birmingham operatives, fresh from the Black Country.

I said, we could do this voice.

And she had this character called Marlene, who was from the Black Country.

I said, why don't we do the Queen Mother like this?

Yes.

So I work with an extraordinary range of glasses with different histories and different technical properties, but all explore Starbridge as an area.

So glass rooted specifically to the Black Country, which is an area I'm interested in looking at further.

So looking at the provenance of the material and the place it's from shaping the work it's become.

The glass fashion show at Corning opened another direction for me too.