TV star Jay Blades focuses on history of Midlands in series starting this week
Midlander and TV personality Jay Blades is putting the spotlight on his region he has made his home in a new TV series.
Mr Blades, of TV's The Repair Shop, will be presenting the first episode of The Midlands Through Time on Channel 5 this Wednesday.
In this three-part series, Mr Blades who now lives in Ironbridge and has a workshop in Wolverhampton, explains why the history of the UK, and perhaps even the world, would not be the same without the Midlands.
A short promotional video for the series shows scenes from across the Midlands including the Iron Bridge. Mr Blades says how the area is a place he is 'proud to live in and call home'.
Mr Blades speaks of the region as the country's 'forgotten middle child' and an area that quietly 'revolutionised the world'.
He begins with Anglo-Saxon treasure the Staffordshire Hoard, buried in one of England’s most important kingdoms.
In a stable near Coventry, Jay learns the truth behind the Lady Godiva legend and the Black Country local dialect.
He also hears about Abraham Darby, the first to work out how to mass produce iron products: a technique that kick-started the Industrial Revolution.
Mr Blades is an eco designer, a "social entrepriser" and a winner of Bafta, RTS & NTA Awards.
The presenter was invested as the first chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) on Wednesday last week.
