Visitor numbers up at Black Country Living Museum

Visitor numbers are up at the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) with bosses putting success down to a £10 million investment and the trend in families opting to spend summer holidays at home.

Since July the number of visitors through the gates of the popular Dudley attraction has gone up by eight per cent, a climb of around 2,000 people.

The attraction, in Tipton Road, was recording an average of around 25,000 people a month in June before the latest increase.

Museum bosses have attributed the bumper visitor figures to the opening of the £10m Oldbury Buildings development last month.

The buildings are exact reconstructions of four smoke-blackened units that originally stood in Birmingham Street, Oldbury.

But bosses say they are also enjoying the impact of more "staycationers" - those preferring to holiday at home in the UK rather than going abroad.

Figures released earlier this year revealed that a mere 26 per cent of Brits were planning to go abroad for their holidays.

And it is something curator David Eveleigh said was having a knock-on-effect on visitors to attractions like the BCLM.

He said: "It is generally felt that people are not going abroad as much due to the recession, which may have contributed to the number of visitors."

He added: "The new buildings really add something new to the museum and take us into a new era. We are so proud of what has been achieved here."

Work began on the Birmingham Street structures in January last year, and they have been carefully moved brick by brick to the museum in Dudley.

Number 12 is home to Humphrey Brothers, builders and decorators, number 14 is motorcycle dealers Hartill & Sons, while number 16 is tobacconist Alfred Preedy & Sons and James Gripton radio sales and repairs is at number 18.

Jo Treby, a costumed guide at Preedy's tobacconists, said: "The shops are bringing back lots of memories for many people.

"Many visitors have expressed delight at the upstairs living accommodation too and one or two have said they would like to move into the 1930s living room."