The Dudley People's Archive explores and celebrates Dudley’s rich heritage and vibrant present through photography, art, publications and stories.
Buy Dudley inspired posters
Visit the Dudley People’s Archive online store for our range of artworks.
If you missed the Growing Up In Dudley exhibitions take a look at the videos below for a walk through.
Your Stories
Anthony Hill
Sixties Mod
Anthony’s submissions of Growing Up as a Mod in the swinging Sixties.
Arthur Harris
NHS Protest
Arthur shares his pictures of protesting nurses outside Russells Hall Hospital.
Levene Brown
Girl Friday
Levene tells us how she became the Girl Friday for the Dudley Herald in the Seventies.
VIDEO: Arthur Harris
Arthur shares his story of meeting the young Punks of Dudley in 1980.
Dave Ferrier
Dudley Town FC
Dudley Town Football Club through the decades.
Darren Rat Radburn
Dudley Punks
Darren shares his fantastic pictures of growing up as a Punk in Dudley.
Chris Walker
Zoo daytrip
Chris found some slides to scan from his family visit to the zoo in the sixties.
VIDEO: Lavene
Lavene shares her story of becoming a catsuit wearing GIrl Friday for the Dudley Herald.
Mark Dabbs
Dudley Zoo - 1960s
Pictures of Dudley Zoo from the 1960’s submitted by Mark.
Karen Thomas
80’s style
Big hair and plenty of eyeliner - Karen has great photos from the era.
Jan Pritchard
Fun Family pics
Jan’s Professional Poly photographs from Horace Dudley and more.
VIDEO: Barbara
Listen to Barbara talk about her time at school in the 1950s.
Woodcraft Folk
Woodcraft Folk
Melvyn Dodd submitted these photos of the Woodcraft Group.
Paul Darby
Dudley's own boy accordionist
Gigging from 1957 onwards
Paul Litchfield
A dustbin lorry crashed into our house
That’s me in the middle showing me pants,
Jean Vincent
Blowers Green
Our friends came from all over the world to grow up in Dudley.
Dave Ferrier
Dudley Town FC
Pictures through the years
Jo Whitehouse / Paul Taylor / Robin Brazenhall
Eve Hill Flats
We continually utilised telescopes or radio masts to enhance these quite unique 'skyhomes'
VIDEO: Ken Wood
Ken tells us how the Black Country has been the inspiration for his oil paintings.
Ray Buckland
Family archive
Ray Buckland submitted these family photos dating back to 1926.
Alison Whitehouse
Married to a punk
My husband was the singer in the punk band Virus, he was known locally as Psycho.
Ash Loydon
Friday night in JB’s
Photos that just about sum up a Friday night in JB’s
Ken Wood
Painting Dudley
“People say ‘how can the Black Country be beautiful?’ Well they see it through different eyes you see. I look at it differently to these people. “
Barbera
I was Mary
“My parents used to laugh you know: “Your moment of fame! You were Mary when you were five.”
Derek
Jack the pig
All the kids loved ‘Jack’ and the girls used to put him on a lead to take him for walks..
John Harper
Robin Adaire & The Teenbeats
The Black Country had many groups in those days. Many artists going on to become music legends. I wasn't one of those
Pippa Laight
Punk’s in town
How many Punks can you fit into a Dudley telephone box?
Derek
Priory Estate
Historical pictures of Priory
Do you have a story about growing up in Dudley?
Please join us on our adventure to share memories, photos, stories and arts projects in relation to growing up in Dudley.
What was it like for you?
We are collecting photographs and oral histories to tell the people of Dudley’s story through your memories.
From dancing in JB’s, Goldsmiths or The Smiling Man and seeing a turn at The Hippodrome, to going to the Zoo, local shops and meeting characters of the town. From hanging out in your teenage bedroom, to stories about school days and first loves, we want to hear your stories of being young in Dudley.
Let’s form a community to tell the story of Dudley people!
Get involved with our Growing Up In Dudley Project...
If you have pictures of growing up we’d really like to see them - maybe they are of people taking part in parades, fetes or events or images of the street where you lived. From hanging out in your teenage bedroom, to stories about school days and first loves, we want to hear memories of being young in Dudley.
Share your stories of Growing Up In Dudley…
One of the areas we’re also really interested are images of going out - so maybe you went to nightclubs like JB’s, Goldsmiths or Reggae Blues parties in the 80s & 90s. There was lots of great bands that played in Dudley and it would be great to build a picture of the fashions, styles and music of the time.
As well as images and memorabilia from the past the archive are also looking to hear contemporary stories from people who live in the town.
If you have something you’d like to share we’d love to hear from you.
You can get in touch by emailing dudleypeoplesarchive@gmail.com