The Corner Shop, Black Country - Gallery 1

Move your pointing device over the image to zoom to detail. If using a mouse click on the image to toggle zoom.
When in zoom mode use + or - keys to adjust level of image zoom.

Date:2008

Description:The Corner Shop is a social history project charting the changing nature of small shops in the Black Country over the past 60 years.


In addition to this presence on the Internet by the Connecting Histories website, other aspects of the project include:

15 community volunteer researchers trained in oral history research and audio recording techniques.

A collection of over 30 recorded audio interviews conducted with current and former shop owners and some of their customers.

An accompanying education project for year 7 pupils at 2 Sandwell schools.

An especially built promenade theatre production to take audiences on an experiential journey through live performance.

Training in archive research for 10 community volunteers.

A project archive: of oral histories, contemporary and historical photographs and additional archive research accessible at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service. The National Monuments Record Centre (in Swindon) managed by English Heritage, has copies of the oral history recordings.

An exhibition about the research and history of small shops to tour Sandwell, West Midlands and a handful of national venues.


The Corner Shop is a Black Country Touring and Foursight Theatre partnership with English Heritage, Sandwell Community History and Archives Service, Sandwell Museum Service and Birmingham Archives and Heritage Service. The project is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Sir Barry Jackson Trust.

For this project a corner shop has been defined as a local family-run business grocery store or specialist goods shop serving particular communities.



Image creator Anand Chhabra

Image Courtesy of The Corner Shop Project Partnership