A breath of change . . .

"My lifetime in the Black Country only takes up the last two-fifths of the 20th century, but even in that short span I have seen a dramatic change in the nature of my home region.

"Some of my earliest memories of Wolverhampton are of thick fogs laced with chimney smoke making it difficult for me to breathe.

"The atmosphere of the Black Country was of particular concern to my parents, who had moved to the region from Lancashire a few years before, as the excema that afflicted me as child developed into asthma.

"When my family moved just a few miles to Sedgley in the early 60s my asthma grew worse in the winters because of the pollution. I eventually had to go and see a lung specialist and spent two years to a convalescent school on the Wirral.

"The coastal air helped me enormously and my health improved dramatically. Eventually I was so much improved that I was able to return to mainstream schooling back in Sedgley.

"Over the succeeding years the frequency and intensity of asthma attacks gradually reduced as the atmosphere in the Black Country seemed to become better.

"Today the thick pollution-laced fogs of my early years seem to have disappeared as the heavy industry pumping out fumes has declined and real fires in the home have been replaced by central heating.

"Many parts of the Black Country might be better renamed as the Green Country as more and more trees are planted and conservationists encourage the creation of more nature reserves in the region."