101 years ago, my hometown was at the heart of something momentous. It was something that would change the lives of thousands. Something that would trigger huge social change and give power back to people who had been exploited, ignored and downtrodden for decades.
In 1901, the women of Cradley Heath took matters of injustice into their own hands and prompted positive reform in working conditions for thousands of men and women across the nation.
London had the match girls, Cradley Heath had the women chainmakers.
Whilst large and medium chains were made by men in factories, smaller "hand-hammered" chains were often made by women and children in cramped forges. These women faced back-breaking labour in awful conditions for paltry wages. The Liberal government had introduced the Trade Boards Act in 1909 to ensure fair wages. Employers had rejected the increases and continued to pay derisory amounts.
With the charismatic leadership of Mary Macarthur and support of the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW), 800 Black Country women united and withdrew their labour for ten weeks. Their demand was simple: a minimum wage; the dignity of decent remuneration for a gruelling day's work. That wage was a mere two-and-a-half pence per hour.
Their fight was a tough one, with employers taking advantage of the low literacy levels of many of the women.
Macarthur was smart. She understood the power of the media and used it to drum up support for the strike. People from all walks of life rushed to support the women and it became a fashionable cause. Sustained pressure and overwhelming public outrage prompted all employers to sign-up to the minimum wage.£4,000.00 was raised during the strike, enough to build a workers' institute for the people of Cradley Heath.
Looking around the town today, it is easy to miss the historical significance of the place. There are a few public commemorative artworks and a Mary Macarthur memorial park; other than that it is a simply another town dominated by the 24-hour fluorescent hum of a Tesco megastore.
The Macarthur institute has since been moved, brick by brick, to the Black Country Living Museum. The museum hosted the annual Women Chainmakers' Festival for six years, before deeming the event "too political" in 2011.
This year's festival bought the chainmakers home to Cradley Heath. There was music, reenactment, debate and speeches. Singer, Stacey Blythe, performed the poignant Chainmakers Song.
Whilst I may live in just another Tesco town, in a world "where" political is too often considered a dirty word, I am proud of, and grateful for, the women chainmakers of Cradley Heath.
"Rouse, shake off the fears that bound you,
Women, rouse. Be true."
(Protest song, 1910)
Images by Mark Evans for BitchBuzz