The Black Country Friends

Birmingham Black Country Nostalgia Testimonials

This web site and company is dedicated to the work of my dear late father, Peter Donnelly

It was part of a project Peter started in 1965, when he won the Daily Telegraph photographic competition, he then started to add the verse about his memory's during the 80's 90's. He later went onto produce a series of postcards and posters. The two album's have been put together after finding some layouts Peter had been working which he had intended to get published one day. I have followed the designs my dad did as close as possible to stay true to his 'brief, as he would say... The 2 books (and a 3rd coming soon) will stand testament to this passionate Brummie's life and his amazing creativity.

I published the verse and pictures as photographic albums. This method is far more superior to lithographic printing as it follows the old principles of light on sensitive paper. I know Pete would of approved of this traditional method which has been around for many years. It's normally used for wedding albums and produces a beautifully bound hardback book with the photographs being the actual pages which are 1mm thick and laminated to protect them from finger prints etc, so you can quite happily leave them around on a coffee table. The albums are printed using Fuji's Process and paper. As a photographer, I have always found that Fuji is great on colour reproduction and after seeing the first albums, this technique is really spot on. The colours of the prints look fantastic as oppose to normal book printing methods... It really is a one
off item.

The original shots were taken on a Pentakon F and Agfa and Kodachrome film. The 35mm originals have been scanned with a Nikon Film scanner and scratches, dust removed. Many of the shots have had extra black adjustments as the originals had started to deteriorate, many of the pictures are now over 40 years old.

Simon Donnelly
Photographer

www.simondonnelly.com
www.fotki.com/simondonnelly

Dave Cartwright
The Black Country

A truly beautiful site, perfectly capturing Pete's enormous talent alongside his dry humour. He was the first professional photographer I used and, in retrospect, the only one I ever felt comfortable with. His approach was totally at one with his personality: engaging, relaxing and yet so positive. As well as my 'Middle of the Road' album cover (which, to set the record straight—if you'll excuse the pun—I didn't get out of bed for because I returned home at 3.30 that morning from a gig in Carlisle!), Pete also took some great publicity shots in Mary Stevens Park, one of which was chosen by the record company for the promo poster. I still have them all (mainly because I look so young in them!)I also chose Pete above all the London guys on offer when I recorded for DJM in 1976: again, he came up trumps and his pictures were also used for the coloured posters advertising 'Masquerade.' Wish I still had one of those. Aaah, but that's another story. Love and peace

www.davecartwright.net

Gary Nicklin
Birmingham

I first met Pete in 1969 when I applied for a position in Donnelly Burns Studios as it was back then. I was offered the job and it was to bring about a working relationship and friendship that lasted some 30 years. It wasn't long after I joined the studio that Pete showed me the images that had resulted in him winning the Daily Telegraph Competition. It was like stepping back in time. I was, like him, a Brummy. Born near Saltley in Alum Rock... I had played along that cut... knew Nechells. These locations were slowly disappearing then... as progress relentlessly replaced them. They are more than just photographs... they are creative images.... where composition.... light... shade.... mood... reign supreme... They are....together with the accompanying verses a fitting legacy of Pete and not to be forgotten times. I miss him dearly. Gary Nicklin
(always Gaz to Pete)

Amanda Lawley
Wolverhampton
My aspirations from a nine year old 'tom boy' born into a working class home in the Black country were to be a famous drummer in a rock band... well I did manage to play in a band even had 15 minutes of fame playing onstage in the 70's with the very famous black country glam rockers slade ! Deep down I also wanted to be a photographic make up artist and stylist, but was told even though I excelled in art and drama, coming from the black country and my back ground it was highly unlikely I would fulfil my ambition/dream! and was steered towards a career to paint shop window dummies of which there was a huge factory up the road churning out these weird and wonderful creatures ! I would walk past the factory every morning on my way to school and a shudder would go down my spine and I decided one frosty morning that I would have to forget my dream, and so my future took a rather meandering course to its final destination which was to become a world wide and well known and may I say well written about make up artist and stylist ... Along my journey I had metamorphosed from a plain rather odd looking tomboy into what the world perceived has unusually attractive so Amanda's world somehow along the path had stumbled into modelling and fate kindly lead me" tripping"into Pete's studio booked to work on an advertising shoot for BRITAX SUN ROOFS !

It was I may say the first decent real job I had been offered I had been pushed and pulled into the glamour world of which I felt uneasy and knew I did not belong I was sad and unhappy that day I turned up at Peters but at least I was wearing a bikini and popping out of a sunroof, the studio had a wonderful warm feel to it and an immense sense of peace and happiness, I was not the only one to say that, all the models said the same, I realised why quite quickly it was Pete not the place itself that filled the whole space with his warm caring professional ease, a true poet and artist who would recite poems and tales in his very distinctive strong but softly lilting brummie accent, he mesmerised and entertained us putting all that came to his creative hive at ease.

He was a visionary ... a romantic, I had been away on a exotic shoot and had a nightmare relieved I had been booked at Donnelly burns, so I could tell Pete how happy I was to be home and working in his studio... he stood there and recited ROBERT BROWNING... HOME THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD... as we all know it ..."oh to be in England now that April is here".Pete, from behind those huge glasses could read deep into a face a place, a part of his soul that would find beauty in everything, and everyone, everyone loved Pete, his talent and foresight a magnetic attraction, wanting to be in his presence, to listen and learn. I was a shy and awkward youth thrown into something that was not me, Pete knew this and had listened to my dreams of being on the other side of the camera, he encouraged me and built my confidence in his very brummie humorous way... through Pete's influence I went to college part time to do beauty and make up he gave me the chance to build my portfolio nurturing my talent and giving me wings to fly... infact I flew all over the world as a make up artist and stylist to wild way out places from GUATAMALA TO ZIMBABWE THE USA
AND AUSTRALIA

IT GOES ON, always coming back to the warmth of Peters studio full of stories he would roar with laughter at over the odd G and T !!One day I had a call to go to the studio and do some test shots with a young photographer, all I knew he was called Simon, I presumed like me another protege of Peters... I turned up to see this young punk guy with a Mohican and at first felt a little uneasy ,scruffily dressed sweeping the floor, it was late and no Pete it was just me and him... I asked where was the photographer? He quietly lifted his face and said "its me" ... the beautiful eyes were Peters ... he was peters young son ... I once again fell in love with the artist and his work!!! Pete's immortality ... his son and the art they create ...

THANK YOU PETE FOR MAKING ME BELIEVE IN MYSELF FOR MAKING MY DREAM A REALITY AND A LEGACY TO PASS ON TO MY SON... WHAT DOES MY SON WANT TO BE WHEN HE GROWS UP? (I CAN SEE PETE SMILING NOW) A PHOTOGRAPHER ...

Phil Woodlock
Hockley, Birmingham

Brilliant photographic albums!!...After buying one I got the other.... The pictures are powerfull memories of a lost world for me,especially poignant if you read Pete,s words which deserve lots more recognition,,they are true gems of local literature…Simon and I talked long about the pictures,I told him the story of the terrible fog/smog we used to get..I remember it being so thick that we were sent home from school early and played at hiding in the fog from our Mates…cor!!!the fun we had..Simon is a supporter of Small Heath Football Club,more commonly known as Birmingham City…There is a bit[sic]of rivalry between that team and their footballing neighbours Aston Villa…I myself being an Aston lad and coming from claret and blue stock naturally am of the Villa persuasion..This rivalry bought to mind a funny story .. .You will be familiar with this story in one way or another, but its worth the telling.Its the story of Billy Hollands Dad,s promise...Or how my big Brother found out which team [football] he supported..

Our Dad used to read the Birmingham Mail when he got home from work..He would sit in His armchair and slowly read from front page to back,,never getting the sheets creased or mangled,,a whisp of Players smoke forming a circle above the place where his head would be if you were able to see it..you couldn't see it because the Birmingham Mail was the same size as the main sail of HMS Victory and only dads could read it in sitting position without the paper being destroyed..Mom and others would lay it on the floor and kneel over it..My Brother races into the living room where Dad is sat doing his newspaper Yoga,,He announces to dad that Billy Holland,s Dad [a neighbour down the street] is going to take Him and Billy to watch the Blues on Saturday week,,would it be ok??

The question hung in the air like a Doodlebug missile just before it hits..even the Players smoke stopped circling...the paper lowers to reveal Dads face,,This doesn't look good,,,"We shall see about that Son",,He utters,,The paper goes back up to reading position..My Brother asks again.."Can I dad???"… The smoke stops again the paper lowers,,,,,"Are you playing for the School team on Saturday morning Son??"..Dad asks.."Yes",,says Our Kid...."Come straight home after and be ready for when I finish work at 1.00"..says Dad...The paper raises,,the smoke resume its circlings...end of conversation....

On Saturday Our kid returns from his school game ,,boots hung round his neck by the laces,,,That's how we carried our kit see,,washes his knees and waits till Dad finishes
a sandwich.

They both then leave..take a short walk up the street and wait at the Bus stop till a Bus marked at the front as a special and underneath that..[Villa Park]..Our kid describes walking up the steps to the top of the Trinity Rd stand and seeing the glorious green of the pitch set against the striking Claret and Blue of the stands....he did go to see Small Heath play the following week with Billy Holland and his Dad,,,but it was too late then..Our kid already knew which team he was gonna support………………..

My Brother will still tell you that the striking thing about the Match and going to the ground was the vivid colours of the green and the Player,s kits and the stands and surroundings set against a world which truly ,at that time, seemed to be black and white..or dirty grey…I think this is one of the many reasons why Pete and Simon,s pictures are so very evocative to anyone who grew up during the Fifties and the Sixties,,They truly are images of a lost World,,The world of our Parents and Grandparents,,The world of our Childhood…I can only urge you to check them out…Villa for ever!! Phil…

Bev Pegg
The Black Country
I saw quite a bit of Pete in the 1970s particularly. He accompanied me to Hart's Photography Shop in Lye to advise me when I bought my first decent camera. To me he was the local equivalent of "Swingin' Sixties" icon David Bailey. There was a film in the late 60s / early 70s called "Blow Up" with David Hemmings against a fashion photography theme. Pete always comes to my mind when I see snippets about the film.

The last time I saw your dad was at one of our Black Country gigs at Halesowen British Legion maybe a couple of years ago. He was a top man.

He also produced the LP sleeve for "Middle Of The Road", featuring Dave Cartwright, which was a pioneering album made in my recording studio at Kinver in 1969 and released in 1970. He did all of the photography and layout for it. On the cover there is a picture of the band taken from the middle of the Quinton Expressway at 6.00am on a Sunday morning, in order to get the best natural light. Unfortunately, Dave Cartwright couldn't be bothered to get out of bed for this photo shot, and had to visit Pete's studio, to ultimately get his photograph superimposed over the top of the main picture of the band!

The popularity of this limited release LP resulted in Dave Cartwright getting signed to Transatlantic Records and furthering his career with about 5 album releases on that label. This "Middle Of The Road" album is very scarce and valuable these days due to only 99 being produced. I had an email from a guy in USA only last March wanting to get hold of a copy! Details of the album are on my website which is www.bevpegg.co.uk

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Birmingham Black Country Nostalgia Links

http://www.cradleylinks.co.uk/

Cradley Links - Dedicated to the local and family history of Cradley in the Black Country.

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http://www.birminghamitsnotshit.co.uk/

Birmingham: It's Not Shit loves Birmingham, its people, arts, animals, buildings, parks, grass verges, factories and bus stops. The've even got a soft spot for the Black Country.

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http://www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk

The Black Country Society, was founded in 1967 by enthusiasts led by the late Dr. John Fletcher. The Society has gone from strength to strength, establishing an enviable reputation in publishing books and magazines concerned with the
Black Country

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http://www.aurorayogi.com

Robin Aurora teaches regular classes from his studio in Harborne, and at Birmingham University. He is an energetic, dynamic Indian yogi with an inspirational and infectious passion for
Ashtanga yoga.

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http://www.gawftesting.com

Bringing significant and lasting improvement to the treatment and status of animals in Greece

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http://www.interesting.com

A directory of Nostalgia Web sites, articles, books, gifts, and other resources

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http://www.dudleycanaltrust.org.uk

See the network of underground canal routes that helped form the Industrial Black Country and marvel at the fantastic Limestone Caverns carved by man in his search for raw materials with which to make iron, the foundation of the 19th Century Black Country. Learn about the history and formation of Limestone and the fossilization of small creatures and plant life from our stunning audio visual presentation.

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http://www.rasaerials.co.uk

Providing hassle free aerial installations and a fast, friendly service for the Black Country and surrounding areas.

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