THE Black Country township of Quarry Bank and the even smaller community of The Delph next door have had the spotlight turned on them in a new book out in time for Christmas.

Written by well-known historian New Williams and the Mount Pleasant Local History Group, it is their fifth book about Quarry Bank, but their first look at The Delph.

The book takes a journey through the streets starting at Quarry Bank’s eastern frontier at Cradley Forge, moving up to the town’s High Street to the zig-zag crossroads by The Blue Ball. From there it moves along Mount Pleasant - the crest of Quarry Bank’s “bonk” - and then down The Delph.

The 128-page paperback is packed with pictures and information collected during the last three years.

Its pages reveal the communities of colliers, brickyard workers and bucket-bashers before the days when motorists roared by on their way to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre.

Rare and previously unpublished archive photographs run alongside modern images taken from the same view and the history group shares its interest in the present and future while looikng at the past.

Ned, who is president of the Black Country Society, said: “It is the first time we have ventured out of Quarry Bank itself but we felt that The Delph was a rather neglected area and its proximity to Mount Pleasant led us to look into its history. We hope to go further afield on our next venture.”

Quarry Bank and The Delph is published by The History Press and is on sale, priced £12.99, in bookshops across the borough.