Jay Blades: The Midlands Through Time: Episode 2 (Channel 5 Wednesday 18 October 2023)

Jay Blades: The Midlands Through Time: Episode 2 airs Wednesday 18 October 2023 on Channel 5.

What is this episode about

In the second of a three-part series, Jay Blades shows us around the West Midlands, his adopted home, and tells the untold story of its workers from the beginning of the industrial revolution to the outbreak of World War I.

Beginning in the Black Country, he travels by narrowboat through the Dudley tunnel to learn about the sacrifices made by thousands of miners (some as young as eight years old) to power the industrial revolution in Britain.

After returning to Birmingham, also known as the “city of a thousand trades,” Jay learns about the area’s illustrious Jewellery Quarter and its army of workers. He also gives traditional methods of making an MBE medal a try.

In other parts of the city, he learns the truth about the Peaky Blinders, including the myth that one member of the gang dressed as a nurse to make a living.

In the 1800s, people flocked to Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton to watch bicycle races, so Jay decides to take his bike out for a spin around the venue. Wolverhampton and Coventry became the economic epicentres because hundreds of companies produced them there.

Jay learns that in the quiet mediaeval Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, a local doctor named William Penny Brookes started a sports day in 1850, modelled after the ancient Greek Olympic games, to protect the health of local workers. For the sole purpose of motivating the largest sporting competition on the planet!

To learn how trade unionist Mary Macarthur inspired 800 women to strike over unfair pay, Jay travels to the original home/workshop of a chainmaker. Which is why the country instituted a minimum wage across the board.

Jay completes his journey just south of Birmingham, where he learns how the Cadbury brothers improved the lives of their employees by building the picturesque model village of Bournville around their chocolate factory.

Season 1 Episode 2 of 3

When can we see the episode

Jay Blades: The Midlands Through Time: Episode 2 airs Wednesday 18 October 2023 at 9:00pm on Channel 5

Featured Image Credit: Channel 5