WORK has started on a project to honour a Dudley pioneer of industry and at the same time provide a ‘gateway feature’ for a local community.

Work to the foundations of the monument to Abraham Darby at the corner of the Sedgley Road and Birmingham New Road in Woodsetton have begun.

It means the project which local councillors, residents and community groups have been working on for a number of years is now finally coming to fruition.

Abraham Darby The First is described as the father of the Industrial Revolution and the project was launched by local Councillors Keiran Casey and Adam Aston alongside local resident Mandy Caddick, the Woodsetton Trust and The Friends of Wrens Nest Nature Reserve.

A range of local companies including Hadley Group, Midtherm Laser Cutting and Thomas Dudley Ltd have been involved in putting the monument together, donating their time, labour and finance.

Holden's brewery in Woodsetton also brewed a special commemorate 'Molten Glow' ale to help raise funds for the new monument.

Councillor Casey said: "This has been a fantastic community project right from the start and I've been blown away by the help and support that we have received from local businesses".

"This monument is to highlight a pioneer of industry that was born locally, act as a gateway feature into our community in Woodsetton and to ensure that we always remember the amazing contribution that local people and our area has made to our country, particularly to the Industrial Revolution".

Harry Brookes from Woodsetton Charitable Trust said: “This will impact upon the historical background of the community and provide a focal point for schools to use for educational purposes in local history.”

Paul Floyd from The Friends of Wrens Nest said Darby’s birthplace is situated on what is now Wrens Nest National Nature Reserve – ‘a site which is of worldwide importance in its own right, of course, but even more so as the birthplace of the father of the Industrial Revolution”.