Traditionalists consider the real Black Country to only include the region just West of Birmingham where the 30ft coal seam comes to the surface - a product of once living trees, compressed and buried for millions of years, returning to the surface like an irrepressible secret.
There are some who say the trees can talk, and if they could, what secrets might they hold?
More info at www.unexplainedpodcast.com and on twitter @unexplainedpod
Sources
1. Woman’s Body Found in 1943, The Manchester Guardian, Oct 4th 1949.
2. Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm, Series 7 Episode 4 of Punt PI, written by Steve Punt, BBC (2015).
3. Sparke, A. (2014), Bella In The Wych Elm: In Search of a War Time Mystery APA Publications: UK
4. Murray, M. (2010), Margaret Murray, England: The Other Within, http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/england/englishness-Margaret-Murray.html
5. Haughton, B (2008), Bella in the Wych Elm, Brian Haughton, http://brian-haughton.com/ancient-mysteries-articles/bella_in_the_wych-elm/3/
6. Josef Jakobs research website run by granddaughter of Jakobs, http://www.josefjakobs.info/
7. Strangeremains (2015), Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?, Strange Remains, https://strangeremains.com/2015/04/24/who-put-bella-down-the-wych-elm/
8. Vale, A (2013), Is this the Bella in the wych elm? Unravelling the mystery of the skull found in a tree trunk, The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/is-this-the-bella-in-the-wych-elm-unravelling-the-mystery-of-the-skull-found-in-a-tree-trunk-8546497.html