Redditch Remembered

Synopsis

Until about 1900, although Redditch was internationally renowned for needle making and the associated fishing tackle industry, it was still a small country town. Then it spawned famous companies such as Herbert Terry & Sons spring makers and the Royal Enfield Cycle and Motor Cycle Company. In 1827 William Thomas Hemming established a flourishing printing business with an office on Prospect Hill and in September 1859 he launched the town's first newspaper the Redditch Indicator, which was eventually absorbed by today's Redditch Advertiser. That was a year which also saw the arrival of the railway to a station in Clive Road and the setting up of the Land and Building Society later renamed the Redditch Benefit Building Society, now the Birmingham Midshires. The Redditch Development Corporation was constituted on 29 May 1964 and so Redditch New Town has had its 40th birthday and itself has become part of the town's history. This DVD has been compiled from the combined archives of Alan Foxall of the Redditch Pictorial History Society, Ray Saunders of R & S Antiques, and the Redditch Advertiser, with additional photography by Alan Foxall. The carefully selected high-quality images will help the people of'old' Redditch relive good memories and evoke talking points. And for those new to the town, it will give them a taste of Redditch as it was when life was lived at a slower pace.