TRIBUTES have been paid to renowned Redditch author, Anne Bradford who has died at the age of 91.
Anne had written numerous books drawing upon local history and personal accounts to create ghost stories.
She was a former English teacher with a keen interest in local history.
She always said she ‘accidentally’ became an author when, in 1991, she found a collection of local ghost stories in Redditch Library going back to 1850.
Putting pen to paper, Anne crafted the stories into a book and published them herself under Hunt End Books – this spanned a writing career of nearly 30 years.
Her work as a historian and author made her famous across Redditch and she eventually penned her own autobiography.
Among some of the memories Anne wrote about were the time she blew up her school science lab, how she was thrown out of nursing and when she married her husband John, a designer and art director.
In 2011, she campaigned for part of the then new Abbey Stadium to be named after its original founder Frank Cardy.
He was a councillor and the driving force behind developing sports facilities in Redditch and the creation of the original stadium. Anne got her wish and The Frank Cardy Room was created within the leisure centre.
Anne did not only write ghost stories, back in the 2000s, she teamed up with Mike Johnson to write a ‘Life and Times’ series, charting the lives of some of Redditch’s most interesting and influential characters.
Among them were former councillor Tom Wareing and, in 2011, much-loved ex-mayor Madge Tillsley MBE.
She was also instrumental in getting the book ‘Old Redditch’ republished, which had been out of print for some years.
Anne was passionate about the town’s history and was a great supporter of Redditch Local History Museum, being one of the first to help get the project off the ground.
For her 88th birthday present her sons Edwin and Edmund took her on a visit to the museum when it first opened in 2022.
Derek Coombes, former chair of Redditch Local History Museum, said: “Very sorry to hear that Anne Bradford, local author and historian, passed away at the weekend.
“Anne was a great supporter of the museum making donations of both money and information and books when we first started.
“Hence we named the books section of the museum the Anne Bradford Library.
Anne’s book ‘Old Redditch Voices’ is one of the must read books for anyone interested in Redditch Local History.
“A great lady who will be sadly missed.”
Anne is survived by her husband John, her three children and grandchildren.
