AS REDDITCH mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we collectively look at the day she visited the town.
On July 5 1983, The Queen came to open Milward Square and Forge Mill Needle Museum, but not before she took a walk through the town centre.
The Royal entourage was five minutes late getting to its starting point in Evesham Walk because of large crowds on the way from Elmdon Airport.
It was a right Royal party for the whole town as adults stopped work and children took the day off school, lining the streets in their thousands and cheering for the Queen.
The town was packed with people and with bunting lining the streets.
She then officially opened Milward Square in the Kingfisher shopping centre, unveiling the mosaic panels designed by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi CBE RA.
On the same day the Queen opened Forge Mill Needle Museum, by unveiling a plaque and then rang a belt to set the water wheel in motion.
The plaque reads: “National Needle Museum, opened July 5 by Her Majesty the Queen.”
She met all those who had put their time, hard work, and effort into getting the buildings ready.
Forge Mill guide John Luty, Redditch Amenity trust development officer Jim Martin and trust chairman Derrick Higgs were just some of the people the Queen met.
Her Majesty also gained a brief insight into Britain’s contribution to space-age technology when she visited the Hymatic Engineering Company.
At Hymatic, she was shown some of the highly sophisticated equipment the company produces for aerospace and defence use in many countries.
