HOW MANY of us walk through Redditch and never notice the sculptures or listed buildings placed throughout the town?
Now there is a tour guide which takes people all through the town showing how it became what we know today, from The Palace Theatre extension to the development of The Kingfisher Shopping Centre.
The Redditch Heritage Trail has been put together by Derek Coombes and his team at the Redditch Local History Society with sponsorship from the Town Centre Partnership.
In 1964 the council began modernising the town centre which was once home to 11 factories. The book shows where these stood along with the little traces still visible such as the names on archways of alleyways and writing on the side of some of the buildings which have taken their place.
Alcester Street is one of the most dramatically changed parts of Redditch. The book shows pictures of how the road was once the main route through the town and would usually be congested with traffic, a far cry from the pedestrianised area of today.
On the corner of Church Road stood old thatched cottages which became the County Building before moving on to the Kingfisher Shopping Centre which sits on what used to be the tail of Evesham Road. You can stand in the middle of the shopping centre and use the book to see how you would be standing right in the middle of a busy street.
Derek said: “There is a lot of history in the town when you know where to look for it.
“A lot of people think of Redditch as a new town but it is actually a very historic place. There are so many things that people walk past every day and do not notice them there.
“We did this book as a way getting more people to come to the town and promote it.
“If you talk to people who knew the old town they can tell you so many stories of children coming out of the old bakeries or how their families used to live in two up two down houses by the factories.
“We also felt the town was lacking in documentation especially over the last 50 years, developing from the old town to the new town and the 50th anniversary was the perfect time to do it.”
For more information or to buy the book email [email protected] .
