A ‘VIRTUAL museum’ has been launched by Redditch Local History Society.
Five years in the making, spokesman Derek Coombes described it as a labour of love born from the lack of a physical heritage centre in the town.
“We’d started to document all the houses in the town centre that had been knocked down,” he said.
“From there it grew like topsy from the original ‘lost streets of Redditch’ idea.
“We’ve still got lots of things to fill the detail in and there’s quite a lot of information which we can’t publish online because of copyright.”
Packed with old photos of how the town used to be before the development corporation got to work on the new town, the virtual museum features everything from the ‘life and times’ of old Redditch personalities, historic films, hostelries, manufacturers and of course lost streets plus much more.
A glance at ‘Lost Streets’ uncovers census information, bringing to life the names and occupations of Redditch residents long since gone who lived in streets now demolished.
“There quite a lot of census information there, stuff on the First world War and all the casualties from Redditch,” said Derek.
“It’s very much a work in process and the thing about Redditch is that it’s progressively changing too.
“Town centre regeneration is ongoing, for instance with plans for the railway station.
“And the thing we keep pushing for is that, hopefully with all the money that might be spent there’s a few pounds spare to start up a heritage centre.
“We only want a small room to start with, just somewhere to start to show this town’s rich heritage.”
To enter the virtual museum, visit www.rvmha.info
