Alcester Street

A Memory of Redditch.

I was 11 years old in 1957 and during that year I transferred from St Stephen's Junior Mixed School to Lodge Farm County Secondary. I lived at number 12 Wellington Street, which has been virtually destroyed by the new town development. I have many memories of Alcester Street through the 1950s and early 1960s. There never seemed to be much traffic and the shops catered for a variety of needs. My aunt would give me a shilling to go to Sheldon's tobacco shop and collect her weekly packet of snuff, which was weighed out on gleaming brass scales and poured into a small brown packet.  Hedges Chemist would be visited when prescriptions were needed. Next door was the Nag's Head where you could return empty beer and pop bottles to collect some extra pocket money. Across Smith Street was the Rising Sun where my dad would go for a pint and I waited outside for my bottle of Vimto and packet of crisps. Curry's Radio Shop was next and I used to often have a look in the window to see what fascinating new electrical devices were on show. Further down Alcester Street was Fairests Toy Shop, which seemed to stock just about any toy you could want. I remember Mr Fairest as a quietly-spoken gentleman who would always try and help junior Meccano engineers find the piece of kit they needed. I wonder how many people remember the Meccano Super Models which seemed to appear like magic in the window around Christmas time?
Of course one cannot leave a description of Alcester Street without mentioning the Palace Theatre where, in the 1950s, Elsie Siddell-Downing would produce some wonderful variety shows. Fortunately the theatre has survived and recently been returned to its former Edwardian glory. I know we often look at earlier periods in our lives with 'rose coloured spectacles', but I do feel sad that what was once a pleasant small town has become a souless hive of strangers, exacerbated by the imposition of the Kingfisher Shopping Centre and various other 'official' buildings.
I do hope these memories are reasonably accurate as it all happened over 50 years ago for me and it is sometimes difficult to be precise.