Policing Redditch

Traffic Lights, Evesham Street c1960
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The policeman in this photograph, much to my amazement, is me! I joined the Worcestershire Constabulary in 1961 and worked at Redditch from 1961 to 1965, when I then went to be a 'village bobby' at Oldswinford in Stourbridge. We had no radios or much transport in those days and most eight-hour shifts would be spent walking the streets. To see if we were wanted we either passed the end of Church Street and looked down to the Police Station to see if the blue light outside had been put out, or we hovered by a designated telephone box at a set time each half hour and waited for it to ring. The rest of the time you were on your own and expected to deal with anything that came your way. The newsagent's shop on the cover of the book was at the top end of Evesham Street where it became 'Front Hill' and was the shop where I had a standing order for each of the James Bond books as they were published. He was all the rage at that time and all the books were keenly anticipated. I came back to Redditch as an Inspector in 1978, not having been back for many years, and could hardly recognise the place. I preferred the old town but all towns change with the years, although not quite as much as Redditch. I retired from there in 1986.