Redditch Circa 1968 - Part 2: DerekYoungandCo
In just over 3 minutes we see many different streets, nicely titled so you know where you are. Because it was filmed from a stationary position, the camera slowly pans round the homes and businesses. There are some glimpses of local residents too.
The year 1968 was the definitive tipping point for Redditch. While the town had been officially designated a "New Town" four years earlier, 1968 was the moment the theoretical master plan of the Redditch Development Corporation (RDC) manifested into a physical, disruptive, and undeniably modern reality. For those living through it, 1868 was a year of profound cognitive dissonance: one could walk through a medieval street pattern in the morning and stand amidst a Brutalist construction site by the afternoon. It was the year Redditch truly began its transformation from a specialized Victorian industrial hub into a suburban social experiment.
The Geometric Transformation
By 1968, the "Redditch Master Plan," authored by planning consultant Hugh Wilson and Lewis Womersley, was being executed with surgical precision. The core philosophy was the Radburn Principle, which sought to solve the 20th-century problem of the motor car by segregating it entirely from the pedestrian.
In 1968, the town’s landscape was dominated by the creation of the primary "distributor" roads. These were not merely roads but massive engineering projects involving deep earthworks and the construction of the town’s signature roundabouts. The aim was to create a "grid" that would allow traffic to bypass residential areas entirely. For the long-term resident, the sudden appearance of these dual carriageways—often cutting through previously untouched fields or older allotments—was the most visible sign that the "Old Redditch" was being superseded.
The Birth of the Neighborhood Units
While the roads were being laid, 1968 saw the first major influx of residents into the new "neighborhood units." Matchborough and Lodge Park were the early beneficiaries (or subjects) of this design. These estates were built as self-contained cells, each with its own local center, primary school, and pub.
The architecture of 1968 reflected a move toward industrialized building techniques. The housing featured clean lines, flat or low-pitched roofs, and large windows—a stark contrast to the dark, damp Victorian terraces of the town center. To the families moving in, many of whom were part of the "overspill" from Birmingham’s redevelopment zones, these homes represented an incredible leap in living standards. Central heating, indoor toilets, and fitted kitchens were the technological marvels of the 1968 domestic interior.
The Town Center: A Landscape of Demolition
If the periphery of Redditch in 1968 was characterized by creation, the center was characterized by destruction. This was the year that the wholesale clearing of the old High Street and its surrounding courts began in earnest. The RDC’s vision required a tabula rasa to build what would eventually become the climate-controlled Kingfisher Centre.
Throughout 1968, landmark Victorian buildings, small-scale forges, and traditional retail storefronts were systematically dismantled. This created a peculiar atmosphere in the town center—a mixture of dust, scaffolding, and the constant roar of machinery. The traditional "market town" commerce was forced into temporary structures or squeezed into the remaining fragments of the old street plan. For the local business owners, 1968 was a year of immense anxiety as they navigated the transition from being independent street-front traders to becoming tenants of a centralized development corporation.
Industry: The Pivot to Light Engineering
1968 was also a year of industrial modernization. While the town remained the world leader in needle and fishing tackle production, the RDC was aggressively diversifying the economic base. The first modern industrial estates, such as Washford, were being populated by companies attracted by the promise of new, single-story factories with dedicated loading bays and excellent road access.
Traditional firms like The Hymatic Engineering Company and Herbert Terry & Sons were forced to consider their futures in the context of the New Town. The cramped, vertical factories of the 19th century were no longer viable. In 1968, the move toward "light engineering" and automotive components began to accelerate, setting the stage for Redditch to become a vital cog in the West Midlands automotive supply chain that would dominate the next three decades.
The Social Fabric: Integration and Identity
Socially, 1968 was a year of integration. The population was growing at an unprecedented rate, and the "New Towners" were beginning to outnumber the "Old Redditchians." This created a unique social dynamic. The newcomers brought with them the urban sensibilities of Birmingham and the Black Country, while the established residents clung to the traditions of the Worcestershire market town.
The RDC went to great lengths to foster a sense of community. 1968 saw the opening of several community centers and the promotion of local "Social Development Officers" whose job was to help people settle into their new Radburn-style lives. Despite the concrete and the construction, there was a palpable sense of "pioneer spirit." People were moving into a future that had been designed for them on a drawing board, and there was a collective effort to make these new spaces feel like home.
Innovation: The Busway and the "Blue Arrow"
One of the most forward-thinking aspects of the 1968 infrastructure was the development of the segregated busway. Redditch planners understood that even in a town designed for cars, public transport was essential. Work began on dedicated roads that only buses could use, ensuring rapid transit between the new estates and the town center. This was a revolutionary concept in 1968 and remains one of the town’s most successful logistical legacies.
Cultural Life in a Year of Change
Amidst the upheaval, cultural life continued. The Palace Theatre remained a vital link to the town’s pre-New Town identity, providing a venue for traditional entertainment in a town that was looking increasingly futuristic. However, the youth of 1968 were more interested in the burgeoning "Mod" and "Rocker" scenes, which played out in the new community halls and the remaining pubs of the town center.
1968 was also the year that the local press, notably the Redditch Indicator, became a vital forum for the intense public debate regarding the "New Town" project. Letters pages were filled with residents’ observations on everything from the confusing new road layouts to the loss of favorite historic buildings. It was a year where the town was talking to itself, trying to make sense of the monumental scale of the changes being imposed upon it.
Retrospective: The 1968 Watershed
Looking back, 1968 was the year that the "old" Redditch was irrevocably lost and the "new" Redditch was definitively born. It was the year the town traded its organic, Victorian growth for a planned, utopian future. While the demolition caused pain and the new road layouts caused confusion, 1968 was a year of immense confidence. The planners truly believed they were building a better world, and the residents, for all their reservations, were participants in one of the most significant urban experiments in British history.
The Redditch of 1968 was a town of mud and blueprints, but it was also a town of hope. It was the moment when the "needle capital of the world" decided to become a "town of the future," and the foundations laid in that pivotal year continue to define the town’s character, for better or worse, to this day.
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