Town in Worcestershire, England
Redditch
Redditch gave the world the Anglepoise lamp, the Royal Enfield Bullet and, once upon a time, most of its sewing needles.
Key information
- County
- Worcestershire
- Nation
- England
- Known for
- Needle-making, fishing tackle, Anglepoise lamps and Royal Enfield motorcycles
- Famous people
- Herbert Terry, George Carwardine
About Redditch
The town that made the world's needles
At the height of the Victorian trade, Redditch was turning out the great majority of the world's needles. Sewing needles, surgical needles, gramophone needles and fish hooks all came out of a cluster of mills and workshops in this corner of Worcestershire. The skill is far older than the factories. Needle-making was established in the area by the 1600s, and the trade grew steadily as water-powered mills along the local streams took over the heavy work of grinding and polishing. The work was brutal. Needle pointers inhaled fine steel and stone dust, and the trade was notorious for the lung diseases it caused. Mechanisation and better ventilation eventually improved conditions.
A museum inside a working needle mill
Forge Mill Needle Museum sits on a former mill site and preserves a rare water-powered needle scouring mill, with its big wheel still in place. It is the best place in Britain to see how a length of wire becomes a needle. The process was a long chain of specialist jobs: cutting, pointing, stamping the eye, hardening, tempering and polishing. A single needle passed through many hands before it was ever packed. The same skills fed a second Redditch speciality. Local firms became world leaders in fish hooks and fishing tackle, and the town's name is still known to anglers.
From bicycles to the Bullet
Redditch metalworkers did not stop at needles. In the 1890s the Enfield Cycle Company set up here, making bicycles and then motorcycles under the Royal Enfield name. The name came from the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, and the company's slogan was "Made like a gun, goes like a bullet". The Royal Enfield Bullet became one of the longest-lived motorcycle designs ever built. Production in Redditch ended in the 1960s, but the name carried on and the Bullet is still made today. Another local firm, Herbert Terry & Sons, made springs. In the 1930s it turned a clever spring arrangement by inventor George Carwardine into the Anglepoise lamp, which has been on desks ever since.
The abbey that came before the factories
Long before the needle trade, Cistercian monks founded Bordesley Abbey here in 1138. It was a major religious house until it was dissolved in 1538, and its stones were largely carried off for other buildings. Archaeologists excavated the site in the later 20th century and found much about the monks' working life, including evidence of water management and industry. A visitor centre and the abbey grounds are now part of the local scene. Some historians have wondered whether the monks' metalworking helped plant the seed of the later needle industry. It is an appealing idea, though no one can prove it.
The new town that grew from Birmingham's overspill
In 1964 Redditch was designated a new town, with the aim of rehousing families from crowded Birmingham. Planners laid out new estates and roads on a large scale, and the population grew rapidly. The centre was rebuilt around the Kingfisher Shopping Centre. Elsewhere, the Arrow Valley Park wraps around a large lake created in the 1970s, which gives the town a sizeable green space close to the centre. The railway links Redditch to Birmingham on the Cross-City line, which makes the town an easy commute for many residents.
Sport, stage and nicknames
Redditch United, nicknamed the Reds, were founded in 1891 and play at the Valley Stadium. They are a non-league side with a long local following. The Palace Theatre hosts drama, comedy and touring shows, and is the main arts venue in the town. Redditch has long been known as the Needle Capital, a title earned the hard way. Its less formal reputation among locals is for roundabouts, thanks to the new-town road network.