Redditch
Some of you who like me are really fucking old might remember a TV character called Kevin Turvey, who was played by Rik Mayall just before the Young Ones came along.

Kevin lived in Redditch, which pre-WW2 was apparently a fairly pleasant, albeit nondescript town. Then after the war, they built homes fit for heroes somewhere else, and dropped the worst council tenants from nearby Birmingham and Coventry into Redditch.

The place is a shit hole; the inbred residents kept apart from the rest of humanity thanks to a maze of roads which lead to anywhere other than civilisation.

And who is MP for this fair kingdom - step forward former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

Kind of says it all.
( I_Was_Mordred, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 13:17, 31 replies)

Haha!
I remember Kevin Turvey and I can remember the way he used to say his name.

My name is Kevin Tuuuuuuurvey.
( girlinthehole, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 13:24, closed)

A am from neighbouring Bromsgrove
and look down on Redditch. It is indeed a shithole. It also has one of the most depressing shopping centres of any UK town.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 14:00, closed)

Bromsgrove>Droitwich>Redditch
The Wychavon triangle of doom. Makes moving to Birmingham seem like a massive escape.
(raymond "three griddle pans" luxury yacht lovin' the christmas action, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 14:27, closed)

Bromsgrove
ahhhhh,

You poor thing, I left Bromsgrove 3 years ago. The Town centre is festooned with charity shops and banks with the odd chav infested "bar" thrown in for good measure.

Good Ol' Julie Kirkbride.
(ThePick Nevermind the length, feel the thickness, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 14:48, closed)

True about the High Street
I once very nearly got into a fight with most of the Bromsgrove Rovers team in the Golden Cross.

I don't live round there any more. Going home for Christmas to visit parents.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 16:14, closed)

I used to be.
They're both dull. I suppose Bromsgrove is less shitty.

They both have arsehole mp's though.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 14:49, closed)

I moved from Bromsgrove to Redditch
One shithole to another

Bromsgrove is ok - reasonably pretty, but cheek-rivettingly expensive due to it being on the commuter belt

But to give Redditch its fair dues, it has a college that has been rated one of the best 9 in the country, a 24 hour Tesco and once you've figured out the road system you'll never be in a traffic jam!
( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Thu 29 Oct 2009, 16:18, closed)

It truly is
the arse end of the Midlands.

I should know, I still haven't managed to escape there!

*sad face*

Edit: Anyone remember the 'Islands of Redditch' calendar a few years ago?
(Kinabe is considering a new tattoo, Thu 29 Oct 2009, 23:34, closed)

haha yes
those "comedy" calendars

There seems to be a lot of Bromsgrove+Redditch-based B3tans (probably because going on the internet is the only thing to do!)

I moved from Aston Fields to Winyates East - a massive step down but it was either that or stay living with mum and dad; not a prospect either one of us relished!
( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Fri 30 Oct 2009, 8:11, closed)

No way!
I'm in Matchborough East.

There really is nothing else to do here, I can't wait to escape.
(Kinabe is considering a new tattoo, Fri 30 Oct 2009, 8:40, closed)

I lived in Lickey End
...till I went to Uni when I was 18.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Fri 30 Oct 2009, 10:54, closed)

Lickey End!
*childish snigger*

I've never found the village of Bell End though - hurrah for rude placenames :D
( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Fri 30 Oct 2009, 14:58, closed)

Lickey End
reminds me of San Fransisco, the roads are all vertical drops!
(Kinabe is considering a new tattoo, Fri 30 Oct 2009, 16:10, closed)

Small world!
There's a b3tan in Church Hill too
( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Fri 30 Oct 2009, 14:56, closed)

There's another one
not far from me, but I don't think he frequents the QotW pages very often.
(Kinabe is considering a new tattoo, Fri 30 Oct 2009, 16:08, closed)

We should make a Redditch B3ta badge for our profiles

( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Fri 30 Oct 2009, 22:54, closed)

We so should!
Perhaps a fetching picture of the roundabout by McDonalds...
(Kinabe is considering a new tattoo, Sat 31 Oct 2009, 12:07, closed)

Big up the Redditch b3tan massive
and yes yes yes to a badge!!
(randomstupidname would really like this signature field to be bigge, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 15:34, closed)

the calendar printer
(I think) went bust a couple of years ago but yes I remember looking through it and trying to work out which roads they were on. It was a real anorak work of art but it made news all over the country, a genius marketing plan, if it was a plan that it!
(randomstupidname would really like this signature field to be bigge, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 16:12, closed)

I think it was
shown on Graham Norton's show just before release, more as a piss take than an actual plug for it but it seemed to do wonders for the sales!
(Kinabe is considering a new tattoo, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 19:34, closed)

I wrote most of that wikipedia page.
Yay for me.
( Zuowan, Fri 30 Oct 2009, 15:00, closed)

I
lived at the Alex for about 3 months. God I hate Redditch. I worked at Headless cross too for a few years. The shopping centre was just full of cheap Poundstretcher/Bargain shops. And the bleedin' ring road *shudders*

Bromsgrove was OK. I now live in Kidderminster YAY!
(kitescreech still here, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 16:00, closed)

the Alex
I hope you lived there for work reasons rather than medical needs. The Alex doesn't seem to have been cleaned or painted since it was built. There seems to be a general air of defeat about the staff, who I'm sure are hardworking and well trained but seemingly fighting the system that blights the NHS as a whole. A pal of mine has just come out of the Walsgrave in Coventry after a serious motorbike smash (4 days on life support, 16 hours of surgery) and that was absolutely spotless and bright, clean, almost pleasant, if hospitals can be described as such. Plus the Alex car park is a legalised method of robbery- I don't see any improvements being made to the place as a result of ripping off those who have the misfortune to have to visit there fore whatever reason.
(randomstupidname would really like this signature field to be bigge, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 16:18, closed)

Student Nurse
I was in the accomadation block; I scurried back to Barnsley Hall ASAP
(kitescreech still here, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 18:23, closed)

Park in Woodrow Centre or Nine Days Lane
But £2.50 for 20 minute x-ray appointment?!??!
( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Mon 2 Nov 2009, 9:02, closed)

Shocking
I had an op a few years ago, went in Saturday evening and was told to come back (some kid not breathing, very inconsiderate eh?) then went back the next day, out on the Monday. Cost my missus more than £15 and I'm sure she spent about 3 hours total there.

Legalised extortion.
(randomstupidname would really like this signature field to be bigge, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 21:17, closed)

Haha, my nan and grandad did the WRVS trolley in the alex.
Shouting "that's grandads cupboard" as a doctor wheels you through a corridor where every door is the same whilst suffering concussion really shits up the medical staff.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 21:39, closed)

The good old Redditch and Bromsgrove rivalry
Yep, Redditch is a dump with all the social problems of what was once a "New Town" but once you have found out how the road system works you're fine. The shopping centre isn't wonderful but I read somewhere that it has a footfall ranking in the top 10 in the country- when you think of places like Meadowhall, Trafford Centre, Bluewater are going to be high up, that's not too bad really. Woolies closing left a huge hole as it did in every high street but the rents are high on units of that size, no other company it going to take it on in this economic climate and I doubt the centre management are bright enough to think of splitting it up into smaller units to try and move it on. The centre's been nit hard with failed shop chains- Woolies, Officers Club, Allders all those years ago.

Bromsgrove High Street is dreary, charity shops, banks and pubs. The bus station refurb ran out of money so 1 'shelter' wasn't replaced, it looks quite daft now- 4 replaced stands, a new set of doors on those dreadful toilets, new benches but 1 old bus shelter? What about Charford- the stolen car haven of north Worcestershire! I've seen Aston Fields mentioned and no offence my friend, but I go into the Ladybird pub from time to time, and the place falls silent when an outsider walks through the bar, even though there's lots of passing folks because of the train station. And £3.20 for a pint of their own ale? Does that include "outsider tax"? Has anyone thought about those clampers that trawl round Crown Close? Seen them in action, what a bunch of boneheaded legalised thieves they are, they ought to be strung up and beaten to death with their own clamps!

And the MPs- Julie Kirkbride's claims were out and out robbery, fraudulent to the extreme. No wonder she's not standing again, I'm surprised she can show her face in the town without fear of it being slapped. The guy who campaigned against her and got the sack from work is now asking her for help- ironic, stupid or brave? Jacqui Smith cleared her claims in advance for her home, as a minister she *had* to declare London as her main home, when the rules changed in 94 or 95 she was told to keep it as it was, then she gets hauled over the coals when the retrospective new rules come in. I have little sympathy for claims for duck ponds and tennis courts, but I do feel a little for her, and other MPs, who have been shafted by this change of goalposts. It's a bit like going to Tesco and being asked to pay 10p more for the loaf you bought and ate last week. No sympathy for the films but I found that more amusing that anything- it was a tenner and a stupid stupid mistake by the man who watched them who happens to be her husband and also her assistant who I understand approves her invoices!! I personally think it will be too the detriment of the town when she's voted out next year and I know few will agree, but when I asked her for help she gave it so I can only say good things.

Redditch has its faults and many of them, but it's been my home for almost 31 of my 37 years, I've seen it change since I moved from Birmingham on the overspill, for better and for worse. Overall it's been good to me, and I'd rather be here than back in Small Heath where I was as a kid! Now there's a place....
(randomstupidname would really like this signature field to be bigge, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 16:09, closed)

Dont you see?
You've become one of them!

*points and screams*
(kitescreech still here, Sun 1 Nov 2009, 18:25, closed)

Nah
I'm well aware of the town's many shortcomings and once a Brummie, always a Brummie.
(randomstupidname would really like this signature field to be bigge, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 21:13, closed)

here here!
Don't forget a college that is in the top 9 in the country and a road system that, once desiphered, has little or no bottlenecks and hardly any jams. As a mobile computer technician, I find this most refreshing!
( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Mon 2 Nov 2009, 9:04, closed)