Page 208 - Redditch People

Redditch People

MAURICE CLARKE

Maurice Clarke was a man of many talents but he will be remem-
bered chiefly for taking the leading role in local operettas as a
tenor. In 1952 he went semi-professional and sang in many well-
known clubs across the Midlands but seven years later he helped
to revive the Redditch Operatic Society. He sang with Astwood
Bank, Studley and Redditch operatic societies.

Although Maurice’s roots are in Ipsley, he was born in Redditch.
His first son tragically died in infancy but he later had five
healthy children. He volunteered for the Royal Navy in 1942 at 16
by changing the date on his birth certificate from a 3 to a 5 but
was invalided out after injuring his leg in a game of football! In
1943 he was called back into the armed services and because of
his experience in a tool room, he was placed in the REME work-
shop. He went to Luxembourg and Berlin and was demobbed from Germany in 1948.

In about 1965 he opened a wonderful antiques shop at Crabbs Cross, giving local folk many happy
hours of bargain hunting.

JACK BAKER

Older residents will remember Jack Baker’s butchers shops on
Evesham Street, then Mount Pleasant, then Parsons Road. In the
booklet he gives a brief glimpse as life as a butcher.

The best bargain we ever had was from Evesham the auctioneer
said so we went one Monday and he (the salesman) said,

“There’s a couple of heiffers here, very poor but they’ll be
alright. The same day he bought a fat heifer for £18 because
that was in the spring when the fattest cattle were the dearest.

The one that was the poorest, she had a rough time, she calved
the day after my father died but then she fattened up very
well. That was in May then only three months later, in the
August, the two heiffers sold for £18 and £12.10s. We done very well indeed out of that.”

Page: 208 © RLHS 2015