A Blue Plaque for Freda Bedi?

All three of Freda Bedi's childhood homes in Derby survive - which is remarkable for a city which has been knocked around more than a bit. But she's not well known in her home city - after all, she never returned to live there after her years as a student at Oxford - and there's no blue plaque or tribute to her. I do hope The Lives of Freda may help to redress that.

She was born on Monk Street, above the watch and jewellery shop run by her father. When last I was in Derby, the building was a tanning studio. Although the family moved from here when Freda was still a baby, this is the best option for a plaque. Let's hope it happens.

---

The family moved to Wade Street in Littleover, a move up the social ladder. Freda had keen memories of the trees in the back garden and - unlikely as it seems now - rural walks with her brother over to Mickleover. Her home was called Wade House. 

Freda's father, Frank Houlston - who died in the First World War - is named on the war memorial nearby in the grounds of Littleover parish church

Freda's mother at some stage inherited money - or perhaps it came from her second husband's family - and the family designed and built a much grander house on Keats Avenue in Mickleover. This was close to the golf course, where Nellie was one of the most accomplished women members.

And what would the blue plaque say? Well, perhaps something like this -