READING TOWN & LOCALE
Introduction to Where We Are Based
HISTORY, ATTRACTIONS & FACILITIES
We are on the very edge of the University campus/Park: straight across the road are playing fields, tennis courts, campus,
lake, woods (ideal for walks, picnics and body training).
The centre of Reading town is 25 minutes walk away down the hill. There is a main central railway station, regular buses
to London and to Heathrow airport and Gatwick airport. There is a coach link to all major cities and towns of England and
Wales.
3 minutes walk away are: 2 restaurants; post-office; pub; 2 supermarkets; newsagents; bakery; fresh vegetable & flower
shop; fast food take-away; dry cleaners/launderette.
4 minutes walk away is the Progress theatre: a small but highly acclaimed acclaimed theatre- the film star and producer
Kenneth Brannagh was A student actor here.
There are several bookshops and several second hand bookshops and junk shops. An excellent place to pick up bargains
is going to car-boot sales; hundreds of people selling goods from the back of their cars and vans like traders: excellent
value, and good fun for Sunday outings.
We are up the hill in the area of Reading called Whiteknights, overlooking the town and the valley of the River Thames.
It is an area with several conservation sections and mostly tree-lined streets and avenues of nineteenth century semi-detached
houses of charm and elegeance.
Reading Town
Population is about 300,000. It is one of the fastest growing towns in Europe. Reading has some large shopping malls, many
restaurants, two main shopping streets, and many pubs. There are several museums, library, art galleries, an arts centre,
concert hall, parks,
Reading town is a thriving hi-tech town with a high growth rate and at the centre of the Thames Valley known variously
as "Hollywood-on-Thames" and "Silicon Valley". Its University is "red brick", founded in 1890 at the "old site" on London
Road (now the Gyosei Japanese international college) and is still growing. He main campus is now up at Whiteknights Park opposite
where we live.
Reading is the European headquarters for both Microsoft and Symantec (Norton). Many other major international companies
have large bases here.
Reading of course is home to the international Reading Festival (the longest running rock festival in the world). There
is national league soccer and rugby at the Madjeski Stadium. Music scene is lively so is sports
The River Thames and the River Kennet both run through Reading, including the canal cutting that was
made in the 18th.century to link the West coast of England with the east- the Kennet and Avon Canal.
Reading is also known as "Hollywood-on-Thames" because of the large number film and television stars who live in the villages
around Reading and its neighbouring towns.
History.
The town was founded by the Saxons (Raedas Inga: Reading) who conquered the area after the fall of the Roman Empire. Nearby
are the remains of the important Roman city of Calleva Attrabatum (Silchester), which had formerly been the stronghold of
the Belgic Celtic tribe the Attrabates. Just outside of Reading at Englefield an important battle was fought between the Vikings
under Guthrum and the Saxons under the Earl of Wessex and young King Alfred: the Viking aimed to seize control of the only
non-Viking held part of England south of the Thames. Had they won it is possible the English would be speaking Norwegian/Danish
today!
Readings Cluniac abbey was founded by King Henry I in 1121 and following that inauguration and royal gifts from the Empress
Matilda, King Stephen, King John and others (incl. King David of Scotland) it became one of the most powerful monasteries
in Britain. During the Civil War between Stephen and Matilda, King Stephen built a small castle in the abbey grounds.
Alarmed they petitioned the Pope who issued a Papal Bull forbidding the erection of military installations on abbey grounds.
The Abbey dominated the town increasing its size and prosperity until dissolution by King Henry VIII in 1539 and execution
of the last Abbot.
The town centre streets are a guide to its history. Although most of the old buildings have gone over the centuries due
to modernisation, especially contemporary office development, some remain in: London Street; parts of Friar Street, the Butter
Market. "Smelly Alley" (Union Street) from Friar Street to Broad Street is typical of what would have been a narrow medieval
street full of shop with houses very close together.
London Street would have been a market street in the old days and also St.Marys Butts (markets are still held here every
Wednesday and Saturday). It gets its name for the church and the word butts- archery practice was held here with the famous
English longbow. Perhaps the oldest buildings now remaining in Reading are the churches and the pubs.
Notable examples are: the George Inn (complete with cobbled courtyard and former stables); The Turks Head (now regrettably
renamed the Fez and Firkin); the Rising Sun. the Boars Head. They all have typical "fechwerk" style of building known in England
as half-timbering. If you look above ground level in Broad Street and Friar Street you will see wonderful examples of the
famous old Reading brickwork- the town was a centre of the brick industry and the great novelist Thomas Hardy in his Wessex
novels named Reading on his imaginary map of Wessex "Auld Brickham". Very ornate brickwork of red, yellow and blue can also
be seen in domestic architecture around the University part of Reading.
In the 1660s during the trade wars with the Dutch, they sailed up the Thames in an act of defiance and landed at Reading.
Reading was also one of the great "staging posts" of the stage-coach days, many old inns both in and around Reading bear witness
to this- although what were their stables have been converted into bars.
The industrial period saw Reading as a focal point for both the Age of the Canals (e.g. the Kennet and Avon canal) and
the Industrial Revolution: the "3 Bs": beer (Courage, Barclay and Simmonds), biscuits (Huntley and Palmers) and bulbs (Suttons
Seeds) made Reading the national centre for these. Reading was also an important junction of the Age of Railways- Brunels
Great Western Railway had a major station here. The housing styles and spaciousness of the university area is evidence of
the prosperity of the time, while the terrace houses sow the enlightened nature of the industrial magnates (mainly Quakers)
who took serious the welfare of their workers.
Nearby to the University and GHQ is Leighton Park School a private boarding school and originally a Quaker foundation.
A excellent school with a peaceful ambience.
The prison is situated next to the charming ruins of the old Abbey- its most famous inmate was the playwright Oscar Wilde.
The charming Forbury Garden with its famous lion extends over part of the Abbey site.
Local Sports
There is a sports centre 100 metres from ghq with gymnasium, sports hall, squash courts- which the public may pay to play
in. there are also tennis courts. Cricket is a feature on the playing fields during the summer- enjoyable to watch on a Sunday
afternoon sat in a deck chair sipping on some wine.
Rugby and football and hockey are played by the University students union sports teams from October to April every Wednesday
and Saturday afternoons. On May evenings hockey and other sports are also played under floodlight on the all weather astro-turf
pitch.
Nature
Although living in a town we are fortunate inasmuch as we live in the University area, the campus being located in the
middle of a very large park once part of the estate first of the dEnglefield family then later of the Marquess of Blandford
(who built the ornamental lake and gardens). In the nineteenth century the park was broken up into 4 plots, each with a large
country house in it, including that of Foxhill House, an elegant Gothic style mansion house.
Whiteknights Lake (which rises in the woods) comprises 4 sections. Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards, Moorhens, Coots, Great
Crested Grebes, Heron, Mandarin Ducks, Herons, and Peking Geese all live on the lake, additional to gulls.
The Park is heavily populated with squirrels and rabbits and a wide range of bird-life, including woodpeckers. There are
also many bats. There are deciduous woods. There is also an arboretum open to the public. A great variety of trees were planting
in the nineteenth century and planting continues today. The Park is ideal for jogging, picnics. Exercise trails and night
time runics and meditation. Two rivers run though Reading and its environs: the River Thames on its northern edge and the
River Kennet through its very centre, and also the Kennet and Avon Canal.
There are several municipal parks, the closest one to us being Palmer Park which includes a sports centre and running track.
Directly opposite the house are the University tennis courts and playing fields, squash court and athletics pavilion and sports
centre.
Reading is at the heart of the Thames Valley. To the north is the Chiltern Hills and to the south are the Hampshire Downs.
Fortunately all around Reading are large country estates of either nobility or gentleman farmers.
This has prevented the piecemeal urban development, which would have led to the merging of the towns of Newbury, Basingstoke
and Reading and Maidenhead and Wokingham. To the south is the estate of the Duke of Wellington, to the west that of the Benyons
and to the north that of Lord Illife and also the Wylde Court estate.
There are several places for long public walks- including the woods at Sulham, and the River Thames. Not far away is the
Roman city and the Kennet and Avon canal. Numerous picturesque villages are scattered all around Reading. The farmland is
prosperous and well managed
