Reading, Berkshire

The centre of Reading is on a low ridge between the Rivers Thames and Kennet close to their confluence, reflecting the town's history as a river port. Just before the confluence, the Kennet cuts through a narrow steep-sided gap in the hills forming the southern flank of the Thames flood plain. The absence of a flood plain on the Kennet in this defile enabled the development of wharves off the unimproved Thames navigation.

As Reading has grown, its suburbs have spread in three directions:

• to the west between the two rivers into the foothills of the Berkshire Downs,
• to the south-east on the south side of the Kennet, and
• to the north of the Thames into the Chiltern Hills.

Suburbs

The suburbs include :

• Calcot, Caversham, Caversham Heights, Caversham Park, Coley, Coley Park
• Earley, Lower Caversham, Lower Earley, Emmer Green
• Fords Farm
• Katesgrove
• Purley-On-Thames
• Southcote
• Tilehurst
• Whitley, Whitley Wood, Woodley

History

St Mary's Church and market

The settlement was founded at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet in the eighth century as Readingum. The name is probably from the Anglo-Saxon for "(Place of) Readda's People", or (less probably) the Celtic Rhydd-Inge, "Ford over the River". It was occupied by the Vikings after the Battle of Reading (871), but had recovered sufficiently by its 1086 Domesday Book listing to contain around 600 people and be made a designated borough. The town was a place of pilgrimage in medieval times to Reading Abbey. In 1253 Reading's Merchant Guild succcessfuly petitioned for the grant of a charter from the King and negotiated a division of authority with the Abbey. The dissolution of the Abbey saw Henry VIII grant the Guild a new charter in 1542 with which to become a borough corporation to run the town.

By the end of the 16th century Reading was the largest town in Berkshire, home to over 3,000 people. During the Medieval period and Tudor times Reading grew rich on its trade in cloth, as instanced by the fortune made by local merchant John Kendrick. The town played an important role during the English Civil War; it changed hands a number of times, and despite its fortifications the longest siege was only ten days in April 1643. However the taxes levied on the town badly damaged its cloth trade, and it did not recover. Reading was also the only site of significant fighting in England during the Glorious Revolution with the Battle of Reading (1688).

The 18th century saw the beginning of a major iron works in the town and the growth of the brewing trade for which Reading was to become famous. Agricultural products from the surrounding area still used Reading as a market place, especially at the famous Reading cheese fair but now trade was coming in from a wider area. Reading's trade benefited from better designed turnpike roads which helped its establish its location on the major coaching routes from London to Oxford and the west country. It also gained from increasing river traffic on both the Thames and Kennet. In 1723 despite considerable local opposition the Kennet Navigation opened the River to boats as far as Newbury. This opposition stopped when it became apparent the new route benefited the town. The opening of the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1810 made it possible to go by barge from Reading to the Bristol Channel.

In 1801, the population of Reading was about 9,400. During the 19th century, Reading grew rapidly as a manufacturing centre. From 1832, the town returned two Members of Parliament. In 1836 the Reading Borough Police were founded. A reformed town council was introduced in 1839. The Great Western Railway arrived in 1841, followed by the South Eastern Railway, in 1849, and the London and South Western Railway, in 1856. In 1851 the population was 21,500. The town became the County Town (superseding Abingdon ) in 1867 and was given county borough status in 1887. By 1900, the population was 59,000 — large sections of the housing in Reading are terraced, reflecting its 19th century growth. The town has been famous for the "Three Bs" of beer (from 1785 dominated by the Simonds' Brewery - India Pale Ale was invented in Reading), bulbs (1807–1976, Suttons Seeds), and biscuits (1822–1977, Huntley & Palmers). In the 19th century the town also made 'Reading Sauce', described as a sharp sauce flavoured with onions, spices, and herbs, very like Worcestershire Sauce.

The town continued to expand in the 20th century, annexing Caversham across the River Thames in Oxfordshire in 1911. This expansion can be seen in the number of 1920s built semi-detached properties, and the 1950s expansion that joined Woodley, Earley and Tilehurst into Reading. Miles Aircraft in Woodley was an important local firm from the 1930s to 1950s. The Lower Earley development, started in the 1970s, was the largest private housing development in Europe. This extended the urban area of Reading up to the M4 motorway, which acts as the southern boundary to the town. Further housing developments have increased the number of modern commuter houses in the surrounding parts of Reading, and 'out-of-town' shopping hypermarkets.

Government

The town's borough limits now include the former villages of Caversham, Southcote and Whitley together with part of the village of Tilehurst, but exclude several settlements which are still part of the urban area. These settlements include Woodley, Earley and Lower Earley which form part of Wokingham unitary authority, and the remainder of Tilehurst, Calcot and Purley-On-Thames which form part of West Berkshire unitary authority. The exclusion of these areas from the borough is politically controversial, and proposals occasionally surface to include them.

Reading and the surrounding area is divided between the parliamentary constituencies of Reading East and Reading West. Historically Reading was represented at various times by the members for the former Parliamentary Borough of Reading and the former parliamentary constituencies of Reading, Reading North, and Reading South.

Institutions

Religion

Reading Abbey

Reading Minster, or the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin as it is more properly known, is Reading's oldest ecclesiastical foundation, known to have been founded by the 9th century and possibly earlier. Although eclipsed in importance by the later Abbey, Reading Minster has regained its importance since the destruction of the Abbey and is now the seat of the Bishop of Reading. The other two ancient parish churches in the town are those dedicated to St. Giles and St. Lawrence.

Reading Abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121. He was buried there, as were parts of Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers, Constance of York, and Princess Isabella of Cornwall, among others. The abbey was one of the pilgrimage centres of medieval England, it held over 230 relics including the hand of St. James. The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during the Dissolution and Henry VIII had the abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, hanged.

Education

The University of Reading was established in 1892 as an affiliate of Oxford University, and moved to its London Road Campus in 1904. Reading was chartered as an independent university in 1926 and moved onto its new Whiteknights Campus in 1949. It took over the Bulmershe teacher training college in 1982, thus creating its Bulmershe Court Campus. All three campuses are still in use, although Whiteknights is by far the largest.

The more recent Thames Valley University, which also has campuses in Ealing and Slough, now runs what was previously Reading College & School of Arts and Design on two small sites in east Reading.

Libraries & Museums

The Museum of Reading opened in 1883 in the Town Hall, parts of which date back to 1786. The museum contains galleries relating to the history of Reading and its related industries and to the excavations of Silchester Roman Town, together with a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry, an art collection, and galleries relating to Huntley & Palmers

The University of Reading runs the Museum of English Rural Life, the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Museum of Zoology, and the Harris Garden. In the suburb of Woodley, the Museum of Berkshire Aviation has a collection of aircraft and other artifacts relating to the aircraft industry in the town.

Healthcare

Infrastructure

Transport

Reading was also a major staging point on the old Bath Road (A4) from London to Bath and Bristol. This road still carries local traffic, but has now been replaced for long distance traffic by the M4 motorway which closely skirts the borough and serves it with three junctions (J10-J12). Within Reading the Thames is crossed by both Reading and Caversham road bridges, whilst several road bridges cross the Kennet.

Reading is a major junction point on the national rail system, and as a consequence Reading station is the UK's second largest transfer point (after Clapham Junction), as well as serving heavy originating and terminating traffic. The main route is the Great Western Main Line, which runs west from London's Paddington station before splitting in Reading with lines serving the West Country (Swindon, Bath, Bristol) and South Wales. Secondary lines connect Reading with London's Waterloo station, Guildford, Gatwick Airport, Birmingham, Basingstoke, Southampton and the South Coast. A railway-operated express bus service named RailAir links Reading with Heathrow Airport.

Local transport is largely road-based, with significant peak hour congestion in the borough. A comprehensive and frequent local bus network within the borough, and a less frequent network in the surrounding area, are provided by Reading Buses. The A329M, A33 and A4 national routes link the town with junctions 10, 11 and 12 of the M4 motorway respectively.

Retail

Reading Broad Street

Reading is a major shopping centre. The principal shopping area is around Broad Street, which was pedestrianised in 1995. Broad Street is anchored at its east and west ends respectively by The Oracle and Broad Street Mall enclosed shopping centres.

There are three major department stores in Reading: John Lewis Reading (formerly known as Heelas), Debenhams and House of Fraser. There are also branches of the chains Marks and Spencers and British Home Stores.

The booksellers Waterstone's have several branches in Reading. Their Broad Street branch is of particular interest, as it is a remarkable conversion of a nonconformist chapel dating from 1707.

Besides the two major shopping malls, Reading possesses three smaller shopping arcades, the Bristol & West Arcade, Harris Arcade and Kings Walk, which contain smaller specialist stores.

Utilities

The wind generator at Greenpark produces enough green electricity for around 1,063 local homes.

Mains water and sewerage services are supplied by Thames Water plc, a private sector water supply company. Water abstraction and disposal is regulated by the Environment Agency. Reading's water supply is largely derived from underground aquifers, and as a consequence the water is considered hard.

As with the rest of the Britain, the choice of commercial energy supplier for electricity and gas is at the consumer's choice. Southern Electric runs the local electricity distribution network, whilst Transco runs the gas distribution network. One notable part of the local energy infrastructure is the presence of a 2 megawatt (peak) Enercon wind turbine at Green Park, which is wired to the local sub-grid. It was constructed in November 2005 and is owned by Ecotricity. This turbine can be seen from a large part of Reading, as well as from near junction 11 of the M4. The turbine has the potential to produce 3.5 million units of electricity a year, enough to power 1,063 local homes.

BT provides fixed-line telephone coverage throughout the town, and ADSL broadband internet connection to most areas. Parts of Reading are cabled by NTL, supplying cable television, telephone and broadband internet connections. The dialling code for fixed-line telephones is 0118.

Culture

Music

The town has had mixed fortunes in creating home-grown artists over the years. Perhaps most notable is Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame. More recently, The Cooper Temple Clause, Stuart Price and Morning Runner have had some degree of success.

Reading plays host to a large number of semi-professional and amateur choirs and choral societies. Reading Festival Chorus has just celebrated its 60th anniversary. RFC sings a diverse music programme, with works like Mozart's Requiem, Carl Jenkins' The Armed Man in 2005 to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and a summer programme of English and American Folksongs by Tippett and Aaron Copland.

Media

• The Reading Evening Post is an evening newspaper published on Mondays to Fridays.
• The Reading Chronicle is published weekly, on Thursdays.

Sport

Reading is a centre for rugby union football in the area, with the Guinness Premiership team London Irish currently tenants at the Madejski Stadium. Reading is also home to another three senior semi-professional rugby clubs; Reading R.F.C., Redingensians R.F.C. and Reading Abbey R.F.C.. The town also plays host to a number of other football variants, such as Gaelic football's St. Anthony's GAA, Australian rules football team Reading Kangaroos, and American football team Reading Renegades.

The Reading Half Marathon is held on the streets of Reading in March of each year, with as many as 13,500 competitors from elite to fun runners.

The town is also home to Reading Greyhound Racing and the Reading Racers speedway team, and there is a velodrome at Palmer Park.

Like many Thames-side towns, Reading has several rowing clubs, representing both town and university. The local Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake provides training facilities, although much rowing is also conducted on the river itself. Dorney Lake, some 12 miles (19 km) to the east of Reading, provides a full international competition venue and will host the rowing events of the 2012 Summer Olympics. There are also several sailing lakes to the south and southwest of the town, the largest being Theale Lake close to junction 12 of the M4. These lakes are also popular with water-skiing and jet-skiing enthusiasts.

For ten years from 1984, The Hexagon threatre was home to snooker's Grand Prix tournament.

Literature

Jane Austen attended Reading Ladies Boarding School, predecessor of the Abbey School, in 1784-86.

Thomas Hardy painted a rather disparaging picture of the town, lightly disguised as Aldbrickham, in his 1895 novel Jude the Obscure.

T E Lawrence lost the first draft of his Seven Pillars of Wisdom at Reading train station.

Thomas Noon Talfourd, the judge and dramatist was born in Reading and later became MP for the town.

Mary Russell Mitford lived in Reading for a number of years and then spent the rest of her life just outside the town at Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield.

Charles Dickens was asked to stand as MP for Reading, but declined. He became president of the Reading Athenaeum. In his Bleak House, Esther Summerson goes to school in Reading.

Jerome K. Jerome did not warm to the town on his famous journey up the Thames in Three Men in a Boat (1888): "The river is dirty and dismal here. One does not linger in the neighbourhood of Reading". He does, however, recognise the historical significance of Reading in local history.

Other

A Reading edition of Monopoly is available, see Localized versions of the Monopoly game. Perhaps surprisingly, given its size and status in the South East, Reading is not yet officially a city, having missed out during the millennium celebrations when the Queen instead granted Brighton & Hove city status in 2000.

The interview show As It Happens, which airs on CBC Radio One in Canada, is notable for its mention of Reading. Frequently, after concluding an interview with someone in the UK, the host will describe the individual in relation to how far they live from Reading. For example, one might hear "That was professional bagpiper William J. Tweed from Biggleswade, which is about 81 miles north of Reading."

In 1974, the BBC filmed The Family in the town. The show, considered to one of the first reality television shows , followed the lives of the Wilkins family.

Notable people

• Henry Addington (former Prime Minister; donor of land for Royal Berkshire Hospital)
• Jacqueline Bisset (actress)
• Daniel Blagrave (former Member of Parliament and regicide)
• John Blagrave (early mathematician)
• Felix Bowness (jockey in hit BBC sitcom Hi-De-Hi!)
• Kenneth Branagh (actor)
• Angela Browning (politician)
• Richard Burns (rally driver)
• Deon Burton (professional footballer)
• David Byron (original lead vocalist with rock group Uriah Heep)
• Tom Derrett (Bassist)
• Marianne Faithfull (singer and actress)
• Hugh Cook Faringdon (churchman; last Abbot of Reading Abbey)
• Michael Foot (politician)
• Dawn French (comedienne)
• Ricky Gervais (comedian)
• Matthew Greener (musician; lead singer of band Morning Runner)
• Lenny Henry (comedian)
• Joseph Huntley (innovative biscuit maker)
• Stacy Keach (American actor and narrator)
• John Kendrick (merchant and mayor)
• William Laud (former Archbishop of Canterbury)
• John Madejski (entrepreneur and philanthropist)
• Mary Russell Mitford (author, poet and playwright)
• Sam Mendes (director)
• Jeff Minter (computer programmer)
• Liz Mitchell (singer and member of Boney M)
• Mike Oldfield (composer and artist)
• George Palmer (biscuit manufacturer, entrepreneur and politician)
• Stuart Price (Electronic musician)
• Lawrie Sanchez (manager of Northern Ireland FC)
• Michael Sprott (professional boxer)
• Levi Stanley (King of the Gypsies)
• John Sykes (Heavy Metal/Hard Rock guitarist)
• William Henry Fox Talbot (early photographer)
• Fiona Talkington (radio broadcaster and presenter of Late Junction)
• Thomas Noon Talfourd (judge and author)
• Chris Tarrant (radio broadcaster and host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
• Rudolph Walker (actor and narrator)
• Alfred Waterhouse (architect)
• Neil Webb (professional footballer)
• Oscar Wilde (poet and playwright, author of The Ballad of Reading Gaol)
• Beth Winslet (actress)
• Kate Winslet (actress)
• Charles Thomas Wooldridge (soldier, convicted murderer, subject of The Ballad of Reading Gaol)

Twin towns

• - Düsseldorf, Germany (since 1947, officially since 1988)
• - Clonmel, Ireland (since 1994)
• - San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua (since 1994)
• - Speightstown, Barbados (since 2003)

References