A few photos of Reading

 Taken the end of Jan on my phone

The original Reading Station building which was built in 1860, this was where the tickets were bought for the trains and also were the waiting rooms were. In 1989 a new station building was built on the site of the old South Eastern Station and the building above became redundant and sold off to be made into a public house. Last year it was refurbished and has recently been reopend as you see it now. 

Bit of a panoramic this showing the work going on with the plazas by the Kennet at the Orical in Reading. They are improveing the area for  concerts and shows that go on here

Last a view of St Mary's Church in the Butts from John Lewis second floor window

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday

Thurl Down

Last week I showed a coupleof photos of Streatley Warren which were taken just off the Ridgeway (Tesdays Post) Well on the other side of the track is Thurl Down. 

 Thurl Down is on the left it was taken at the start of my walk

 A little further along the walk 

More from Reading Museum

Just before Christmas I was in Reading to get some photos of a Church and took the opportunity of going in the Museum. It provided a little piece of research for another blog I hope to be doing about Reading Abbey some time .

Next door I noticed this office was empty

The first thing I noticed was this picture on a pillar by the Reading Abbey exhibition, it depicts the Last Abbot Hugh Faringdon at his execution which was not very pleasant in those days. He was lucky in fact he died of hear failure before it happened which is more that I can say for the two fellow priests that were with him. He was executed in front of his Abbey

 Couple more paintings, the one on the left is the King presiding over Reading Abbey I think the other Queen Elizabeth I

 Back to what I was looking at Reading Abbey, the model above shows what it would have looked like and the church over to the left St Laurence is still there today along with a nearby building above it.

 Archaeological  work has been done around the Abbey Remains and these are some of the finds

I should have read up on what this alabaster carving was off

This is thought to be one of the Cloister pillars from the Abbey. The reformation tore a lot of fine Abbeys down Reading being one of them and I cannot help but wonder what they would be like now had they been left.

I'll leave you with this picture I took on the was back , I think it represents a Christmas Tree.

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday

Nativity Mural

A couple of weeks ago I visited St Giles Church in Reading for the Church Explorer Blog and while taking photos in the Chancel I saw this mural of the Nativity behind the altar a bit of a hidden gem only those who visit the church see and appreciate

The Shepherds with the Angel Gabriel

 Jesus with his Mother Mary

The three wise men following the Star

A Stitch of the whole thing

Taking part in Monday Mural

Hero with a Shovel

Friday I posted a statue of Fred Potts VC and today I'll show a few more of it and tell you a bit about how it came to be. Fred you could say was a hero a couple of times over because he saved a young child from drowning in the Thames before signing up for the Berkshire Yeomanry. In 1915 he was  sent to Gallipoli  with the regiment where they were sent to attack Hill 70, during the attack he was wounded in the thigh not far from the Turkish positions along with a fellow Yeoman. In the next 48 hours he managed to fix a shovel to his fellows equipment and drag him back to their own positions while still under enemy fire. That earned him the Victoria Cross. They both survived the war. Fred went on to become a cobbler and lived in Reading till he died in 1943 aged 50. He was cremated so there is no grave to see. I think he sort of became for gotten about until his story came out around 2009 on a BBC program was made and the relatives of the two me were reunited. In 2010 a trust was established to raise the funds for a permanent t memorial which is what you see here and it was unveiled in 2015. I had read it was going to happen and had not released it had been built until I went for a look on Friday 11th November the Sculptor is Tom Murphy

The memorial is a lot larger than I thought it would be

Fred dragging his fellow behind

His fellow Trooper was Arthur Andrews who also came from Reading and died in 1980 ages 87

The Victoria Cross, Britian's Highest Honour

The memorial with The Yeomanry roll of Honour behind

The Berkshire Yeomanry roll of honour

If you wonder why the White Horse well its from White Horse hill which used to be in Berkshire along with Abingdon which was the County Town

One of the history boards beside the memorial

The other telling you about the Victoria Cross

A pano shot of the Toll of Honour

Taking Part in Our Word Tuesday

We Will Remember

Fred Potts VC

Remember

Station Hill Reading

I went over to Reading the other day and was rather shocked to see that all of Station hill had changed again. Now I admit it was a while since I had bee to the town and the last they were preparing to demolish some buildings . I'll fill you in a bit with some new and old photos.

This building I knew as the Foster Wheeler Building. I thought it was going to be demolished but it seems the cladding was removed and they added another four stories to it.

This part here used to have a Subway you could walk along to the Bus Station

The area behind the fencing used to be Reading Bus Station. I might add I remember the building that was there before that

All this are used to have an office block and shopping arcade

To give you an idea as to what used to be here, the office block, the Bus Station was the near the Office Tower taken a couple of years ago as they prepaired to demolish the building

The original Foster Wheeler building before it was changed.

All of Station hill was redeveloped back in the late 1960's where I remember all the work being done. It's not an area I liked very much so demolishing it can only improve the look

If you click the link you can see some photos I took of Station Hill and Reading Bus Station back in 2009 

Taking Part in Our world Tuesday

St Mary's Butts

I visited St Mary's Church in Reading the other day for my blog and while talking to the lady's selling charity Christmas Cards mentions the Butts and told them the story behid the name, I was supprised when they told me they never knew of it, told them the meaning behind the name. So just in case you are wondering if I am talking about another kind of butt here is what it really means. The  Information comes from Wikipedia
 "In the Middle Ages, Edward IV made it compulsory for all yeomen in England to learn archery. An archery butts was set up on the land in front of the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin. It was used by the adult males of Reading to practice on Sundays. Some of the archers who fought at the Battle of Agincourt trained at St Mary's Butts. In 1631 the town paid £3 to have the archery grounds closed."

When I came out of the church I noticed a mural on the base of a  CCTV pole showing Archers

 Round the otherside were two more

And across the road on a communications box the Achery Butt 

So if you go to Reading and find yourself in St Mary's Butts you know the story behind the name 

Taking Part in Monday Mural

A Bed in the Corner

 

A Walk Round Cranbury Road

Cranbury road is one of the roads full of terrace housing along the Oxford Road in Reading which was built back in Victorian times. I happened to be there one evening with my wife and while she was in the church hall I went for a walk around the area.

Cranbury Road sign on the wall of one of the houses

This one which has a corner shop and still got the ghost writing on the wall

Looking down Cranbury Road from by the shop 

And looking back the other way past Battle School. I had a school friend live along Cranbury Road but cannot remember passing the school

Battle school takes up a large part of the street

 It's a huge primary school which takes in two streets baking onto Kensington Road

and much of the exterior is still Victorian

I think on the right was the school masters house

The school playground where the kids play in brake time or have PE in

I think the tower may well have been the water tower for the school

Along Kensington Road is this church where no doubt the children's religious needs were taken care of

 

Heading round Prince of Wales Avenue past the north side of the church

and back up Cranbury Road passing the other end of the church

I'll leave you with this view down Cranbury Road to the Oxford Road end

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday