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The Local Scene – Caversham Bridge

CAVERSHAM BRIDGE is a gateway to our community, so it is a very fitting title and image for our local newspaper. There has been a river crossing at this point in Caversham for over a thousand years. Ferrymen had rowed back and forth for centuries but, in the 13th century, a bridge was constructed which connected the holy shrines in Caversham with the great Abbey in Reading, and provided a route for pilgrims, who paid a toll to cross. It also greatly enhanced communication and trade between the village and the town…Read more

Bursting into the New Year

WE START the New Year with a mix of articles from both new and familiar writers. You will find offerings from our regular contributors, such as Elestr Lee’s Creative Caversham article on local painter Rachael Hunter-Lara (p12), Ami Roy’s Wellbeing column, which looks at the importance of friends (p15), and a reflection on Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Roslyn Weaver (p11). In addition, Happy Wanderer takes another look at the history of St Anne’s Well (p7), and Les Cooper tells the sad story of…Read more

Our Kind Community – Sapna Odlin

ACTS OF KIND and thoughtful behaviour are infectious, make us feel good, and benefit us all. Let’s start kind initiatives within our community and watch as those good intentions spread.

Our subject this month is Sapna Odlin, who is always looking at ways to bring people together. With a fellow mother and friend, she started a Facebook group called Reading Mumpreneurs Group. It’s an inclusive group where local mums can share their experiences, providing and receiving support and advice. It’s a place for mums to discuss challenges or successes they are having when juggling being a parent with running a business, and most importantly, without judgment …Read more

Changes at Caversham and District Residents’ Association (CADRA)

IN MAY 2025, Helen Lambert will have completed 20 years as CADRA Chair and she has decided it is time for her to stand down and join the outer support team. CADRA has been at the heart of Caversham for almost 60 years. With your support, it can move forward and adapt; but help is needed.
Helen will be a hard act to follow, and we will need to do things differently. The CADRA committee is looking at new ways of working, but is seeking help with communication, newsletters, email summaries, social media and marketing, reviewing individual planning applications, and generally tracking what’s going on locally …Read more

Friday Night and Saturday Morning

THE WEATHER was kind to Caversham for the late night shopping event on 6 December. A few light showers did nothing to dampen spirits, and the village centre was buzzing. Street food, drumming classes and DJ sets in Pop Classics enlivened the Precinct and the bookshop, cafés and restaurants in Prospect Street were busy, as was the craft market in the Baptist Church.
Saturday was a real contrast, with the arrival of strong winds and rain from another named storm. Despite this, the Econet sale of Christmas trees at Caversham Court went ahead and we had this message from Tricia Marcouse…Read more

Safe and secure

AS REPORTED in this paper last month, on the 9 November, Our Lady and St Anne’s church reopened its doors to parishioners. The tower was made safe and secure, damp in a number of places was fixed, followed by re-plastering, and the roof of the shrine made watertight. So many more jobs to do than we had anticipated. The beautification of the interior is now complete, the church looks stunning and the parish community is very happy with the results.
The church is a Marian church (its patrons being both St Mary and St Anne) and is home to one of only two shrines to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the UK, Our Lady of Caversham …Read more

A new Bishop for Reading

A press release from Downing Street on 27 November announced the approval by the King of the appointment of The Reverend Canon Mary Gregory to the Suffragan See of Reading.

AFTER AN early career in the prison service, Canon Gregory, a graduate of Birmingham University, studied for ordination at Cranmer Hall and St John’s College, Durham, and was ordained…Read more

For your bookshelf

Welcome to my Fourbears Books ramblings, where I pick a couple of books to write about each month. January is always a funny month in the shop, we never know what to expect in terms of footfall as lots of people receive lovely new books for Christmas so have plenty to read, but people also have book vouchers to spend. We hope to see lots of you, especially at our event with Robert Thorogood. It will be business as usual though in terms of the Children’s Book Group, and the YA Book Club for ages 14+.
MY FIRST IS such a good book. I first started reading Carter Beats The Devil about 15 years ago, and I must have started it about 10 times since and absolutely loved it before the book got misplaced in a house move, or I had a new job so didn’t have time to read…Read more

A READING SCRAPBOOK

THIS IS THE title of a new book, published late last year, by David Cliffe, the Happy Wanderer of Caversham Bridge. It illustrates over 300 years of Reading history, using 150 examples of printed ephemera. These ‘ephemera’ are ephemeral pieces of paper and card, intended to be used for a limited period only – sometimes only once. They can be bills, receipts, timetables, handbills, sales catalogues, programmes, etcetera, and can be as large as a poster, or as small as a stamp. The earliest example is a Civil War tract about the siege of Reading in 1643, and the latest is an invitation to go dancing at the Alley Cat Centre in Great Knollys Street around 1992…Read more

CADRA Planning Bulletin

A summary of planning and transport matters affecting the RG4 area, provided by Caversham and District Residents Association www.cadra.org.uk
AT THE Planning Applications Committee on 4 December, councillors debated a recommendation to approve the increase in class sizes at the Heights Primary School from 25 to 30 (PL/23/1023). A joint letter had been received from head teachers at all the north Reading primary schools, expressing concern about the serious financial impact on other schools while so many have vacant places. After a series of representations, the Committee decided to refuse the application…Read more

Happy Wanderer looks back at CAVERSHAM SPA

THIS ARTICLE has been prompted by a piece in the Henley Standard of 8 November 2024. It was in the regular Hidden Henley spot, which has pictures of curiosities in the general area of Henley. On this occasion, there was a photograph of St Anne’s Well on Priest Hill, and an article which ended, ‘Does any reader have a story to tell about this rather puzzling place?’
I thought I had put most of what there was to know in my article in the January 2018 Caversham Bridge, but perhaps I was wrong. The article in the Standard said the well was rediscovered in the early 20th century and goes on to say the water from it was sold in Henley and Reading, as well as in Caversham. Just when can the water have been on sale?…Read more

SPORTING PROFILES – FITNESS FUN

October Member of the Month at Caversham Health Club

THAT’S ME in October 2024! I feel honoured but wonder how someone who isn’t the gym-going kind got here. I believe my health and wellbeing is my responsibility, and I know that what I eat (and what not) plays an important part in maintaining it. Leading a physically and mentally active life is, of course, an important contributing factor. But I thought I had this covered, as my job is both physically active and mentally stimulating. I also enjoy making music and lead a busy social life.
Along came May 2023, when my son suggested we both join Caversham Health Club, which is owned and run by his schoolmate Isaac and partner Sophie…Read more

LIVE AND LOCAL – The Ogretones – Face Bar – 26 September 2024

THE LAST thing anyone expects to be doing is seeing a Shrek themed covers band on a chilly Thursday night in Reading, but there I was with a bemused friend!
I’d seen The Ogretones, who hail from what they refer to as the ‘swamps’ of Hampshire, advertised a few times previously, and knew I had to see what they were all about!
The evening kicked off with support from local legend, Colours & Fires, who were on great form and sounding so good. Sophie has an easy rapport with the audience, and her songs are both touchingly personal and mesmerising.
The Orgretones soon came bouncing onto the stage, full of energy…Read more

ECOTIP – Essential jobs in the garden this January

MANY SPECIES of birds are pairing up and choosing nest sites earlier these days. Some are ready to lay eggs in early February. You can help.
Finish any hedge trimming, bush shaping and branch lopping by the end of January, and leave some smaller, non-prickly, pieces out on a garden seat or table for nest building.
If you are thinking of putting up a bird box, now is the time. Choose a plain, wooden box …Read more

Sound advice at a difficult time

If you are in an unhealthy relationship, here are five steps to take before telling a toxic person you want a divorce.

DIVORCE APPLICATIONS peak in January. It can seem sudden to others, but it can take years of heartbreak and soul searching to reach the decision to divorce. You stay for years thinking it’s a ‘you’ issue and not seeing that the relationship is very unhealthy. Finally, you’re done, but you’re scared of their reaction. You want to divorce amicably but you know it won’t be easy…Read more

In the garden – Up and at it…

JANUARY IS a brilliant but very uncertain month. Each morning, we look out of the window and ask: Will we get any snow? It looks as though we have had a hard frost? Will we get gales today? Oh no, it’s not raining again! Will it be warm enough to sow seed yet?
The one thing for certain we must be doing is making sure the birds are fed. Is there anything more rewarding than to a have a robin roving about, or goldfinches fluttering around…Read more

MEETING IN THE VILLAGE

CHURCH HOUSE, the building facing you as you come down Prospect Street, is a meeting place for many voluntary organisations, who hire the large hall for their meetings. It is also home to Caversham Good Neighbours, who have an office there, and the registered office of this publication. It has been managed by the Parish of Caversham Thameside and Mapledurham (CTM) and its predecessors since it was gifted to the Parish in 1943.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, Church House increasingly took on the role it now has as a community meeting place, and it has continued to flourish to the present day. From the start, it has been managed by volunteers, mostly from St Peter’s Church, for the benefit of the community…Read more

Bleak December Winds and turning over new January Leaves

Come, come thou bleak December wind,
And blow the dry leaves from the tree!
SO WRITES Romantic Poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, weary of life, echoing a common complaint of many at this time of year, faced with winter’s bare branches and dead leaf detritus. This sense of loss in the natural world is often linked to other losses in life, and the sight of tumbled leaves can provoke sorrow.
Yet the sight of bare branches and lost leaves is a good thing. Unlike evergreens, deciduous trees have thinner leaves that can become fragile, damaged or diseased, causing problems for the trees’ survival over winter. The leaves are therefore dropped for protection…Read more

Time to make a plan

THE OCTOBER UK budget has once again highlighted the importance of estate planning for individuals and families.
Estate planning involves making decisions about how your assets will be distributed, both during your lifetime and after your death, ensuring you and your loved ones are taken care of in the way you intend.
With changes in inheritance tax rules and regulations, if you already have an estate plan in place, it is crucial to review it…Read more

CREATIVE CAVERSHAM – Portraits of Perfection

Pets play a vital part in many of our lives… owning a portrait is a great way to honour or to remember a favourite animal. Rachael Hunter-Lara tells Elestr Lee how she is developing her special skill

“ALTHOUGH I DID a lot of art while I was growing up, I fell out of love with the subject at secondary school,” Rachael said. “I hated being told what to do! However, the older I’ve got, the more I realised I missed it. Having spent time concentrating on socialising, now I have found my way back to art.”
Lockdown gave Rachael the impetus to rekindle her interest in art. “I bought some water colours and decided to do a watercolour painting of my brother’s dog for his birthday, and it came out quite well. I began doing pet portraits as gifts…Read more

The Benefits of Outdoor Learning

SCHOOLS ACROSS the country are under pressure to perform, despite shrinking budgets and increasing overheads. School staff are stressed, and extra-curricular activities are being cut.
Despite this, Micklands Primary School in Caversham has prioritised the health and wellbeing of students and staff by integrating outdoor learning into its busy timetable. Sessions led by qualified outdoor practitioners take place weekly, year round. Every child from Foundation Stage to Year 6 takes part with their classroom teachers and teaching assistants, meaning staff get a much-needed break outdoors too…Read more

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATER – Brighten Up Your January Job Search: 5 WAYS TO LAND A NEW ROLE THIS WINTER

JANUARY CAN feel like a dreary month—but it’s them perfect time to heat up your job search, with many employers eager to hire. Here are five ways to make the most of winter.
Warm Up Your CV with Achievements 
While the days might be dark, your CV shouldn’t be. Ditch the generic descriptions and dig deep into your highlights from last year. Did you lead a project to success?…Read more

WELLBEING – Friends for all seasons

Ample research shows that social connection is crucial to our physical and mental health and our longevity. It is good for our brains and hearts and helps protect us against stress. One 2010 study concluded that a lack of social connection might be comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
Friendship is a very specific and valuable form of social connection. It’s difficult to be choosy about neighbours or co-workers. We’re born into our families. Friendships are chosen and, because of that, we need intentionally to make time for them…Read more