Home

An Anniversary to Celebrate

ST ANNE’S Catholic School in Caversham is celebrating a major milestone as it marks 125 years of dedicated service to education and the local community. Established in September 1899, the school has long been a cornerstone of learning in the area, consistently evolving to meet the demands of changing times, while maintaining its focus on nurturing young minds.
As part of the anniversary celebrations, the school recently captured a drone photograph featuring the entire school community. The aerial image serves as a visual  representation of the unity and spirit that have been central to St Anne’s for over a century…Read more

Lest we forget

A NUMBER OF the articles in our November edition have a focus on the local schools and young people in our community. We celebrate the 125th anniversary of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School (above) and their recent Living Simply Award (p13). We also have a feature on choosing the right primary school for your child (p11), and a short report on the new playground facilities in Westfield Park (p3). In addition, we have details of the annual Toys and Teens appeal (p10).
Of course, November is the month of remembrance…Read more

Reading Railways: From Bond to Paddington and Beyond

THE NEW Bond Street station and connection of the Reading line to the central tunnels made it possible to take the train to central London without changing at Paddington, closing the gap between Caversham and the City via Christchurch Bridge.
It is difficult to resist the literary connections of railways – Reading, Bond, and Paddington – so I won’t even try. Fittingly, one of the literary creations most famously associated with railways, a bear by the name of Paddington, has local links, as the work of Michael Bond…Read more

Scout Christmas Post

THE 89TH READING Scout group are again gearing up to help the local community to save money this Christmas.
The 89th Reading Scout group will once again be providing a Christmas Post service to the residents of Caversham, Caversham Heights, Emmer Green and Caversham Park Village…Read more

Bright, beautiful and fun

AS PART of a programme of refurbishments of playgrounds in Reading, the council consulted with local residents in early 2024 about designs for a renewed and enlarged playground in the north east corner of Westfield Park. The scheme aimed to provide a fun environment for children aged 3-12 years old. Contractors worked through the early part of the year to install the new equipment and to lay the brightly coloured surface. The playground has been open for a few months now and has been very popular with local families…Read more

A Creative Gift

THE ARTISTS AND Makers Fair is three years old. Caversham’s celebration of the creative arts was the brainchild of local enthusiasts, Shirley Strickland and Jean Harper, who started their own fabric and needle felting business Nimble Thimble during the Covid-19 lockdown. Disappointed by the lack of a regular event for local artists and craftspeople to exhibit and sell their work, they decided to organize one themselves. A chance conversation put them in contact with Eunice Cooper, in charge of room hire at Caversham Methodist Church…Read more

What Christ? Whose Christ? – New Options for Old Theories

READING MINSTER hosted the launch of the new book edited by Caversham resident the Revd Dr Alan Race and the Revd Jonathan Clatworthy on 20 September. There have been many theories down the ages about how to describe the figure of Jesus, his impact and place in history. In 1921 the organisation The Modern Churchmen’s Union (now called more simply Modern Church) held a conference in Girton College, Cambridge, and explored these theories in the light of new scientific and historical understanding. This book expands on those discussions and widens their scope in the context of a very different environment over one hundred years later…Read more

For your bookshelf…

Welcome to Fourbears Books reviews where we pick a couple of books to write about each month. We are fast approaching Christmas, and have lots going on, including our 4th birthday! We will also have a Reverse Santa on 6 December at 17:30. A Reverse Santa is where children give Santa a gift instead of the other way around. Santa collects books and toys (new or as new) to redistribute to less fortunate families around Reading for Christmas via Reading Family Aid. We have already started collecting items in the shop if anyone doesn’t want to wait until December.

THE FIRST OF the two books we have selected is a children’s picture book called Oi Dinosaurs! by Kes Gray. For those who are not familiar with the Oi series, they feature a Dog, a Cat, and a Frog, and the three of them discuss the rhyming conventions of animal seating arrangements…Read more

A Full House

CAVERSHAM BAPTIST Church was the venue for a sold-out audience with world-famous author Alexander McCall Smith on 3 October. With over 100 books published in 46 languages worldwide, more than 100 people took advantage of the opportunity to hear him speak in Caversham. The event was organised by Alex Forbes, of Fourbears Books, and was part of a UK promotional tour by Edinburgh resident McCall Smith.

Alexander talked about his own background growing up in Africa, and later academic links which took him to Botswana…Read more

Happy Wanderer explains FAIRY RINGS

HAVE YOU ever seen a fairy ring? I took this photograph of the best one I’ve seen so far on Crookham Common, south of Thatcham, though it’s not exactly a perfect circle. Fairy rings tend to occur in grassland and are caused by various species of fungi.
The fungi are an extraordinary and varied form of life. When I was young, they were thought of as a primitive kind of plant. Scientific knowledge has advanced greatly since then, and they are now recognised as something completely different, neither animals nor plants, and very varied…Read more

Reflections on my 30 years as an editor from 1982 by Eric Chappell, editor 1982-2012

HOW PRODUCTION of the paper has changed over the years! In the 1980s, all items were handwritten for the Parish Secretary to type on working sheets for the first editorial meeting, when the general layout was agreed. The printers then prepared a draft for the second editors’ meeting and, when approved, the paper was returned for printing. When email became available, most – then all – copy went straight to the Parish Office for typing…Read more

Art Stories

EARLIER THIS year I was approached by Elaine Blake, art curator at Reading Museum.
Elaine wanted to mount an exhibition to show off some recent acquisitions. These include paintings, sculptures, photographs and mixed media items. The idea was an unusual one – normally exhibitions are related to a particular artist or school or theme – but it turned out to have several advantages: it provided an opportunity to celebrate works provided through the Reading Foundation for Art, a remarkable local charity which has been collecting art for the town for 50 years…Read more

Caversham Group Holiday

MY HUSBAND and I, in our eighties, decided we would look for a holiday nearer home this year. In July we joined the Caversham Group Holiday for seven days at Salisbury.
How have we missed this before?
Sixty years ago, the Revd John Grimwade of St Peter’s had the idea of taking a coach full of people away for a Parish Holiday. A boarding school was chosen as having lots of facilities and sleeping arrangements for a large group…Read more

A Christmas Gift

LOCAL CHARITY Reading Family Aid, which supports disadvantaged children and their families, launched its Toys and Teens Appeal for 2024 on 24 October. Each Christmas, the Appeal helps guarantee children who would otherwise not receive a single present, have something to open on Christmas morning.
The Reading and Caversham areas seem so prosperous that many people find it hard to imagine there are desperately deprived families here. But the cost-of-living crisis continues to hit families hard in so many ways, and your support makes a real difference to every family…Read more

CHOOSING A COMMUNITY

THIS TIME last year we received the primary school application form for our younger son. For him, the choice of school was easy — we wanted him to go to the school his brother was at — but I still remember how stressful choosing a school was the first time around. We made a list of what we thought was important for our son. He was a quiet and inquisitive child, so we were looking for somewhere nurturing and small, somewhere that would engage him academically and value him as a person. We pored through the websites of all the schools we were likely to get into and tried to work out which would suit our family best…Read more

Les Cooper Delights in November

AN YOU believe it is November already? All those things I was going to do but haven’t actually managed, yet. November always seems to me, as I am sure it does to you, to be a turning point. The clocks change and the weather does too, well it does sometimes. I get annoyed because the shops begin to anticipate Christmas; give me the good old days when we did our shopping on Christmas Eve. But there is something good about this time of the year and I can’t quite put my finger on what is. Is it because it is a busy time for wildlife in the garden…Read more

Reading Cycle Festival and Kidical Mass Ride

READING CYCLE Festival took place on Sunday 7 September. It was an opportunity for cyclists and cycle-curious people of all ages to enjoy a bike-themed afternoon. There were opportunities to try out a range of unusual cycles, including a penny farthing. Avanti Cycling had set out several courses of varying difficulties for various sizes of children. Both of mine loved testing their skills over the ramps…Read more

Living Simply

UPILS AND staff from St. Anne’s have achieved the LiveSimply Award, validating their commitment to living simply, sustainably, and in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities. The award, championed by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), was presented to the school after they successfully planned and implemented faith-inspired actions that emphasized the importance of caring for people and the planet. Their efforts have had a positive impact not only within the school but also in the local community and globally, as they reached out to make a difference.
The school’s eco-drive initiative, organized by the One World Council group, saw pupils participate in tree planting and recycling projects…Read more

Sporting Profiles – Iris Hajda – Champion BMX rider

LAST MONTH we featured a sports person who had just reached her 80th birthday. This month we turn the spotlight on a local BMX rider who competes in the female 11-year-old class, Iris Hajda.
Iris tells us her dad did BMX when he was a child and belonged to Hayes Hawks BMX Club. So just after lockdown, in September 2020, she joined the club too. She started competing four years ago and became South Region Champion in her first year. The following year she entered national races, finishing the year as National number 2! In 2023 she became British and National number 1 and started international level racing…Read more

LIVE and Local

Steve Morano Band: The Retreat 10/08/2024
Totally Blondie: Kenton Theatre 06/09/2024

ANYONE FAMILIAR with the local music scene in Reading will almost certainly know Steve Morano. Steve has been playing shows, both solo and with his band, for over 20 years in pubs, clubs and festivals all over Reading and the surrounding areas.
We recently caught Steve performing at The Retreat on St John’s Street. Steve was appearing with a full band on this occasion, and they were in great form. Tight, but clearly enjoying themselves and having a great time.
Steve has a fun and affable rapport with his audience, but it’s when he starts to sing that he comes into his own…Read more

The Local Scene – St Peter’s Church

FOR CENTURIES the Parish Church of St Peter’s has had a prominent position high on a hill above the centre of Caversham – a clear landmark when viewed from the Reading side of the river which has featured in so many paintings and prints of the village. Today, it is lovely to wander into the gardens of Caversham Court, under the arch on the right, up the steps through the beautifully planted flower beds and into the churchyard via the open gate in the wall. From this promontory one can glimpse the river through the trees…Read more

Wilfred Owen in Dunsden

ON SATURDAY 9 November, there will be an opportunity to find out more about the WWI poet Wilfred Owen’s time in Dunsden, and the stained-glass window installed last year in All Saints’ Church to commemorate this…Read more

LIVING WITH LOSS

IT IS ALWAYS hard when someone close to us dies, and we can often find it difficult to talk about how we feel or the person we have lost. The Caversham, Thameside and Mapledurham Parish regularly organises a Bereavement Journey course, which runs for six weeks. This provides a chance to feel less isolated by sharing the journey with others. Each session has short film clips and time for discussion in a small group. The articles below were written by Alan and Glynn who met on one of these courses. Look out for details of the next course, which will be publicised in the Caversham Bridge.
A Bereavement Café also meets monthly at St Barnabas church in Emmer Green – see our What’s On page for details.

Grief Encounters

ON THE EVENING of 23 May 2018, my wife of nearly 6O years passed away in our bedroom overlooking the garden she had tended for over four decades. The passing of time has done little to ease the pain of life without her. The heartache, the tears, the feelings of emptiness and desolation have remained constant companions…Read more

Did You Serve in the Armed Forces? Have You Experienced a Bereavement?

I SERVED IN the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 to 1958 as a Radar Operator. During my service, I was posted to various RAF sites, including some in Northern Ireland, ending up at Hope Cove, Devon. After nearly 60 years of marriage, I sadly lost my wife, Christine, to cancer in December 2021. Devastated, I was encouraged by Reverend Penny Cuthbert of St John’s Church in Caversham, to attend a bereavement meeting at the church in May 2022…Read more

Keeping it Local

LOCAL BUSINESSES in Caversham and Emmer Green are at the heart of our community. They provide accessible services and resources for us all, creating valuable work opportunities for local people. We are fortunate in having a wide range of independent businesses, from restaurants and financial advisers to a tile shop and nail bars!
The Caversham Traders Association (CTA) is made up of businesses which are located in and around the area who share the same passion to celebrate local and independent business and our beautiful, river-side environment…Read more

Just can’t get away from home!

RUFUS ISAACS ROAD in Caversham. Who was this man? I always wondered. Well, I found out in a very roundabout way when I visited my son and his wife in Canterbury. We decided to visit English Heritage’s Walmer Castle, near Deal, which was built as an artillery fort to defend the coast of England. The castle walls are surrounded by cannons pointed out to sea ready for action…Read more

Tips for men’s skincare

WHEN IT comes to skincare and beauty, society tends to focus on women. However, skincare and health are not gender specific and men have their own concerns due to the differences in their skin. I thought for this article I would highlight the top treatments for my male clients…Read more

Wellbeing – Becoming Well Aged

WHEN WE contemplate growing older, we probably wish for physical and financial independence, joyful and engaging activities, and closeness with loved ones. Whether by playing pickleball or bridge, working part-time, or running after grandchildren, the big question is how every older adult can do what matters to them…Read more

Friends at work

ECONET IS A WILDLIFE conservation group which undertakes a wide range of activities relating to the conservation of the natural environment in public open spaces and other sites in and around Reading.
There are two local sites where Econet volunteers work: these are at Clayfield Copse and Mapledurham Playing Fields (MPF). Traditionally these were known as the Friends of groups. At the end of September, the MPF team began work to improve the fruit trees in the community orchard. Many of the trees had lost their original stakes and, with small root development on a thin soil, they were leaning over and rocking in the wind…Read more

First Impressions Matter – CV Myths

In these articles, I offer guidance on the most effective ways to search for jobs and write CVs. There aren’t specific rules per se; different CV writers might advise different strategies. There is also a wealth of information online, albeit some of it outdated.
However, there are some common myths you should be aware of…Read more