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  • In The Long Run

    IZZY JACOBS wouldn’t say she was born a runner. In fact, dancing was this Caversham girl’s first love. However, over the past two years, she has gone from a total novice runner to a marathon queen!
    On Sunday 27 April, she took on the challenge of her first full marathon in Manchester. Having trained hard for months, she was thrilled to achieve a sub-4-hour time – 3:59:03 to be precise.
    Izzy’s running journey began about 18 months ago, when she started running on the treadmill at the gym. She became hooked on the buzz and signed up for the Reading half marathon in April 2024, which she completed in an hour and 55 minutes. “When I finished my first half marathon, I swore I could never run a full one, but within a couple of months I’d signed up to the Manchester marathon,” she laughs. Once committed, the training began in earnest. The first step was to persuade her boyfriend Alfie to run it with her! Alfie is a semi-professional footballer, but had no prior running experience, so was starting from scratch…Read More

    Colourful Corner

    THE WILDFLOWER planting on the corner of Grove Road in Emmer Green was providing a splash of colour in June (see left), and much of the planting undertaken by local volunteers around the Budgens precinct area is looking well established now.
    Planting of a different kind is the subject of Happy Wanderer’s contribution (p7) and Les Cooper’s favourite garden pastime for July (p10) this month. By coincidence, both are considering blue
    flowers. For booklovers, we have our regular book reviews from Alex Forbes, alongside a report on the Fourbears Fest Book Festival in May (both page 5).
    This month’s article from Roslyn Weaver provides feedback on the Festival’s Crime Panel, with its trio of crime fiction writers (p8). And the links with the world of books continues with our Community Connections subjects this month, writers and former bookshop owners John and Lindsay Mullaney (p4)…Read More

    Our Kind Community – Celebrating The Kindness of Volunteers: Sam Wallis Robinson and Abbey Rugby Club

    IN THE heart of Emmer Green, Abbey Rugby Club has been a cornerstone of local sport and community life for nearly 70 years. Tucked away on Rosehill, just off Peppard Road, the club may not boast stands or flash budgets, but it more than makes up for it with a welcoming atmosphere, dedicated coaches, and a thriving community spirit.

    One of the driving forces behind this spirit is Sam Wallis Robinson. Sam first joined the club 19 years ago when her eldest son took up rugby. Since then, she’s become a key figure at Abbey, guided by the belief that if you want to see change, you need to be part of it. Three years ago, she stepped into the role of club chair – a position she holds with both passion and purpose…Read More

    Meadows Day at Clayfield Copse

    THE ANNUAL National Meadows Day event run by ECONET will be held at Clayfield Copse on Saturday 5 July from 10:30-13:30. Access will be from the car park on Caversham Park Road near the tennis courts. We will have information stalls (with some live exhibits) for bees, bats, butterflies, pollinators, fossils and minerals, environmental information and details on volunteering to support conservation work in the area. The meadows will be in flower, and we are running two guided walks…Read More

    An Inclusive Stage – Make/Sense Theatre

    MAKE/SENSE THEATRE is a Community Interest Company based in Caversham which operates across Reading, Bracknell and the surrounding area. It was set up in 2021 by Karen Wallace-Jones with the aim of providing accessible and enriching experiences in the creative arts for neurodivergent young people, and those with physical or sensory disabilities. From very small beginnings, the company has expanded its reach, with over 500 families now accessing our sessions in the community. In addition, it works in over 20 schools and colleges across the wider Thames Valley area.
    Every year, the company stages a fully inclusive show, giving young people a valuable opportunity to perform in a professional theatre. Parents are effusive in their feedback about how their children benefit from these experiences, and the young people themselves demonstrate their enjoyment clearly through their engagement in rehearsals and workshops…Read More

    Growing Support

    OUR CHARITY Plant Sale in May has become something of a fixture in the calendars of many local gardeners. This year we had people waiting at our gate for the opening! The first day
    was particularly busy and, over the three days, we raised around £2,600, which has been shared between WaterAid and the International Red Cross.

    We would like to thank everyone who supported the sale. Those who provided new homes for so many plants, friends, former colleagues, and neighbours who grew and donated plants to supplement our own and baked the cakes, which proved so popular. We are also grateful to Dave and Carol Rylands, whose help on the Thursday was invaluable, and to Tricia Marcouse, who assisted throughout the sale, helping wherever needed and providing expert advice on what plants would grow where…Read More

    Albert Road Enterprise

    OUR SOCIAL Media volunteer, Jean Harper, spotted these plants for sale in an Albert Road front garden early in April.
    Three years ago, Gail and Alan Spence hosted a huge bring and buy plant sale at their home in aid of the DEC Ukraine Appeal, (which we reported in our July 2022 edition), but this was a ‘oneoff’.
    However, each year, when they thin and divide the plants in their garden in the spring, they put the surplus plants on sale on their front path. Friends and neighbours also contribute plants, and the money raised goes to charity. The sale usually lasts two or three weeks around April until they run out of plants. This year they raised over £630 for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
    Well done, Gail and Alan!…Read More

    Remembering 100 years on

    OUR MAY edition included a brief history of St Peter’s Lady Chapel as the church was celebrating the chapel’s centenary this year. It was constructed as a war memorial to all the Caversham service personnel who died in the First World War.
    A service of rededication of the Lady Chapel took place at the church on the afternoon of Sunday 18th May. Revd Canon Mike Smith led the service, which was attended by forty people. Members of the Friends of St Peter participated in the telling of the history of the chapel, the prayers, readings, and laying of white roses on the Memorial Desk. A fundraising Cream Tea followed the service and was very well received. It was the first of many events organised by the Friends, who hope more members of the Caversham community will become members…Read More

    For Your Bookshelf

    ONE OF THE highlights of our recent Fourbears Fest was the Nature Craft workshop with Yuval Zommer. The session was based around his book The Big Book of Nature Art, which is built on the years he spent running art workshops for kids. The book encourages children to see the creative potential in the natural and everyday items all around us, from twigs and petals, leaves to loo rolls – even pencil shavings!

    Sarah Perry has had some successful titles with Sunday Times bestseller Melmoth, and The Essex Serpent. Perry’s new book, Enlightenment, was longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize so I knew when I picked it up it would be good. It’s based around Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay, who have lived their lives in a small town in Essex. Though there is a 30-year age difference, they are kindred spirits, torn between their religion and their desire to explore the world…Read More

    A Book Festival on our doorstep – Fourbears Fest

    THE FIRST FULL Fourbears Fest was held in 2024. There were many highlights and immediately I knew I wanted to do it again in 2025. We identified changes and improvements which fed into Fourbears Fest 2025 this May. We had some familiar faces, like Robin Ince and Neill Cameron, plus a whole feast of new authors and types of event.

    We started on the Friday night with Robin Ince at Queen Anne’s School here in Caversham. It was great to use a new venue, and Robin delighted the audience with tales of his magnificent mind.
    Saturday morning saw Rose Lihou kick the children’s events off at Caversham Baptist Church with her Tiny Dogs series, followed by the return of Neill Cameron leading a Comic Book draw-along…Read More

    Happy Wanderer – I, Borage, Bring Always Courage

    MY BACK garden is, to put it politely, closely planted – some would say ‘overgrown’. Last summer I took out a small dead tree, leaving a patch of bare earth. This was in July and, by August, a weed had appeared there, with hairy leaves. I eventually recognised that it was borage, though the plant wasn’t one I’d seen in my garden before. It grew very rapidly, and in September it was flowering profusely. It’s an annual, and died away to nothing when colder weather arrived but now, in early May, I have a hundred or so seedlings.
    As so often when composing these articles, I reached down the appropriate volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, to discover that the name ‘borage’ comes from a Latin word meaning something shaggy, on account of the plant’s general hairiness…Read More

    Why the butler didn’t do it: Crime Fiction at Caversham Book Festival

    A FLIGHT TO the Arctic, an idyllic island and the rolling hills of rural England might sound like the contents page of a travel magazine, a tourism bucket list, or the start of a riddle but, for an audience at Progress Theatre one sunny May afternoon, it was instead the basis for a crime fiction panel.
    Held as part of Caversham’s own Book Festival and hosted by Fourbears bookshop owner, Alex Forbes, the crime panel event took place on Saturday 17 May and was staged fittingly, with its button-backed chairs between bookshelf backdrops. The panel featured a trio of crime writers: Tom Hindle, Stuart Turton and Kate Wells, and their discussion entertained the audience while giving an insight into their writing…Read More

    Ten things to know about your visit to A&E

    • There is likely to be a lot of waiting around – Despite the four-hour target time for you to be assessed, discharged or admitted, you’ll have to wait to see the triage nurse, a medical professional for assessment, tests and results. So take a book or something.
    • Arriving by ambulance will not get you seen quicker – All patients will be triaged – a quick check of your vital signs and brief discussion about your symptoms. You may be offered pain relief and some tests. Patients who arrive by ambulance are triaged in the same way, then seen in order of need.
    • You may not be seen by a doctor – You may be assessed by a nurse practitioner, paramedic or physician associate; all skilled professionals trained in emergency assessments. They are supervised by a senior emergency doctor to discuss issues and review patients if needed.
    • Patients can’t ‘skip the queue’ – Although this can be frustrating when you have been waiting a long time, there will always be a good reason. They may be referred to a nurse practitioner with a shorter waiting time, or sent directly to a specific team by an outside practitioner.
    • You may be redirected – After your initial assessment it may be decided that you can be reviewed in an alternative setting, such as a GP practice, minor injuries unit, or emergency
      assessment unit…Read More

    Refill in Reading

    MANY PEOPLE are trying to reduce single-use plastics in their lives. One option is to refill containers and there are several wonderful refill stores offering a good range of products in Caversham and Central Reading.
    The True Food Coop at 61 Grove Road, Emmer Green is open Tuesdays to Saturdays 9:00 to 18:00 and sells a wide range of foods and household cleaners by weight or volume. See their catalogue on truefood.coop.
    Doing a shop in Reading town centre? Then the Global Refills shop at RISC on London Street carries many of the same products, see risc.org.uk/global-refills. It is open Tuesday to Sunday until 18:00.
    Worried about the chemicals in personal care or household cleaning products? Both the True Food Coop and RISC offer clarity in these matters and sell a range of soaps, shampoos, perfumes and household cleaners. A range of vegan skin care and home fragrance products is also available at Nood in the centre of Caversham, near to Warings bakery. Again, there are refill options available to you. See www.noodstores.co.uk… Read More

    The Final Cut

    AFTER NEARLY 30 years, Emma Ruane, who owns The Barber Shop in Caversham has decided it is time to move on. Emma grew up in Caversham and attended Chiltern Edge School. She started as an apprentice at the Forresters hairdresser in the Precinct when she was 16 and loved the work. She qualified there but left because her mum opened a gift shop in 1995 which she wanted Emma to run. “It was fun for a few years until competing with The Oracle in Reading proved too much.” It was then, at the age of 19, she decided to go back to what she enjoyed most and the shop was converted to a barber, opening in December 1997.

    Emma has enjoyed being part of the community in Caversham. There are very few local businesses which have been unchanged for so long. She loves her work and her many loyal clients. She told me, “My first ever client still comes in after all these years!” …Read More

    A Blooming Good Blue

    AT TIMES DURING July, my favourite gardening pastime is thinking what I should be doing…tomorrow. Come on, we all need to have a time to sit back and enjoy our gardens. But there is one job we should be doing because we will be so pleased with ourselves next year. Yes, now is a good time for sowing biennials such as wallflowers, honesty, foxgloves and forget-me-nots. If I had the space, I would grow them all but one has to make a choice. For some reason I have lost interest in growing wallflowers, and I’ll not bother with them this year or rather next year. I like them but I am somewhat fickle and can’t be bothered with them at the moment. Anyway, if next year I should change my mind, as I probably will, I could always buy plants in a garden centre. I have never grown lunaria (honesty), although it has occasionally appeared in my garden from somewhere. Sorry but it doesn’t excite me.

    On the other hand, this year I became fascinated with forget-me-nots; yes forgetme-nots! I haven’t gone completely mad…Read More

    11 Prospect Street –MD Howlett

    JANINA MAHER’S drawing this month is of number 11 Prospect Street, the premises of MD Howlett, Architectural Consultant. When I popped in to see Mike Howlett, he made me very welcome and explained that he took over the shop in 2019 moving from his previous office on an attic floor of number 23 Prospect Street. He took the lease over from Goldcrest Travel Agency which had occupied the premises for several years.
    As an Architectural Consultant, Mike takes on a wide range of projects, including interior alterations, loft conversions, and the complete design of houses. He began working in London in 1973 for an architectural company taking on projects for Local Authorities but later set up his own freelance business. He and his wife moved to Caversham over 40 years ago and have loved living here.
    Many of us have passed number 11 and our eyes have been caught by fascinating vintage costumes on display in the window (seen in Janina’s drawing) – they cleverly drew our attention to Mike’s office but were, in fact, advertising another local business…Read More

    Turning back the pages

    OVER THE last five years, we have been working with Royal Berkshire Records (RBR – formerly the Berkshire Records Office) to digitise copies of past editions of the Caversham Bridge paper. The RBR hold copies of almost all of the papers published since 1964. The latest batch of papers, which are now available through our web site, include 1969, 2000, 2005 and 2010. These provide a fascinating glimpse into the past, with stories of local people and of our community.
    We still have around 25 years’ worth of papers to complete the digitisation process, which costs about £100 per year. At the current rate, this will take around another six years. We are now seeking sponsors who could help speed this up…Read More

    Gulls and Buoys

    IT LOOKED LIKE it was going to be a nice day in Croatia. As the morning sun rose over the highest peak of the nearby Biokova mountain, it was already creating a sparkle on the previously
    grey looking water of the pretty harbour. I sat on a bench which offered some protection from the rising sun, together with the very pleasant aromatic smell of pines. There were not many people around at this early hour, except for a group of fishermen readying their boats for the day, and a tourist here and there preparing their own craft, ready for a day on the calm blue water beyond the harbour.
    Within a few minutes of choosing my bench, a fluttering noise from above my head signalled the arrival of a small group of seagulls, some quite large, which were possibly the male of the species, and also some slightly smaller and brighter coloured gulls, which may have been the ladies of the species…Read More

    Turning job setbacks into stepping stones

    GETTING THAT ‘we’ve decided to go with another candidate’ email can feel like a real disappointment. But what if rejection could actually boost your job search?

    Here’s how to transform those disappointing moments into valuable career insights.

    • Ask for feedback – Don’t be shy! A simple, “I’d appreciate any advice for future applications”, can unlock golden nuggets of information. While not every employer will respond, those who do can provide valuable information on how you’re being perceived.
    • Look for patterns – If you’re sailing through to interviews but stumbling at that stage, perhaps your CV shines brighter than your in-person presence. Mock interviews with a trusted friend might help. Conversely, if applications hit a dead end before interviews, your CV might need a refresh.
    • Don’t take it personally – Remember that rejection often isn’t personal. With dozens—sometimes hundreds—of applicants for each role, many qualified candidates miss out simply because of the sheer number. The employer might have had an internal candidate in mind, or perhaps someone with a slightly different skill mix.
    • Turn rejection into connection – A gracious “thank you for considering me” response can leave doors ajar. Many a job has materialised months later because someone remembered a positive interaction with a candidate who handled rejection with professionalism…Read More

    Shuffle, scramble, dream, rest.

    STUDIES OVER the last decade have shown promising results with what scientists at first only developed as a personal wellbeing tool; now called the cognitive shuffle. Cognitive shuffling typically involves mentally conjuring up random, impersonal and non-emotionally charged words for about 10 minutes before bedtime. In the the natural transition into sleep, we tend to have “microdreams” and fragmented, nonlinear thought patterns.
    Intentionally engaging in random, disconnected thinking may replicate this cognitive pre-sleep state, and help us fall asleep at a pace determined by our individual needs. Scientists think that there is a positive feedback loop in the brain: Microdreams are not just a product of falling asleep; they cue the brain that it is safe and appropriate to fall asleep.
    Since our brains tend to “shuffle” between random thoughts during quieter periods, giving our brains a calming or neutral distraction can be very helpful. When our brain’s executive function is ‘firing’, we are accessing memory, evaluation, planning, scheduling, and problem solving. When these mental actions are in play, our brains are too active to settle to sleep. The shuffling and scrambling provides the perfect distraction and enables a natural sleep rhythm to form.

    Here’s how it’s done…Read More