Headlines for November Issue

The SSAFA Reading Gurkha Project – update 2018
The SSAFA (The Armed Forces Charity) which has grown out of the Soldiers, Seaman and Air Force Association has a local presence in its Berkshire branch. The SSAFA helps veterans and service personnel, and their families, in the local community and relies on public donations to continue its work. SSAFA has a commitment to provide support with experienced, non-judgemental and friendly advice, as well as a variety of practical services which cover a range of social, family and financial issues. One of the main local activities supported is the SSAFA Reading Gurkha Ladies Project which supports women in the Nepali community and provides opportunities for developing literacy and for…. (Read more)

Elizabeth E.A. Franklin: can you help?
Kehinde Adeyemi has contacted Caversham Bridge in the hope that we might publicise her quest to find out more about her childhood carer Elizabeth E. A. C. Franklin. Elizabeth Franklin grew up in Bath near the Pulteney Bridge, before moving to Goring and Streatly where she worked with and for the international philanthropist Patricia Brenninkmeyer from the early 1980’s at Warren Farm. Patricia Brenninkmeyer herself trained as a social worker in England and in the 1960s began work in Africa, in the newly-independent state of…. (Read more)

Have you been a Victim of crime or abuse?
Being a victim or witness of a crime can be an emotional and difficult experience.
Victims First provides free emotional and practical support to all victims and witnesses of crime or abuse, as well as for family members of victims. The service is available across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, and can provide help regardless of whether or not the crime has been reported to the police. Helping victims find out about Victims First is very important, so a scheme called Victims First Connect has been developed. Victims First Connect consists of information points across the….. (Read more)

Living well: staying healthy in body and mind
On Tuesday morning, 18th September, Balmore Park’s Patient Participation Group held a workshop in Caversham Heights Methodist Church on Living well: staying healthy in body and mind. The church was busy with about 75 attendees and 7 speakers. The setting was informal with people sitting in groups around tables. There were displays from the speakers, and handouts to take home. Entertainment was provided by Tea & Jam an over 60’s ukulele group and part of the local music charity Readipop. The group meet every Thursday morning for 2 hours of practise and…. (Read more)

Remembrance 2018
This year at Remembrance, as always, we will remember all those who lost their lives or suffered as a consequence of any War or conflict. 2018 is especially poignant as, whilst remembering all those who died or suffered in the First World War, we also celebrate the ending of this War – the War that was meant to end all Wars. Caversham’s Service of Remembrance will take place at our War Memorial in Christchurch Meadows by Caversham Bridge at 10.50 am on Sunday 11th November. The President of Caversham Royal British Legion, Mr. Ron Jewitt, will welcome those present and the Service will be conducted by the Chaplain of the branch, Dr. Alison Johnston. Those Associations (all welcome) who wish to attend should assemble, with their Leaders, in Christchurch Meadows at the Wolsey Road entrance and parade along to the War Memorial. At the end of the Service they will assemble under the supervision of the Leader of the Army Cadet Force in Caversham, proceed….. (Read more)

Remembering a loved one at a time of Remembrance
Two Caversham churches are inviting people to come and remember a loved one in a peaceful service of prayer and reflection. On Sunday November 4th St John’s Church on Gosbrook Road and St Peter’s on The Warren will remember loved ones who have died. The St John’s service starts at 3.00pm while the service at St Peter’s is at 6.30pm….. (Read more)

History of Reading Society: Amelia Dyer and the Baby Farm Murders
The subject of the September talk was Amelia Dyer and the Baby Farm Murders. The speaker was Angela Buckley who, after a career in teaching modern languages, is now a writer on the subject of crime history. A keen family historian, she is the Chair of the Society of Genealogists.
At Reading on the 30th March 1896 a gruesome discovery was made in the river Thames when bargeman Charles Humphreys and a colleague noticed a suspicious object floating in the water near the…. (Read more)

The Polygon
In March last year, I wrote about a café in Caversham Road called The Pagoda. This turned out to be what is now called The Gorge, and is on the corner of Richfield Avenue, opposite the Crowne Plaza Hotel. This month I am writing about another café with a strange name, The Polygon. When I came across this photograph, I asked about it in my local Caversham pub, and people of my age and above remembered it well, and remembered exactly where it stood. The building was one of those demolished in the 1960s to make way for St. Martin’s Shopping Precinct. Its unusual wedge shape was…. (Read more)

Mapledurham Playing Fields: an archaeological update.
Archaeological surveys have been carried out at Mapledurham Playing Fields over the summer, as part of preparation work required for landscape improvements at the site, and have continued into October. In June, the Mapledurham Playing Fields Trustees Sub-Committee approved a Landscape Masterplan for the site, at the same time as agreeing to lease part of the playing fields to the Education and Schools Funding Agency (ESFA) for a permanent new site for the Heights School. The Council has been working closely with Berkshire Archaeology to survey and…. (Read more)

Probus
The speaker at the September meeting of the Reading and District Probus club was Brian Skillen whose subject was A Line in the Sand – the Fall of the Alamo and the Rise of Texas. The Alamo has been the subject of two films, in 1960 and 2004. The Alamo in San Antonio in Texas was originally built in the mid-18th century as a Roman Catholic mission, which closed in 1793. It later became…. (Read more)

Chazey WI
St. Andrew’s Church Hall was the new venue for the September meeting of Chazey WI. It was very successful with some new faces attending and some previous members returning. In place of a speaker there was a photo competition ‘How well do you know Reading’ which members enjoyed. Our tea hostesses were kept very busy with refreshments. It was announced that the WI diaries for 2019 had been collected by Julie and were available for collection, or will be available at the next meeting. Social dates to note are as follows: a day out ate… (Read more)

Caversham WI
Our September meeting was an informal occasion, following the summer break. Over the summer, two members hosted garden parties (both were very lucky with the weather!) and we also helped out with the Caversham Court Gardens tea kiosk. The food theme was carried over, and we celebrated the end of the summer season with home-made apple pies and a harvest auction of fresh fruit, vegetables and a few special extras – including a…. (Read more)

Caversham and Chiltern Flower Club
We are pleased to announce that on Wednesday 14th November at 6.30 pm we will be holding our open meeting at Caversham Heights Methodist Church, Highmoor Road, Caversham, RG4 7BG with our guest, the National Flower Demonstrator, Gill McGregor. The demonstration is called Christmas Sparkle. This is the highlight of our annual calendar and what better way to…. (Read more)

Caversham Horticultural Society
Caversham Horticultural Society’s November talk will be given by Nikki Gammans of Bumblebee Conservation on the subject of ‘Best Plants for Bees’. This talk will be held on Wednesday 14th November at 7.45pm at…. (Read more)

Aid to the Church in Need: breakfast meeting
at Our Lady and St Anne
With a view to developing a series of talks and discussions at Our Lady and St Anne (OLASA) in Caversham, a breakfast meeting was held on Saturday 15th September from 0800am to 0930am.The invited presenter was Nick Fogg MBE who is a representative of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). He took as his theme the idea of ‘5,000 reasons to hope’. ACN has a global remit to support Christian communities in parts of the world where their existence is challenged. OLASA already has a Friends of the Holy Land (FHL) group so an opportunity to hear about the wider field of operations of ACN is always welcome and…. (Read more)

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