Headlines for April Issue

Caversham Heights bus route 22: reactions to the revised service
Caversham Bridge (most recently in the February and March issues) has reported on the Reading Buses consultation on all the Caversham bus routes since proposals were made
in October last year. The most radical changes made and implemented after Monday 19th February have been to the route 22 serving Caversham Heights. This service was previously branded Pink 22 reflecting its membership of the Caversham services as a whole. But now, it is detached from Pink and branded as Red 22 referencing a link to…. (Read more)

Air Quality in Caversham.
Residents, cyclists and pedestrians in central Caversham are having to suffer increasingly
high volumes of vehicles on our busy narrow streets. The inevitable noise of constant traffic
is tolerated by most people, while the silent killer goes unnoticed. That unseen menace is
poor air quality. In December 2017 Caversham GLOBE (Go Local On a Better Environment)
group contributed to the national campaign for clean air by installing a nitrogen dioxide
test tube for two weeks at the Church Road/St Anne’s Road junction in central…. (Read more)

Moldywarp at Clayfield Copse.
‘Friends of’, on their way to their monthly task, [clearing a glade amongst the ash re-growth] passed the mole conurbation at the edge of the flower meadow and noticed signs of recent activity there. It is March 5th the day after the previous week of sub-zero temperatures and snow, and a mole is very active. There seem to be three development sites each with about 30 hills, with fresh soil on top! Spring cleaning the corridors, larders and nest accommodation
or maybe the future nurseries? With their solid cylindrical furry 6-inch body with short limbs ending in shovels, the mole is the…. (Read more)

Your local park needs you!.
We conservation volunteers need help. Those bluebells at Clayfield Copse are struggling to be seen under brambles. This year the volunteers have spent about 40 working hours clearing brambles from an area there called Blackhouse Wood. A real chore but…. (Read more)

Caversham Artisan and Farmers Market!
The new Sunday market started up before Christmas and looks forward to expanding as the weather improves and more people know about it. The development of St Martins will eventually…. (Read more)

Croquet Day comes to Albert Road.
Did you know that Caversham boasts a thriving Croquet Club at the Albert Road
recreation ground, and membership is inexpensive and open to all? Croquet is a great sport for all ages. Ask people what they know about croquet, and the usual answers are either….. (Read more)

Caversham Arts Trail is back!.
Caversham Arts Trail is back! After a break of two years, Caversham artists and friends
will be opening their homes and studios to members of the public on 12th, 13th, 19th
and 20th May (yes, we realise that one of these dates clashes with a certain wedding
– but we planned this before they did!) with some venues also opening on 18th
May. Admission is free, and all venues are open from 11am–5pm. The trail gives visitors the…. (Read more)

BEE-FLIES.
It’s only in recent years that I’ve noticed these strange-looking insects in my Caversham garden. They appear in April, when the sun is shining, and go away in June. I first came across them around twenty years ago in France and suspect that they may be spreading northwards in the wake of global warming, though it’s possible that I haven’t been observant enough to notice them before. It’s certainly true that in Britain, they become…. (Read more)

History of Reading Society.
The subject of the February talk was the History of the Abbey Baptist Church, Reading. The speakers were members of the congregation. The talk began with a brief history of the Baptists in England. The Baptist church emerged in the religious reforms which swept through Europe in the sixteenth century in the wake of the proclamations of the German monk Martin Luther. Luther and his followers believed the Roman Catholic Church had
become corrupt and its theology debased through the worship of saints and…. (Read more)

Reading Abbey ruins open soon and the link to Caversham.
The much anticipated re-opening date of Reading’s oldest gem, the Abbey Ruins, has
been announced. The ruins closed in 2009 as they were no longer safe to be open to
the public. After nine years and thanks to £1.77 million funding support from the
Heritage Lottery Fund and match funding of £1.38million from the Council, the ambitious
project to reinvigorate Reading’s pre-eminent and nationally important heritage site will…. (Read more)

Caversham Horticultural Society
Whilst writing this in a cold gloomy February day, I, like many gardeners had look forward to the burst of Spring flowering plants that started March which finally signalled that Winter was over. To help us to achieve this, Caversham Horticultural Society’s April talk on
the 25th is given by Rosie Hardy of Hardy Cottage Plants, Whitchurch, Hampshire. In this illustrated talk she will inspire and inform us about suitable…. (Read more)

Coppice and bean poles.
For hundreds of years hazel trees have been used by man. An area of hazel was cut down to provide people with material for building, furniture, fodder, fencing and fuel. A fence would then be built around the ‘coupe’ to protect the new growth from nibbling deer and rabbits. The Hazel would be ready for re-cut in seven to ten years’ time. These days much of the woodland coppice has been neglected, but conservationists are aware of the wildlife value of
coppice woodland, and some areas are being restored. Great news for bluebells, fritillary butterflies… (Read more)

Beanpole Day: 21st April Get your garden ready for summer!
Econet’s annual gardening event takes place on April 21st at Caversham Court Gardens by the River Thames from 10-3. Come and buy very reasonably priced plants and plant stakes whilst supporting local charitable organisations, enjoying the views and, perhaps, learning something new from interacting with environmental organisations, including bee-friendly and wildlife gardening and grow-your-own. We have vegetables (this is the place to buy a large range of tomato plants and grow on the assortment of shapes, colours and…. (Read more)

Concert at St Barnabas Church, Emmer Green.
On Sunday 29th April, Glass Ensemble make a welcome return to St. Barnabas Church, Emmer Green RG4 8RA, for their Spring Concert. The concert will feature Renaissance motets by Victoria, Palestrina and Josquin des Prez, contrasted with folk songs from across the world, including…. (Read more)

Caversham WI.
For Caversham WI’s February meeting, we welcomed John and Lindsay Mullaney to talk about Reading Abbey. The talk set the scene of what Reading Abbey would most likely
have looked like, and even sounded like, before covering the most recent discoveries and some of the stones found through the Hidden Abbey Stones project. It is not so surprising that some of the most visibly interesting stones from the abbey ruins have made their way into personal collections or into the safe keeping of local churches, over…. (Read more)

Caversham Heights Society.
There was only one meeting of the society during February which, appropriately enough, was a talk on 100 years of Reading Weather. Despite the bitter cold there was a good turnout to hear Dr Stephen Burt, from the department of meteorology at the university, talk about the weather records that have been kept since 1907. Rainfall and climate recordings were made at the London Road site of the university from 1908 until 1963 before they were moved to the geography department. Now there is a large observatory site, monitored daily on the Whiteknights campus. Rainfall has been measured since 1908; grass frost since 1960; and the wind speed and direction more recently. Barometric pressure and hours of sunshine are logged every second and sent to the Meteorology Office. This used to be in Bracknell but was moved to…. (Read more)

News from St Anne’s School.
At the beginning of February, 23 pupils from years one to four at St Anne’s School took part in a Change4Life Sports Festival at the John Madejski Academy. They engaged in a wide range of physical activities, practising skills such as throwing, catching, hitting targets and scoring goals to increase their agility, balance and co-ordination. Stamina and…. (Read more)

Caversham Heights Townswomen’s Guild.
Established as an afternoon women’s group. We held our AGM and afternoon tea in March, when it was decided to move the starting time of our meeting from 2pm to 2.15pm to allow more time between the departure of the playgroup and setting things up for our meeting.
The social studies group enjoyed a fascinating talk by Alan Copeland about Eccentric London.
International Women’s Day was celebrated this year by a lunch in Banbury. Members of our guild attended and were inspired by the speakers: a professor and expert on…. (Read more)

Chazey WI.
Our February meeting was well attended for a cold winter evening. A welcome was given to members, new members and Suzanne Stallard our Speaker for the evening. Suzanne spoke about her love for knitting and yarns starting when young and learning to knit at the age of five with her grandmother as her teacher. Suzanne had brought samples of her work to show us. Her Fair Isle knitting was amazing and her use of colours fascinating. Thank’s were given to Suzanne by Valerie Holden. Refreshments were available for everyone and then the business of the…. (Read more)

Rosehill WI.
President Margaret Pyle welcomed all members and visitors to our February meeting on
a cold but sunny afternoon. She then handed over to secretary Mary Robinson, who drew our attention to various items in Berkshire WI News, including the Spring Annual Council meeting to be held on Monday 9th April at the Palmer Building of the University of Reading where the speaker will be Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger DBE. There will also be other speakers and topics covered so it should be an interesting morning. Mary also mentioned a photographic workshop (on Friday 23rd March) and a talk about glaucoma (on Tuesday 27th March), plus other items…. (Read more)

 

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