Headlines for July Issue

Access to General Practitioner services in Caversham: challenges and responses
A General Practice has occupied the corner site on Priory Avenue, Caversham for many years and has provided access to primary care for thousands of individuals and their families. The main responsibility for the provision, organization and strategic management of general practice is the regional Clinical Commissioning Group. In the case of Priory Avenue and other Caversham practices this is now the NHS Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group. In this unit there are 11 GP centres. Their footprint covers Pangbourne, Theale, Mortimer, Tilehurst, Calcot and Oxford Road: seven practices in all and located…. (Read more)

New secondary school in Reading
RICHFIELD Avenue is the preferred location for a new secondary school in Reading. Reading Borough Council has been considering possible locations for a new 6-form entry Secondary School needed to cope with the on-going growth in demand for school places in the town. Current estimates are that by 2025/26 an additional 1,000 new secondary school places will be needed in Reading. Following the exercise, land at Richfield Avenue – west of Rivermead Leisure Centre and…. (Read more)

Help our iconic red phone box to save lives!
The red phone box at the top of Courtenay Drive has served the local community for many years. However, in common with other phone boxes across the country, it had been earmarked by BT for removal. Now, to save it, a group of local residents would like to repurpose it to house a defibrillator. What is a defibrillator and why do we want one?
Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of premature death, occurring when the…. (Read more)

THE CAVERSHAM HEIGHTS SOCIETY
In the third week of May nearly 40 members and friends of the Society went on their annual mini-holiday, this time to the Peak District, under the able leadership of John and Linda Dudley who had organised everything, including an excellent hotel near Breadsall on the outskirts of Derby. On the way up we stopped off in Leicester to visit the King Richard III Museum and Visitor Centre and Leicester Cathedral, an excellent and informative visit. The story of the Wars of the Roses and how the remains of King Richard III were found beneath a local car park were intriguing and well worth the visit. If ever the remains of King Henry 1 are found beneath the ruins of…. (Read more)

Caversham Salvation Army
We had a dog called Rory who had a habit of escaping and one Sunday managed to do a disappearing act. While we were walking to the Army the dog reappeared and the only option was to take him with us to the Sunday school. Well, he sat very quietly during the early stages but when my Dad played the intro to the first hymn he looked up and as we started singing Rory started to howl remarkably in tune to be honest, but everyone fell about laughing. It was decided not to have any more hymns during the meeting as the dog was….. (Read more)

Spitfire to grace Caversham Church Fete with a flypast in RAF’s Centenary year
In the Centenary year of the Royal Air Force, one of its most iconic and best loved aircraft, the Supermarine Spitfire, will grace the skies above the Caversham Church Fete, on Saturday July 14. The historic fighter aircraft, courtesy of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, will perform a flypast over Caversham Court Gardens, home of this truly traditional fete….. (Read more)

History of Reading Society
The subject of the May talk was the history of Greyfriars Church, Reading. The speaker was Malcolm Summers who has been a member of the church since 1981; in 2013 he published a history of the church. The Franciscan Order of Monks was founded by St Francis of Assisi in 1209; they were commonly known as the ‘Greyfriars’ because of their grey robes or habit. The monks were required to live an austere life and…. (Read more)

Reading Probus Clubs.
The two Reading Probus Clubs held a joint meeting on 21st May at Sonning Golf Club to celebrate their significant anniversaries: Reading and District Club was celebrating 50 years since its formation and Reading East Club 25 years. Reading and District club was formed in 1968, and by 1993 had grown to such an extent that it was divided in…. (Read more)

Westfield Recreation Ground.
According to the little book on ‘Caversham Names’ by John Malpas, the field was given to the
Caversham Urban District Council in 1896. In a way, it’s surprising that this corner plot was not built on. To the west, there is a pub and a row of houses dating from the 1860s, but to the east, not much development until later. The Ordnance Survey of 1877 shows that the site of Elizabeth House and the land behind it, was once a small estate with three large houses – The Firs, The Limes, and Caversham Lodge. The recreation ground is just a field, and Westfield Road is…. (Read more)

Friends of Clayfield Copse
First Sunday of the month and Friends of Clayfield Copse are in the flower meadow putting in posts to protect the young oaks growing along the eastern boundary. Also, they cleared around one of ‘Brian’s seats’ on the northern side which provides shade and a lovely view of the wild flowers in the meadow. You know Brian, he is a regular visitor and staunch ‘Friend of’ he is often up there mending the seats he has installed or…. (Read more)

Caversham’s Rock ‘n’ Ale Festival back for a 6th year!
The Caversham Rock ‘n’ Ale festival was first run in 2013 and as a result of its huge success in its first year the organisers were determined to make it an annual event. The event was inspired by the death of Angela Fung from Motor Neurone Disease in December 2012 who was a very close family friend of the festival’s organisers. The festival was started first and foremost as a community event and secondly to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and has been very kindly… (Read more)

Reading St. Andrew’s Scottish Country Dancing Society
On Saturday 14th April the society staged its annual Spring Ceilidh at Chiltern Edge School in Sonning Common. Some 80 dancers (and non-dancers) came together for an informal evening of dancing and entertainment. The music for dancing was provided by Strathallan, an excellent duo playing accordion and fiddle. The MC for the evening tailored the dance programme to suit the abilities…. (Read more)

Caversham Heights Townswomen’s Guild
We had an extremely early start in June when, at 6.45am we assembled in Valpy Street to catch a coach to Brighton armed with our passports. There we joined members from other Guilds for our AGM. Our Patron, the Princess Royal, was attending, hence the passports (or driving licences). Important matters were discussed; raising the age of marriage to 18, The safe management of…. (Read more)

Caversham WI
At our May meeting, we held our annual ‘WI resolutions discussion’. The National Federation asked whether or not we support having ‘Mental Health Matters’ as a resolution on which to campaign. A discussion followed, with views given for enabling the WI to lobby government, to act locally to encourage more discussion, and for highlighting the extent of the discussions which are already taking place. There has been a distinct increase in the amount of national conversation over mental health in recent years. We have just hosted the annual Group Meeting – where we join with our…. (Read more)

First Holy Communion of St Anne’s School pupils
On the feast of Corpus Christi, twenty-one pupils from St Anne’s school received the body of Christ for the first time. The girls were resplendent in white and the boys in their best attire. They had made their first confession in preparation for the day a couple of weeks before.
Father Patrick celebrated Mass in a church crowded with many friends and relations of the children – in some cases three generations – and some of the regular…. (Read more)

ST PETER’S CRAFT GROUP
St. Peter’s Craft group has done it again: after the success of the ‘Caversham Quilt’ last year, they have lovingly crafted a double size quilt depicting cats and, as you can see from the photo, the ‘Cats’ have been finished by hand! The Caversham Quilt was made to raise funds for Berkshire Women’s Aid. This year, as it is…. (Read more)

St Barnabas Garden Party
On Saturday 14th July from 1 until 4 in the church hall and grounds on Grove Rd, Emmer Green. Why not start your visit by having something from the BBQ before trying your hand at the various games around the grounds? Tombola, Surprise Parcels or Bottle Stall to name but a few. Beautiful crafts and cakes will…. (Read more)

 

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