Headlines for March 2020 Issue

Sub Post-Office returns to Caversham Centre
Over the last year Caversham Bridge has followed the story of the closure of the Sub-Post Office at Day Lewis pharmacy in Church Street (next to Tesco Express), the efforts by Matt Rodda MP to interact with the Post Office and the disappointment and frustration when no solution was forthcoming. The Post Office believed the reinstatement of a sub-office on Caversham Road provided mitigation for the loss to Caversham Centre. This could not be the case, …. (Read more)

The Future for Reading Golf Club and Emmer Green
We begin a new decade, and, as Reading Golf Club Chairman, I wanted to explain the Club’s vision for the future. Many will have read about our decision to move to an upgraded course at Caversham Heath which is about ten minutes away from our current course. It was not a decision we took lightly. We have spent decades at Emmer Green – many of our club members live in Emmer Green – and it is somewhere we hold close to our hearts. The truth is that remaining at Emmer Green would mean imminent insolvency and collapse for the club so the status quo was just not a sustainable option. With too few and declining membership numbers, we are losing significant sums of money every week and maintenance costs are spiralling …. (Read more)

Michael Noel Eggleton O.B.E. Died 2 January 2020
Mike was born on Christmas Eve 1932. He and a gang of friends attended Ealing Green Congregational Church in the 1940s – the only Church specifically built for children. Mike and Sheila met through the group and were married in the Church in 1958. Mike was a member of the Young People’s Fellowship, the Ealing Green Players and the Church Choir. He was a keen tennis player and an ardent Brentford Football Club Supporter, and even dragged poor Sheila along sometimes to shiver on the terraces. Mike was an innovative and creative electrical engineer …. (Read more)

A trip along the IDR – History of Reading Society
The subject of the talk in January was ‘A Trip Along The IDR’. The speaker was Graham Turner. Graham was born and raised in Coley and runs the Coley Local History Facebook page. Graham is now the custodian of a collection of colour photographic slides made by the late Doug Noyes: they chronicle the construction of the Reading IDR or Inner Distribution Road. The archive has views of the streets and buildings along the entire future route of the ring road where so many of them were scheduled for demolition. The images were accompanied by an audio recording of Doug’s personal commentary where he referred to the features of interest such as the names of shops and their trades. The route of the first stage of the IDR would run between Caversham Road and…. (Read more)

Join in Fairtrade Fortnight 2020
Each year the Fairtrade Foundation organises Fairtrade Fortnight, which this year runs from 28 February to 8 March. For two weeks, thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food and drinks, and who …. (Read more)

From Matt Rodda – Caversham’s MP
As a Caversham resident, I’m honoured to have been asked to contribute to the Caversham Bridge. It is an exceptional example of a local publication that provides important updates for residents and I really enjoy reading it. As your MP, I want to ensure you get regular updates on my work …. (Read more)

Happy Wanderer – Sweet Violets
According to the old song, they were “sweeter than the roses,” and now is the time to look for them on hedge-banks and at the edges of woods. To many people, violets are just violets and ‘there’s an end to it’, but in fact there are at least nine species of wild violet in the British Isles, …. (Read more)

William Marshal Celebrated at The Temple Church
We arrived very early at the Temple Church, afraid that the church would be full and we would not be able to get in. At 5pm, the side door opened and out came a tall figure in scarlet robes, nodding to the waiting queue and smiling. He noticed that I was holding a book, the new book about William Marshal. “Ah!” he cried, “you have bought my book”. It was Robin Griffith Jones himself, the Reverend and Valiant Master of the Temple. “Where have you come from?” he said. “We’re from Caversham.” we replied …. (Read more)

Celebration of William Marshall, the Greatest Knight – 800 years Anniversary
Closing off the 800th anniversary year and completing the project for a panel on Caversham Bridge, was celebrated with a party held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on 26 November 2019. CADRA welcomed Cllr David Stevens, Deputy Mayor, Richard Bennett, Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire and Chair Reading Civic Society, donors to the project, people who had assisted the project – including RBC officers, local businesses, local Councillors and individuals and organisations who support local community activity and local history. Helen Lambert, CADRA Chair, opened by explaining …. (Read more)

Busy for Battersea
Congratulations to Beryl Jelliman from Caversham Methodist Church, who has for some time been busy knitting for the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Now Beryl has received a thank you letter from the Supporter Services at Battersea thanking her on behalf of the animals that the home takes care of on a daily basis …. (Read more)

World Peace Assembly at St Anne’s School
For a week in January, St Anne’s school focussed on the subject of PEACE. Children of all ages talked about the importance of peace between individuals and between nations and produced poems, prayers, paintings and especially paper cranes …. (Read more)

‘Britain’s housing crisis’: a talk to the Caversham Heights Society
On Wednesday 29th January, Society members were made to think about an issue of growing concern, ‘Britain’s housing crisis’, when Professor Flora Samuel from the University of Reading gave an informative, critical and challenging account of the country’s housing crisis and asked what can, or should, be done about it. Professor Samuel began by highlighting the real problems, …. (Read more)

Plans for Net Carbon Zero by 2030
“Reading Borough Council and the Environment Agency have both declared a climate emergency and plan for net carbon zero by 2030. They can adopt major changes, including pushing for government change, but getting our carbon footprint down and preparing for the expected changes in the climate requires all of us to make some effort …. (Read more)

Farewell to Alan, Doreen and Colin
On Saturday 15th February we said a final goodbye to three members of the team who produce the Caversham Bridge newspaper …. (Read more)

Hydro scheme powers forward 
A scheme to use the power of water to generate electricity from the Thames at Caversham has hit its funding target early. The Reading Sustainability Centre project realised the potential for generating hydro power at Caversham weir and applied for planning permission in 2015. Reading Hydro Community Benefit Society was formed from the Centre to drive the project forward…. (Read more)

Eco Tip – Gardeners – time to go peat free 
As spring approaches, gardeners think about planting seeds and preparing their gardens. A supply of compost is essential, so we head to the garden centre. Although peat free compost is available, most of what is available contains peat. After more than twenty years of campaigning by environmental groups and gardeners like Monty Don, we still use huge amounts of peat in our gardens …. (Read more)

Les Cooper in the garden – Slug Control
My speciality is supposed to be delphiniums and this is because I have grown them for a great many years. When people know this they often say to me “I so like delphiniums but I can never grow them because the slugs and snails always eat them up”. I nod my head in sympathy because it is absolutely true …. (Read more)

Sadie Cooke celebrates her Centenary 
For her ‘special day’ she spent time away with her extended family. On Friday 7 February Sadie hosted a mid-day celebration event at Reading Golf Club …. (Read more)

Chazey WI
Our Chazey New Year Quiz was a great way to wake us all up after weeks of over indulgence. There’s nothing quite like a series of quickfire questions to blow away the brain fog accumulated over Christmas. So “Which is the most populous city in Asia?” sounded easy. All we had to do was choose between Beijing or New Delhi, surely? Except no one in St. Andrews Hall seemed to have thought of Tokyo…. (Read more)