Reading Roars!

You are browsing the archives of 2008 July.

It’s a few days late.  Finally, I present to you a pic from the Reading Real Ale and Jazz Festival. 
The festival took place over 3 days, 16-18 July, and it was my first.  The Reading Beer and Cider Festival offered many more beers, but there was also a far longer queue to get in.  Entering [...]

Reading residents are being asked by Reading Borough Council what they think the town needs to make it a “truly cultural” city. 
Interested parties can share their views during an event held on Tuesday 29 July at Reading’s Town Hall, or alternatively submit them via the council’s website.  Ultimately, a new Cultural Strategy will be produced.
So, how can we make [...]

Fresh from sponsoring Reading FC, Waitrose are now supporting local causes. 
As part of their nationwide corporate social responsibility initiative ‘Community Matters’, Waitrose will award £12k in funding to community projects in the town (a grand a month).
The initiative launched on Monday, with the first 3 causes to share the £1k monthly donation being:

Labrador Retriever Rescue [...]

Do you ever feel like going back to the 20th century?  I know I do sometimes (1990s, that is).  Well, now you can, sort of, thanks to mid20c, a newly opened Oxford Rd retro shop.
The store sells furniture, homewares and collectables from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.  I personally like the look of their [...]

This post has been fermenting in my head for some time.  At last, here are my top 10 tips for a better train journey.  Please submit your tips.  Care and share, as they say!

Avoid the Monday morning queue(s).  These can be very long indeed at Reading Station.  Buy your ticket the day before.  Or get [...]

More desperation in credit crunchy times.  I received the following two text messages from a popular Reading gym I’d recently left (I won’t name it):
<fitness centre> want you back as a member, rejoin before the <date> & receive a ONE month contract & NO joining fee!
then
Re-join <fitness centre> by 8pm today & recieve [sic] NO joining fee, NO set [...]

The First Great Western Scrutiny Meeting was held in Reading’s elegant Old Town Hall last night.  I attended with a few scraps of paper and biro (I haven’t reached the Twitter stage yet), expecting some interesting exchanges.  I wasn’t disappointed.  It was an informative and useful session, and I hope that it won’t be the [...]

First Great Western’s Chief Operating Officer will be facing questions tomorrow evening from councillors and the public about the performance of the operator’s rail services between Reading and London. 
The Special Scrutiny Meeting on First Great Western Performance will take place at 7pm at the Old Town Hall’s Victoria Hall.
You can submit your question in writing via the [...]