Reading Roars!

Johnny Arrow talked in the last post about the hidden histories of Reading, and the way that distinctive, regional stories and buildings nestle behind the ubiquitous chain-stores that characterise what the nef report has dubbed ‘Britain’s Clone Towns.’

Unfortunately the link to the free PDF file for the report ‘Reimagining the high street‘ doesn’t appear to be working, but one thing that seems fairly straightforward to comprehend, is that patronising local, Independent stores in our town will mean that those businesses tucked between coffee-chains, stationery giants and bargaineous High Street retail outlets will survive, so that we can continue to appreciate them in the under-celebrated, not-so-touristy manner that Johnny Arrow describes.

Which is why I was so excited to see this, whilst standing outside Jackson’s of Reading, waiting for the no. 17 bus.

Jackson's knitted cake, created by the Outcasts

You won’t see this in any other town in Britain!

One of Reading’s best-kept secrets in my opinion is Jackson’s of Reading. From the still operating change-chute at the front desk to the wall-to-wall wood panelling, it retains a charming, understated splendour, and a timeless range of products that remains relevant, for who does not need pins, umbrellas, handkerchiefs and a sensible pair of gloves for Winter? The gentle hubbub of staff chatting to each other can be heard as one drifts from room to room surveying the fine ties in the menswear section of the store, or the treasuretrove that is its needlework department. There is no music blasting from speakers to distract you, and the warm smell of the good wood that lines its walls is a great comfort when one steps in off the street. Civilised, regional, distinctive, it holds the rare distinction of being run by descendants of its original founder, and there is no place quite like it in the whole world. This year, Jacksons is celebrating its 135th Anniversary and one of several local knitting groups – the Outcasts of Reading – have partnered up with them to produce this stunning window display featuring a knitted birthday cake.

I interviewed Suzanne Stallard – one of the talents behind the project:

1. There is a big knitted cake in the window of Jackson’s! It has many candles on it… why is it there?

We were asked to work in partnership as part of Heritage Open Days weekend event. The Outcasts are based at Jelly and are quite adventurous knitters, and we thought it would be great to partner up with Jackson’s which is Reading’s oldest family run department store. When we heard we could work wherever we liked too, we knew it had to be haberdashery. We have an affinity with cake, it is important to us, everyone needs a good birthday cake and Jacksons were very deserving at having reached such a significant birthday. The target was 135 candles, one for each year but we doubled the number created so it can be used for many years to come.

many, many candles

2. There is also a banner in the window display which says OUTCASTS; who are the outcasts and where can I read more about them?

The Outcasts are a bunch of renegade knitters based in Reading. We are a mixture of all ages from 12 to 84 and have met up every Wednesday evening since 2003 for knitting, tea & cake. We are an active group taking part in many local public knitting events. More info on the outcasts can be found here http://theoutcasts.co.uk

3. I also noticed a sign that said ‘come inside and knit a candle’ can I really do that and if so, how does it work? Who do I speak to in the shop?

We were running a series of 4 workshops in the store where you could come and make a cake but they ended on Saturday however you can still knit your own birthday candle by visiting the outcasts website or http://alabamawhirly.com – who is the pattern designer – and download a free pattern. There are some printed patterns available in Jacksons if you want to pop in and ask the ladies in the wool department.

4. How can people get involved in future knitting events like this?

You can join the outcasts mailing list by signing up here http://theoutcasts.co.uk/do-you-want-to-speak-to-us/ or sending us an email to info@theoutcasts.co.uk

5. How long will the amazing cake be there?

It will be there for one week, as you know it is wrong to over indulge in cake-goodness but it will be stored and may make surprise appearances again

6. What does Jackson’s of Reading mean to you?

Jacksons is a store of surprises, it has the most obscure items alongside style icons – yes, believe it they have a comprehensive range to suit everyone. It is a part of my Reading history, where my school uniform came from, where I thought only older people went but now it means a store of secret stairways, interesting items, shoppers bargains and surprising art events. We should all be using it to make sure we keep it for the future and don’t forget they have the only working pneumatic payment system left in the UK, that’s a good reason to spend your shiny gold there.

shiny crocheted gold and Jackson's shopping bag

Matt wrote at the end of last month asking how Reading should rebrand itself and appeal to the wider world in a more exciting way, and attempt to ditch the ‘clone town’ image with which it is sometimes tagged. 

I think even the most devoted defender of our town can admit that this description is at least partially deserved, you just have to look at the shop fronts of Broad and Queen Victoria Streets to see them as either identikit national brands, or miserable, uncared-for bargain basement eyesores. But look up – the unmistakeable red and gold brick first and second floors, with their pointy turrets and carved fascias point towards a more important and interesting history than at first there would appear. 

The Abbey was one of the most important monasteries in Middle Age Britain before it’s power was seized by good old Henry VIII, and now it sits in quiet humility hidden between the beautiful Forbury Gardens and the Prison – yet another historically important landmark, having housed Oscar Wilde who wrote his Ballad of Reading Gaol after being contained there.

There are also plenty of stories of war, such as the important battle between the Saxons and the Vikings which was fought where the rivers Kennet and Thames meet, over near where the gasworks now stand to the East of the town. And the battle of Broad Street which was the only military encounter during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. 

I’m not going to go on – I’m not a local history expert and I’m not attempting to educate anyone here. 

Besides, you probably know all this if you’re a Reading resident and if you’ve taken an interest in your town, but one thing I’ve noticed since living here is that none of this history is cashed in on, or shouted about. People don’t generally come to Reading to see these things because they’re not told about them. And personally, I like it that way.

Look at towns like Oxford, whose streets are swarming with tourists and tour guides, whose local shops have been replaced with gift shops and novelties. Who trade on their past and their traditions. Whose whole image is defined by its – admittedly impressive – forefathers.

I much prefer the fact that I can wander through Forbury Gardens and under the Gatehouse. Down to the Holy Brook – created by monks by diverting the Kennet towards their Abbey’s walls so that it would power their mill – and quietly contemplate the fate of Oscar Wilde, housed behind the red brick wall of the Gaol. All this without being jostled and bothered by map reading tourists and bored kids trailing their anorak’d parents.

Reading’s history keeps a dignified silence, there for those who care enough to find it. That’s the fate it deserves.

Anyone wandering around Reading may have noticed this curious spectacle of PEEPSHOW in the window of the now-derelict Long Tall Sally shop, opposite the Town Hall.

Step closer and you will find tiny worlds and surprises tucked behind each of the peeping holes. Some of the things appear connected, some seem more random, some make you laugh, some surprise you, but whatever you think about what you see as you peek in, you have to admit that this is not what you expected to see on your way to work or to the train station.

PEEPSHOW is an exhibition by arjeea21; a group of mostly Reading-based artists who meet every month at the Jelly Legg’d Chicken workshop in the Town Hall to plan shows in and around Reading. I remember a striking exhibition organised by this same organisation in December 2008, in the now empty Gallery 10 on Gun Street. My favourite work at the arjeea21 show was called Curation Play, and involved a miniature gallery with moveable elements that could be reorganised freely into whatever you liked.

The Jelly Legg’d Chicken negotiated the use of Gallery 10 for many groups of artists during 2008 – 2009. I went to a few shows there and showed work myself around this time last year, and it was really exciting to have a gallery in town that unknown or emerging artists could afford to show work in.

But Gallery 10 and the Long Tall Sally shop are just a couple of examples in a long series of empty buildings in Reading that Jelly has negotiated for use by artists. The history of Jelly is long and rich, and wherever Jelly have been, exciting stuff has happened in Reading. Stuff which – like PEEPSHOW or Gallery 10 – was fresh and new and rootsy, coming straight out of the vibrant creative community that lives in this town.

The Jelly Legg’d Chicken was founded by Suzanne Stallard in 1993 and first lived on Gun Street in the building that now houses Lakeland plastics. Exhibitions were shown there every 2 weeks and artists were charged a small amount to show their work there, but the space made no commission on sales which meant that young or emerging artists could afford to show their work there.

In 1997, Jelly moved to Broad Street, to what is now the building with Coffee Republic in it. The Jelly Legg’d Chicken was also formally incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation. At Broad Street there were 12 studios in the building. Artists paid either in kind or with money for the use of these spaces, while money was also raised for the rent by art classes and the proceeds from the cafe in the building.

In 1999 when The Oracle was being built, Jelly managed to negotiate a deal with the builders and planners, for a lease that let them rent the enormous space that is now STRADA for £30,000 per year. By running the space in a more commercial way and putting on yet more classes and exhibitions, and by working 10am – 8pm most days, the rent just about got paid. But when the lease terms were renegotiated with much higher, commercial rates, Jelly was forced to relocate.

In 2004, The Jelly Legg’d Chicken moved to the Town Hall, where it has remained up until today, continuing to support local artists and negotiate the use of spaces for exhibition and studio purposes. Artist groups who use the Jelly workshop include the outcast knitting group, the hang on artists and arjeea21. As well as this, Jelly still offers a range of creative classes and acts as a bookable space that artists who want to put on workshops or study days can afford to rent.

But perhaps as important as these tangible services, is the hub-like quality of the Jelly Legg’d Chicken. At the moment, artists who need to talk to each other pass through the same space and get chatting to each other, or are put in contact with one another by arch-networker, Suzanne Stallard. Without a central space used by all these artists’ groups, such groups will recede back into people’s living rooms and random bars around town, invisible to one another, and isolated. Having a central place that is used by all these artists groups puts them in touch with one another, and this sense of community and network is absolutely vital if we are to have a vibrant, colourful, thriving creative scene in Reading.

However, the work of all the groups mentioned above will be compromised after 1st March, which is the date that the Jelly Legg’d Chicken has been ordered to vacate the Town Hall by. Reading Council apparently want to use the space instead as a gallery, because they believe that in this way they can reach more people. But I want to know more about this plan. I would like to know, for instance, what provisions will be made for emerging artists, what kind of prices artists will be expected to pay in order to use the space, and who will curate the shows and decide what kind of Art to show in Reading.

So with Jelly looking like a basically homeless organisation, and the Council hatching plans for some kind of future gallery space, I wonder if curious, strange, exciting shows like PEEPSHOW will continue to be a part of our urban scenery, or whether they will be replaced by something blander, more ubiquitous, less distinctive, less difficult and less exciting. Something perhaps, like STRADA, or Lakeland Plastics, or Coffee Republic?

If you want to support Art in Reading, there are a number of things you can do;

• Click the links from the Jelly blog, browse through the hang on artists blog, check out the arjeea21 website and find out what people are making – all the time – in this town!
• Leave comments on posts about Art – interact with it and say what you think
• Go to the Sunday Art Market at the Oakford Social Club and buy work directly from artists there
• Buy a cup of coffee in Moondogs cafe before it closes down
• Watch this video that was made by Reading artist, Peter Montford, in Moondogs Cafe
• Go to the Arts Forum meeting this coming Tuesday (9th February 2010) at 7pm at The Kennet Room, Civic Offices, all welcome

And remember to look in those peepholes next time you walk by Long Tall Sally.