Reading

Reading on London’s west side was our base for exploring London and the surrounding area.   It was selected for its easy train access to Royal Ascot and being much less expensive than London.   Despite being a suburb it has an urban feel to it.  Our flat is over a tailor shop on a side street in the central business district.    Each day we are serenaded by street artists on the High Street, which is closed to traffic.   It’s a great location with lots of food options, a mall with riverside restaurants and our favorite grocer, Marks & Spencer. 

High Street

High Street

Cross St with our flat far down on the left

WW I monument with neat building pointing above lions head

We like to explore our first day so its time for a walk.   We enter the Oracle mall at the end of our block and come out the other side at River Kennet.  Then downstream past low rise housing flats until we reach the river Thames where its more wooded and we start to encounter people living on canal boats. 

As part of one of our further walks, we explored the Reading Abbey Ruins.  It was the fourth largest Cathedral when completed in the 12 Century and is the burial site of King Henry I and was opened by Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1164.  (History of the Abbey here) 

Amazing how thick the walls were

Reading Abby Ruins

I take advantage of every opportunity to get on the water, so a River Thames Cruise to Goring was a must.  We traveled passed million+ dollar homes, a 5 square mile estate, rowing clubs and riverside restaurants.  The unexpected thing were WW II pillboxes.   The Stop Line Red along with others were established after Dunkirk.  They used natural barriers like the river Thames to delay German tanks as the last line of defense should the Germans invade.    It consisted of pill boxes along the river bank, some of which remain today. 

MV Caversham Lady is a fine vessel

Even the smallest home was valued over a million

Only restaurant we spotted before Goring

Approaching one of two locks we traversed

A privately built toll bridge

WW II era Pillbox, now a graffiti canvas

Isambard Brunel’s work appears again

Just needs a mast

We went ashore at Goring-at-Thames, ‘South of England village of the year.’  Our first stop was The Miller for lunch.   We are now 3 for 3 having very good meals at places who designate themselves as ‘Restaurants with Beds.’   After lunch we explored town until it was time to board for our return journey.

The thatch was very thick and covered in chicken wire

On our second and last Sunday in Reading we were able to attend a Catholic church that was partially built upon the ruins of the Abbey.