Reading
Reading maps (2 available)
Map of Berkshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Reading books (10 available)
- 8 photos on Reading appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Reading
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Reading and Berkshire
Reading memories
Read and share memories of Reading and Berkshire inspired by Frith photos
Rowing
I think this boathouse was where the Reading Working Men's Rowing Club was based. I remember boys from the Forest Grammar School rowing on the river here and the extraordinary pain in your arms as you rowed the last few strokes of a race!
Contributed by John Buck
Reading Miniature Railway
This railway ran along Thamesside Promenade in the 1940s and 1950s. It was operated by Harold Judd. The line runs between chain-link fencing and an iron fence, and the train, approaching the camera, carries a number of children. There were apparently two 10 1/4" gauge lines.
Reading 1949
My Grandfather Blaskett ( my mother Sylvia was the second daughter of his second wife) owned property in Reading and was a spec builder and for a while our family lived at 24 Bath Road. He had a property I think before the War called Rotherham Grange but I don't know where in Reading it was. I will be over in England in September (I live in Sydney, Australia) and hope to find Rotherham Grange. If anyone can help me I would be very grateful. During the war years our family lived with him at his country property called Cherry Elyot. Bette Schoots (nee Miller).
Contributed by Bette Schoots
Huntley & Palmers
This picture shows the factory of Huntley & Palmers - the biscuit makers who were one of the largest employers in Reading in the 20th Centrury. Presumably the photo was taken at the end of a working day with the workers streaming out of the factory? Palmer Park was named after one of the founders of this firm.
Contributed by John Buck
Extracts From Reading & Berkshire books
This is Forbury Gardens. The scene is dominated by a colossal cast iron lion weighing 16 tons, erected to
commemorate 300 men of the Royal Berkshire Regiment who died in the Afghan campaigns of 1879-80.
An extract from from"Berkshire Photographic Memories".
An extract from from"Berkshire Photographic Memories".
An exceptionally rewarding High Victorian church and typical of Woodyer, Christ Church was built in 1861-62 and
enlarged in 1874. It is large and imposing, with a north-west porch steeple of Early English style. The crockets of the
gable over the porch entrance have remained uncarved.
An extract from from"Berkshire Churches Photographic Memories".
Two years before this photograph was taken, Reading Corporation was
persuaded that Prospect Park should be bought ‘for the benefit of weary
workers who, when at rest, need some open space where communion
with nature may be established’.
An extract from from"Berkshire Pocket Album".
Two years before this
photograph was taken,
Reading Corporation was
persuaded that Prospect
Park should be bought
‘for the benefit of weary
workers who, when at
rest, need some open
space where
communion with nature
may be established’.
Francis Frith’s Berkshire
An extract from from"Berkshire Photographic Memories".