Lambs Lane School invited us to share our knowledge of the local area for the school’s special day about “Local People, Local Places and Local History” on 29th March. We sorted maps, photographs and displays from our archives and research folders, and prepared a selection for the day concentrating on the area near the school and along Basingstoke Road. In the hall we arranged boards with photographs showing local buildings now and the same sites in the past, illustrating changes and development over the years. Another board had photographs of the eight infant and junior schools that have existed locally, to see if the children recognised where they were. Maps on display showed Basingstoke Road with the premises and people who lived there in 1914, when Spencers Wood was a small community with many little shops and services. The children were intrigued and asked us many questions as they visited the hall during the morning.
Back in the classrooms, the children then asked us further questions about village life and what their school (and ours) had been like. They wondered how they would manage if their only water supply was from the well on the common, and indeed how strange was a world without computers. We gave presentations showing some ancient maps of Berkshire, and early editions of the OS maps from before and after the school existed. We discussed with Years 5 and 6 how the geography (and geology and soils) of the area influenced its history and development, then we guided these children and later the children in Years 3 and 4 to draw their own maps centred on the school.
In the afternoon the junior children walked with their teachers from school to explore the village and follow the historic route up the main road. Members of our group pointed out buildings and places that were on the photographs, highlighting the changes that have happened. It was possible to pick out parts of buildings that were old and the newer additions, and to spot the use and patterns of bricks while wondering which old bricks might have been made at the kiln in the woods. We looked at the fields around the buildings and appreciated the style of some recent development.
Our group certainly enjoyed the day, and to judge by their smiles and attentiveness, the children also did. We would thank the staff for inviting us, and who knows, there may now be some budding historians or town planners among the pupils.
Patricia Green
Last month’s article requested items to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee this year and this prompted a memory of mine when I met Her Majesty, in 1968, in Queen’s Road, Reading. I had worked for the GPO and on marriage had to leave because they did not employ married women. I was given my insurance cards to take to Social Security. Each person would have a card for National Insurance stamps which were affixed weekly or monthly according to when you were paid and cancelled with a written date. These were returned to DHSS annually. A big change today, when national insurance contributions are taken at source.
Talking to the clerk there, I explained my position and she said that their new ADP department was looking for employees. My job initially, as Personal Assistant to the Head of the ADP Division of the Ministry of Social Security (Health was added later on) was to check and monitor the new building going up in Queen’s Road to accommodate an innovative computer. This venture was a joint project with the Ministry of Labour which would issue unemployment benefit and sick pay cheques.
© The Reading Evening Post
The computer, when it was built, covered the whole of the ground floor, ran on tape, was kept at a certain temperature, and was a forbidden and mysterious area for most of the personnel except the programmers who were regarded with awe. Compare this with today when I wrote this article on my home computer and paid for my nephew’s wedding present all via the ether, not necessarily needing a building to house the computer.
Naturally it was a highlight for me, to liaise with Buckingham Palace and Westminster to arrange the visit of the Queen, Prince Phillip and Mrs Judith Hart, the Minister of Social Security. I didn’t actually speak to the Queen but was proud to have been the arranger of her visit and I have the picture supplement from the local paper to remind me.
Are there any other personal Royal stories out there we could use for the Parish celebrations in June? Please let us know.
Margaret Bampton
Church Window Christmas 2010 - picture taken by Lesley Rolph
Over many years our Group has been involved with St Michaels & All Angels Church either through exhibiting at their Church Fetes, buying their superb tea & cakes at the Caf D’Active or presenting at the Junction club (see article 30 April 2011) which meets there. We also often helped at Christmas with decorating the church through putting up local pictures and decorating them. One year we were behind the choir stall.
Since December 210 we have started photographically recording our displays.
In 2010 our theme was entitled “An Edwardian Christmas” (see article in Loddon Reach January 2011) where we were given a window to dress. The Edwardian Christmas was inspired by village living and the display reflected this - in addition to the holly and other simple foliage, there was an old fashioned mixing bowl and wooden spoon, various types of nuts and pine cones, jars of sweets, an orange, brass candle stick with candle and a red and white checked cloth.
Christmas 2011 Display - picture by Lesley Rolph
In December 2011 the Church adopted the theme of “12 Days of Christmas”. The group was given “Ten Lords a Leaping” as a subject to interpret. The carol (originally French) is based, some say, on reminding Christians of their faith, with Ten Lords a leaping representing the Ten Commandments. In any event, whether true or not, we had lords a leaping in abundance.
The display was inspired by a members daughters book featuring the 12 Days of Christmas. On the display there were ten colour silhouettes of top-hatted men leaping about, an actual top hat and cane and an old hat box, a variety of colourful festive flowers in glass vases with foliage and a mini decorated Christmas tree.
Who knows what idea 2012 will bring!
The SWLHG Members responsible for the displays
We are capturing “Before” and “After” pictures of changes during the years – Do you have any pictures that you could send us? (don’t forget to date them!)
- Original Oak Lodge, The Square
- “After” – Replacement New Houses, The Square – built in early 1990′s
Recreation Road Allotments- Ron Shurville (SWAG), picture by Lesley Rolph
I received another history book for Christmas and the first items I read about were allotments and acres and as Spring is coming thought it an appropriate subject to write about. Originally, an acre could be any size that a team of oxen could plough in a day, until Edward I standardised the size to 40 rods long by 4 rods wide. A rod was 5.5 yards or 5.4 metres. The acre was measured by a chain invented by Edmund Gunter which was 22 yards long and was the standard length of a cricket pitch. A mile consists of 80 chains. Today’s allotments have evolved from the medieval villeins who cultivated strips of land in open fields and enjoyed common grazing rights in return for manorial service as part of their pay. These rights disappeared in the 16th century when the land began to be enclosed causing much distress for the peasants. They were compensated with an allotment of a pole or a rod in length, usually attached to their cottage. The garden and field behind my cottage were allotments as was Diana Close. Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross have several areas of allotments and one presumes that they were allocated when the land was enclosed in the 18th and 19th centuries. They are currently held by the Parish Council who holds an annual competition for the best one. The award, in 1999, went to A Sainsbury at Three Mile Cross with D Makepeace coming second at Recreation Road.
In 1998 the annual cost was £9 and in 2001, the cost had risen to £20 and concessionss were charged at half this cost. Today, an allotment would cost £70 in London, which is the most expensive area, the dearest outside of London is £55 at Runnymede and it is £28 at Shinfield, annually.
Chickens on Ryeish Green Allotments by Lesley Rolph
Ryeish Green School had allotments at Clares Green Road where they kept chickens. There was a Jubilee oak taken from Windsor Forest in the lane leading to Recreation Road allotments opposite Wellington Court avenue which celebrated Queen Victoria’s Diamond Anniversary, in 1897 but this was taken down when the maisonettes were built there. As this is our Queen’s 60th anniversary this year we are hoping to display some memorabilia with Shinfield History at the Parish celebrations in June and would appreciate any royal historical items that we could show.
Margaret Bampton
October 2011’s article for Loddon Reach is taken from the introduction composed by the late Barbara Debney of the Group’s first book called Our Village of Spencers Wood. The village originally lay within the boundaries of the Royal Windsor Forest. By 1300, the area of the Forest had been reduced because of a dispute between the King and the bishop of Salisbury where it was decreed “whatsoever is on the east side of the Lodona (River Loddon) in the county of Berkshire is the King’s Forest”. Roque’s map of 1761 shows Spencers Wood no longer in the Royal Forest and with the Loddon as its western boundary. Thomas Pride’s map of 1790 shows where Shinfield and Swallowfield were once partly in Wiltshire.
In the 13th century, portions of Wokingham, Hurst, Shinfield and Swallowfield were held by William Lungespe, Earl of Salisbury and were administered through his court at Amesbury in Wiltshire. In her book, Swallowfield and its Owners, Lady Russell states, “Part Lane in Swallowfield, was so called because it separated Swallowfield, Berks from Swallowfield, Wilts.” It was not until 20th October, 1844 that these areas became part of Berkshire. Until the 1860s, Spencers Wood consisted mainly of common land but in 1863 the common land was enclosed and the majority of it was acquired separately by William Merry, who lived at Highlands and Frederick Allfrey, at Stanbury.
The village evolved mainly as a ribbon development along the Basingstoke Road and some houses built in Victorian and Edwardian times can still be seen along the main road and around The Square. Most of these houses were built with bricks from the local brick kiln which was run by the Swain family.
Originally, the village lay within the boundaries of the three ecclesiastical parishes of Shinfield, Swallowfield and Grazeley. On old maps of the area, a boundary stone is shown on the main road opposite the pond and a few yards to the north of what is now Spring Gardens. This stone marked the dividing line between the ecclesiastical parishes of Shinfield and Swallowfield. In 1908, the church of St Michael and All Angels was erected and following this, in 1913, the parish boundaries were realigned and Spencers Wood became a separate ecclesiastical parish in its own right. For civil administrative purposes Spencers Wood mostly comes under Shinfield Parish although some parts come under Swallowfield, which confuses me somewhat.
In the 1880s, Spencers Wood grew rapidly; the population numbered some 600, a third of which were children, with the majority of adults working on the land or a domestic servants. A school was erected in 1890, by Frederick Allfrey, where the Library is today and closed in 1915, after the children were transferred to Lambs Lane School which had opened seven years earlier.
At the turn of the century, a new Congregational Chapel was built in 1903 on Basingstoke Road replacing the old one built in 1837, at the bottom of Chapel Lane. The Institute, no longer there, followed the next year. The village hall was erected in 1911 and celebrates its centenary this year.
The M4 arrived circa 1970 dividing the parish and was followed by the Swallowfield Bypass separating Grazeley. Since then the parish has grown extensively and there is an enquiry in October about further development which we urge residents to attend to find out what is happening to our village.
Loddon Reach October 2011.
Edward VIII in Reading
In April we received a photo of Edward VIII (not this photo) which we thought related to the Chapel in Spencers Wood. Since then, we have discovered that the Prince of Wales as he was then, had visited Reading in June 1926, after postponing his visit twice since April. He was supposed to have opened the new Caversham Bridge in April but the Mayor substituted instead. When the Prince was here, he visited Sutton’s Seed Grounds, Huntley and Palmer’s factory then Caversham Bridge. He travelled to Reading Bridge by boat and took lunch at the Town Hall. In the afternoon he visited the Co-operative Bakery, Simond’s Brewery, Huntley, Bourne and Stevens, the Royal Berkshire Hospital, the University, Reading School, and Palmer Park where he was cheered by school children before returning to Reading Station. In July, Reading was visited by King George V and Queen Alexandra to attend the Royal Show held in King’s Meadow. Edward came on the Wednesday afternoon and his intention was conveyed by telegraph. The photo relates to this.
Edward in Canada 1919
According to the Reading Chronicle, he was loudly cheered on entering the ground, Sir Gilbert Greenall, receiving His Highness at the entrance. Lord Desborough received him at the grandstand. The prince arrived in time to see the grand parade of winning cattle, which included the shorthorn bull which gained for HRH the shorthorn championship. The grandstand was crowded with spectators who loudly cheered the Royal visitor as he entered the Royal Box from where he saw the prize animals pass in procession and later witnessed the jumping and driving competitions.
The photo contains other people of which one might be the local MP for Reading, at that time, Mr H G Williams.
At the same time as the above, in the Reading Chronicle, was an article about the Reading Temperence Fete, which was held at McIlroys Sports Ground in Leibenhood Road. A parade was led by Spring Gardens Silver Prize Band, from Cheapside to the ground, and the Societies represented were BWTA Reading West, St Mary’s Castle Street, Burghfield Primitive Methodists, the IOGT, Fireside Mission, London Street Methodists, Elm Park Wesleyan, BWTA (Central) and Spencers Wood Congregational. Each group held banners and dressed in costume with prizes awarded to each group. The paper recorded the names of the prize winners; that is all except Spencers Wood which is a pity because we as a group would loved to have seen their names. The banners read, ‘We want Prohibition’ or something similar, as this was the prohibition era.
We have a few names attached to the other photo given to us by Margaret Baker showing a concert party at the Chapel in March 1921 which provided the means of purchasing a tricycle for Jack Povey.
On the back of the photo a poem reads:-
To Miss Winnie Pyke.
Our heartfull thanks to you Miss Pyke,
This troupe can now buy Jack a trike,
With everyone happy, we have the ‘tin’,
‘Tis another success, you’ve helped us ‘Win’.
Signed W A Webb.
The other signatures are P C Double, F J Benham, William H Bignall, Frank R Wilson, W G Lowe, W Booth, W Underwood, V A Allen, A F Jones, ‘Massa’ Johnston, G G Relf, S G Double, F H Double, Jack Povey and C S Double junior.
It would be good for us to identify these people and we will have the photos at St Michael’s Fete (9th July) and the Carnival (17th September) at which we will be exhibiting.
Margaret Bampton.
One of our members, Margaret Bampton, recently came across an old photo album in an antique shop. The seller assured her that it was from a family who came from the Shinfield area & so we’re posting some of the pictures in the hope that we can identify some people!
This one has a sign in the field saying "Robert Veitch & Son Ltd"
There are many that appear to be taken during WWII. We do know that Spencers Wood provided soldiers billeting facilities at Stanbury Park and there are Royal Engineers based in Arborfield. It does appear though that some of these men are of different nationalities – perhaps they are prisoners of war? 
You might recognise some of the buildings? 
There are a number of the same man that appears to be convalescing, and since there are pictures of nurses that would seem to be logical.
There are also a few of some girls enjoying a day out at the seaside – you might recognise the seafront!
A word about “Robert Veitch & Sons Ltd” – either they were a gardening dynasty who ran businesses in London and Devon, and funded the Wellingtonia (although the name was actually given by botanist John Lindley). The company was bought by Sutton & Sons in Reading in 1913 OR Is Veitch your family surname and do you recognise any of these people? If you can give us any clues, please respond to the blog!
On Wednesday 20 April (the third Wednesday of the month), our Group was invited to give a talk to the Junction Club, held at Caf’ Active at St Michael and All Angels. We began by giving an overview of who we are and what we do. This was followed by the main part of our talk, given by Lesley Rolph, who revisited, ‘A Walk by Cecil Prior’, which originally featured in our first book, ‘Our Village of Spencers Wood’. The members of the Junction Club were relieved to know that they were not required to leave their seats for the walk, but instead just listen to details about the 25 interesting features that Cecil Prior referred to on his walk through the village starting at Lambs Lane Primary School and finishing at Ryeish Green School. The talk was accompanied by a large board illustrating the route and a number of photographs both past and present. The final section of our talk was given by Margaret Bampton, one of the original members of the Group, who shared some of her researching techniques and experiences. Jackie Blow, also from the Spencers Wood Local History Group, displayed a variety of photographs and documents for everyone to examine after a refreshing cup of tea and a delicious slice of cake.
A Street Party in The Square
On the day a commoner, Catherine Middleton, married into the Royal Family, the commoners in “The Square” partied in celebration!
- The Royal Couple
Louize Bovey and a group of helpers had applied for the road to be closed, and tables and chairs began to appear early on. The bunting came out the night before and before you knew it, the street was decorated! Flags were up on houses, cakes were baked, and champagne chilled.
- Royal cupcakes!
The organisation was military!
We all sat down to watch the service in our own houses and privately shed a tear. Then slowly, residents past and present, spilled onto the street to eat and be merry – a real sense of community!
The Local Spencers Wood History Group has two current residents Jackie Blow and Jeannie Brice, who are researching the history for their new book.
- The Party In Full Swing!
The Square is one of the oldest roads in Spencers Wood. The part from Hyde End Road was originally called “Headley Road” and the other end, from Basingstoke Road, “New Road”. Originally The Square had only 15 houses with only names, although there has been a lot more development since then.
The Group had also produced a display with more interesting facts and pictures of the history and houses, which drew comments, interest, and more material for the book.
- The History of The Square
Anyone for the Diamond Jubilee – 2nd-5th June 2012?