Reading...

"The only good thing about Reading, is that it is so quick and easy to get to London" (Reading resident)

A while ago, I suggested this large town, (bid for city status turned down) with its three MPs, as a place to photograph, to a good friend. Awkward silence, then laughter (or maybe I imagined that last bit...)

With train fare and journey time, with one change, about the same as getting to Winchester, (but further away) it was certainly a viable proposition. No, not as obvious, no flocks of millions of tourists either, but surely worth one solitary exploration trip?

Having been stuck outside Reading's brand new and impressive station for twenty minutes when I went to Oxford last time, I was intrigued by this mega construction site and spurned on by BBC South and Meridian TV News, much publicity around this - and other aspects of Reading, such as their buses run on cow farts (methane) and many interesting buildings that I have now seen in the flesh.

Despite the hanging around for an hour until I could find anywhere that served a cooked breakfast and it being about the worst I've ever endured (coffee was plain awful with a taste that could strip engine grease - and complaint met with 'and what do you expect ME to do about it?!') and the incessant dull drab and at times drizzly grey, Reading eventually got better and better.

Shopping is its forte, The Oracle Shopping Centre tempting even an avid anti shopper like me inside and the best, most spacious HMV, ever, where the late BB King, Bryan Ferry and the DVD about Alan Turing were all purchased. And an even rarer beast these days, yes, a Jessops!! Had a little play with the Sigma Art 30mm f1.4 and quite a chat too.

History

Just because Reading has little visible history, that doesn't mean it hasn't got any, cos it's got TONS! Thank one King Henry VIII for much of this disappearance. I so happened to pick about the only one day when a big historical open day was in full swing, with colourful barges on the Kennet Canal, which runs right through the town centre. But best of all was that the ruins of Reading Abbey were open for small groups.

I had read about this so very important Abbey (sixth richest and most important in Northern Europe, the original Abbey would have been the size of Norwich or Gloucester Cathedrals, where Parliament duties outside of London would have been undertaken. But, the websites neglected to state that these ruins have been closed to the public for many many years, as they are crumbling and are just too unsafe.

So much so, we had to don building site hard hats and keep 100s of yards from these crumbling walls. Our group had the guy who was the head bloke at Reading Museum and what an interesting slant he gave us. All put into context, with illustrative literature. A couple of Reading residents, who had lived there all their lives had no idea about the place. Reading gaol, where one Oscar Wilde was famously incarcerated was just behind the hedge we had our backs to. The tour was free, with no collection buckets either, but you did have to book your slot in advance. The Museum IS looking to raise a fair bit of dosh to make the place safe and to get it open, properly, one day.

So, my Blip isn't of crumbly ruins, which, to be honest, look like a fair few other crumbly ruins. It's of the main concourse of Reading 'new' station. With yes, just two people on the escalators....

Big thanks to ALL, for everything on my white cat Blip, yesterday!