Along the Oxford Road, Reading

From the age of eight until I was ten I attended Oxford Road Primary School and have happy memories of being there before we moved again to East Reading  My parents and I had moved from out of the borough in Earley to live in a flat above a bakery shop further towards the town centre.  The row of shops was demolished many years ago to make way for an hotel now redeveloped as the Penta Hotel.  

I've included some random photos from recent walks along this main thoroughfare. 

It was interesting to see the children's artwork displayed on the fence.

There are many shops and supermarkets that are very convenient as they're close to where our daughter lives. We went to the newish Supermarket (above) which has Polish owners and there's a great delicatessen section with lots of different cheeses, cooked meats which interested Mr P.  We came away with nigella seeds for cake and bread making and different packets of dried pasta for making soup.

An inconvenience at the moment is the waiting times for traffic under the railway bridge by a train station as contractors are putting down broadband cables under the road and it's taking weeks to complete a small section. The temporary traffic lights seem to stay on stop for about ten minutes before they change to go. While we were in Reading we found other routes in order to avoid driving into the Oxford Road.

 

Our first house as a married couple was a new build in a new road further down the Oxford Road so I know the area well even though many of the shops have changed hands over the years.

On the walks I noticed a few of the old references to former businesses such as the one on the wall above which I think must refer to a firm called Jackson's.  They had a large department store in town, now closed. The frontage was called Jackson's Corner.  It was old fashioned, but I used to get our children's school uniform there or haberdashery items. I've spotted it on a television drama series that needed an authentic 1950s, 1960s period setting.  

 

There have been many changes over the years.  Cow Lane, for example, was once a rural shortcut down to the river when I was a child.  We could walk through a meadow to get to the river path which is now Thameside Promenade.  One afternoon Daughter D and I walked from her house to Cow Lane so that I could see another mural on the wall of a building which apparently is a dairy depot.

Drivers wanted - another sign of the times since there's been a shortage of van drivers lately.  The traffic can be heavy here as the road is a route back into Caversham Road or across the river via Caversham Bridge.

Finally, Greyfriars Church, which we attended at one time, has undergone a makeover since our last visit with a new welcome area.  

Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely weekend!