Reading, Berkshire

Name	Reading
Settlement type	Town & Borough
Motto	A Deo et ReginaWith God and Queen
Blank emblem type	Coat of Arms of Reading Borough Council
Map caption	Reading shown within England
Dot x	|dot_y =
Pushpin map
Pushpin label position
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates region	GB
Subdivision type	Sovereign state
Subdivision name	United Kingdom
Subdivision type1
Subdivision name1	England
Subdivision type2	Region
Subdivision name2	South East England
Subdivision type3
Subdivision name3	Berkshire
Subdivision type4	Admin HQ
Subdivision name4	Reading
Established title	Settled
Established date	871 or earlier
Established title2	Town Status
Established date2	1086 or earlier
Government type	Unitary authorities
Leader title	Governing bodies
Leader name	Reading Borough Council, but also including parts of Wokingham Borough and West Berkshire
Unit pref	Metric
Population as of
Population total	232,662 (Ranked 21st in UK)
Population density km2	4203
Population blank1 title	Borough
Population blank1	(Ranked )
Population density blank1 km2
Population blank2 title	Ethnicity
Population blank2	82.0% White (74.2% White British)8.4% South Asian4.3 % Black 2.7% Mixed Race1.1% Chinese1.5% Other
Population demonym	ReadingensianReadingite
Timezone	GMT
Utc offset	+0
Timezone dst	BST
Utc offset dst	+1
Elevation m	61
Postal code type	Postal Code
Postal code	RG
Area code	0118
Twin1	Düsseldorf
Twin1 country	Germany (since 1988)
Twin2	Clonmel
Twin2 country	Ireland (since 1994)
Twin3	San Francisco Libre
Twin3 country	Nicaragua (since 1994)
Twin4	Speightstown
Twin4 country	Barbados (since 2003)
Blank name	Grid Ref.
Blank info
Blank1 name	ONS code
Blank1 info	00MC
Blank2 name
Blank2 info	GB-RDG
Blank3 name	NUTS 3
Blank3 info	UKJ11
Website	reading.gov.uk

Reading ( ) is a large town and unitary authority area in England, located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London within the commuter belt. The town's urban population is 232,662 (2001 Census) with the Borough of Reading having a population of 145,700 (2008 est.) and conurbation of the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area with a population of 335,757 (1991 est.). For ceremonial purposes it is in the Royal County of Berkshire and has served as the county town since 1867, previously sharing with Abingdon.

The first evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, when the town came to be known as Readingum. The name probably comes from the Readingas, an Anglo-Saxon tribe whose name means Reada's People in Old English, or less probably the Celtic Rhydd-Inge, meaning Ford over the River. The town has been famous for the Three B's of beer (Simonds Brewery), biscuits (Huntley and Palmers), bulbs (Suttons Seeds). The demonym for a person from Reading is Readingensian, synonymous with the local Rugby team Redingensians based in Sonning and former members of Reading School or Readingite. The Reading accent is a mixture of Cockney and West Country.

Reading was an important centre in the medieval period, as the site of an important monastery with strong royal connections. Today it remains a commercial centre, with links to information technology and insurance. Reading hosts a university and a large student population. It is also home to one of England's biggest music festivals.

History

Reading may have existed as early as the Roman occupation of Britain, possibly as a trading port for Calleva Atrebatum. In late 870 an army of Danes invaded the then kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when they retreated to winter quarters in London. After the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror gave land in and around Reading to his foundation of Battle Abbey. In its 1086 Domesday Book listing, the town was explicitly described as a borough. The presence of six mills is recorded, with four on land belonging to the king and two on the land given to Battle Abbey. Reading played a significant role during the Revolution of 1688: the second Battle of Reading was the only substantial military action of the campaign.

by Joseph Farington in 1793]] The 18th century saw the beginning of a major iron works in the town and the growth of the brewing trade for which Reading was to become famous. Reading's trade benefited from better designed turnpike roads which helped it establish its location on the major coaching routes from London to Oxford and the West Country. In 1723, despite considerable local opposition, the Kennet Navigation opened the River Kennet to boats as far as Newbury. This opposition stopped when it became apparent that the new route benefited the town. After the opening of the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1810, one could go by barge from Reading to the Bristol Channel. From 1714, and probably earlier, the role of county town for Berkshire was shared between Reading and Abingdon.

, Broad Street looking westwards, c. 1890]] During the 19th century, the town grew rapidly as a manufacturing centre. The Great Western Railway arrived in 1841, followed by the South Eastern Railway in 1849 and the London and South Western Railway in 1856. The Summer Assizes were moved from Abingdon to Reading in 1867, effectively making Reading the sole county town of Berkshire, a decision that was officially approved by the Privy Council in 1869. The town became a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888.

The town continued to expand in the 20th century, annexing Caversham across the River Thames in Oxfordshire in 1911. The Lower Earley development, built in 1977, was one of the largest private housing developments in Europe. It extended the urban area of Reading as far as the M4 motorway, which acts as the southern boundary of the town. Further housing developments have increased the number of modern commuter houses in the surrounding parts of Reading, and shopping hypermarkets. The local shopping centre, The Oracle, built in 1999, is named after the 17th century Oracle workhouse, which once occupied a small part of the site. It provides three storeys of shopping and boosted the local economy by providing 4,000 jobs.

Government

Local government for the town of Reading is principally provided by the Borough of Reading, a single level unitary authority without civil parishes. However some of the outer suburbs are in West Berkshire and Wokingham unitary authorities. In both those cases, the suburbs also form part of civil parishes.

Reading has elected at least one Member of Parliament to every Parliament since 1295. Historically Reading was represented by the members for the Parliamentary Borough of Reading, and the parliamentary constituencies of Reading, Reading North, and Reading South. Reading and its surrounding area is currently divided between the parliamentary constituencies of Reading East and Reading West. The whole of the town is within the multi-member South East England European constituency.

Reading is the site of both a Crown Court, administering criminal justice, and a County Court, responsible for civil cases. Lesser matters are dealt with in a local Magistrates' Court.

Borough of Reading

Reading has had some degree of local government autonomy since 1253 when the local merchant guild was granted a royal charter. Since then the town has been run by a borough corporation, as a county borough, and as a district of Berkshire. The Borough of Reading became a unitary authority area in 1998 when Berkshire County Council was abolished under the Banham Review, and is now responsible for all aspects of local government within the borough.

Prior to the 16th century, civic administration for the town of Reading was situated in the Yield Hall, a guild hall situated by the River Kennet near today's Yield Hall Lane. After a brief stay in what later became Greyfriars' Church, the town council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the refectory of the Hospitium of St John, the former hospitium of Reading Abbey. This was to remain the site of Reading's civic administration through the successive rebuilds that eventually created today's Town Hall, for some 400 years up to the 1970s. In 1976, Reading Borough Council moved to the new Civic Centre.

The government of the Borough of Reading follows the leader and cabinet model. Following the 2011 local elections, a Labour minority administration replaced the previous Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition on the casting vote of the mayor. The borough also has a, largely ceremonial, mayor. In 2011-12 this position is held by Councillor Deborah Edwards.

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City status

Reading is one of the largest urban areas in the United Kingdom without city status. The application for city status is politically controversial, with some groups of residents strongly opposed, while others support the bid. The borough council has bid for city status on two occcasions—in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium and Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee in 2002—but these bids were unsuccessful. On 27 May 2011 the council submitted its bid for city status celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee with the final decision in Spring 2012.

Geography

during the 2007 floods at the riverside level of The Oracle]] Reading is due west of Central London, southeast of Oxford, east of Bristol, and north of the English south coast. The centre of Reading is on a low ridge between the Rivers Thames and Kennet close to their confluence, reflecting the town's history as a river port. Just above the confluence, the Kennet cuts through a narrow steep-sided gap in the hills forming the southern flank of the Thames flood plain. The absence of a floodplain on the Kennet in this defile enabled the development of wharves.

As Reading has grown, its suburbs have spread to the west between the two rivers into the foothills of the Berkshire Downs, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to the south and south-east on the south side of the Kennet, and to the north of the Thames into the Chiltern Hills. Outside the central area, the floors of the valleys containing the two rivers remain largely unimproved floodplain. Apart from the M4 curving to the south there is only one road across the Kennet floodplain. All other routes between the three built-up areas are in the central area, which is a cause of road congestion there.

The floodplains adjoining Reading's two rivers are subject to occasional flooding. However, in the 2007 United Kingdom Floods no properties were affected by flooding from the Thames and only four properties were affected by flooding from the River Kennet.

Definition

Depending on the definition adopted, neither the town nor the urban area are necessarily coterminous with the borough. Historically, the town of Reading was smaller than the borough. Definitions include the old ecclesiastical parishes of the churches of St Mary, St Laurence and St Giles, or the even smaller pre-19th century borough.

Besides the town centre, Reading comprises a number of suburbs and other districts, both within the borough itself and within the surrounding urban area. The names and location of these suburbs are in general usage but, except where some of the outer suburbs correspond to civil parishes, there are no formally defined boundaries. The borough itself is unparished, and the wards used to elect the borough councillors generally ignore the accepted suburbs and use invented ward names.

Reading has its own subregional catchment area, incorporating the suburban districts of Earley and Woodley and the surrounding towns of Wokingham, Bracknell, Henley-on-Thames and Twyford, plus large villages such as Pangbourne, Theale, Winnersh, Burghfield and Shiplake.

Climate

As with the rest of the United Kingdom, Reading benefits from a maritime climate, with limited seasonal temperature ranges, and generally moderate rainfall throughout the year. The nearest official Met Office weather station is located at the Reading University Atmospheric Observatory on the Whiteknights Campus, recording atmospheric measurements and meteorological observations since 1970. The absolute maximum temperature of was recorded during August 1990. The absolute minimum temperature of was recorded during January 1982.

Demography

The borough has a population of and a population density of |/sqkm|/sqmi|0}} (),

According to 2009 estimates, 82.0% of the population were described as White (74.2% White British), 8.4% as South Asian, 4.3 % as Black, 2.7% Mixed Race, 1.1% as Chinese and 1.5% as other ethnic group. Reading has a large Polish community, evidance of this includes the Church of the Sacred Heart in Reading which has been Polish for over 30 years and in October 2006 the Reading Chronicle printed 5,000 copies of a Polish edition called the Kronika Reading.

Economy

Reading is an important commercial centre in Southern England and is often referred to as the commercial capital of the Thames Valley. The town hosts the headquarters of British companies and the UK offices of foreign multinationals, as well as being a major retail centre.

Industry and commerce

campus in Thames Valley Business Park]] Major companies ING Direct, Yell Group, BG Group have their headquarters in Reading. The insurance company Prudential has an administration centre in the town, whilst PepsiCo and Holiday Inn have offices. As with most major cities, Reading also has offices of the big 4 accounting firms Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young and KPMG. Reading has a significant historical involvement in the information technology industry, largely as a result of the early presence in the town of sites of International Computers Limited and Digital. Microsoft and Oracle have campuses in the town. Other technology companies with a significant presence in the town include Agilent Technologies, Cisco, Ericsson, Harris Corporation, Intel, Nvidia, SGI, Symantec, Verizon Business, Websense, These companies are distributed around Reading or just outside the borough boundary, some in business parks including Thames Valley Business Park, GreenPark Business Park, Arlington Business Park.

Retail

Reading town centre is a major shopping centre in the region. In 2007 an independent poll placed Reading in the top ten retail destinations in the UK. The main shopping street Broad Street, which was pedestrianised in 1995. Broad Street is anchored at its east and west ends respectively by The Oracle and Broad Street Mall enclosed shopping centres. The smaller Friars Walk in Friar Street is derelict and will be demolished if proposed the Station Hill redevelopment project goes ahead. There are three major department stores in Reading: John Lewis Reading (formerly known as Heelas), Debenhams and House of Fraser. The booksellers Waterstone's have two branches in Reading. Their Broad Street branch is of interest, as it is a conversion of a nonconformist chapel dating from 1707. Besides the two major shopping malls, Reading has three smaller shopping arcades, the Bristol and West Arcade, Harris Arcade and The Walk, which contain smaller specialist stores. An older form of retail facility is represented by Union Street, popularly known as Smelly Alley, Reading has no indoor market, but there is a street market at Hosier Street, a farmers' market operates on two Saturdays a month.

Culture

2007]] As the largest town in the region Reading is a centre for culture. Every year Reading hosts the Reading Festival, which has been running since 1971. The festival takes place on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. For some twenty years up until 2006, Reading was also known for its WOMAD Festival. The Reading Beer Festival was first held in 1994, and has now grown to one of the largest beer festivals in the UK. It is held at King's Meadow for the 4 days immediately preceding the May Day Bank Holiday every year.

Located on the south side of Friar Street once stood the Frank Matcham designed Royal County Theatre, built in 1895. In 1937 it was destroyed by fire. Reading theatre venues include The Hexagon and 21 South Street. Amateur theatre venues in Reading include Progress Theatre, a self-governing, self-funding theatre group and registered charity founded in 1947 that operates and maintains its own 97-seat theatre.

Cultural references

, where Jane Austen went to school]] Reading's best known literary connection is with Oscar Wilde, who was imprisoned in Reading Gaol from 1895-97. While he was there he wrote De Profundis. After his release he lived in exile in France and wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, based on his experience of an execution carried out in Reading Gaol whilst he was imprisoned there. Other authors lived in and around Reading. Jane Austen attended Reading Ladies Boarding School, based in the Abbey Gateway, in 1784–86. Mary Russell Mitford lived in Reading for a number of years and then spent the rest of her life just outside the town at Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. Ricky Gervais, who is from Reading, made a film Cemetery Junction although filmed elsewhere in the UK, is set in 1970s Reading and is named after a busy junction in East Reading.

Media

Reading has three local newspapers, the Reading Chronicle published weekly, on Thursdays and the Reading Post published on Wednesday and Fridays. Three local radio stations broadcast from Reading: BBC Radio Berkshire, Reading 107 FM and Heart Thames Valley. Other local radio stations, such as London's 95.8 Capital FM, Basingstoke's 107.6 Kestrel FM and East Berkshire's Time 106.6 can also be received. Local television news programmes are the BBC's South Today and ITV's Meridian Tonight.

Landmarks

in Forbury Gardens]] The most recognisable landmark in Reading is the Maiwand Lion in Forbury Gardens, an unofficial symbol of Reading, commemorates the 328 officers of the Royal Berkshire Regiment who died in the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. The Blade, completed in 2009, can be seen from the surrounding areas at a height of . Reading has 5 Grade I listed buildings, 22 Grade II* and 853 Grade II buildings, in a wide variety of architectural styles that range from the medieval to the 20st century. The Grade I listed are Reading Abbey, the Abbey Gateway and churches Greyfriars', St Laurence's, St Mary's.

Public services

original frontage, built in 1839 with bath stone]] There are over 100 parks and playgrounds including 5 miles of riverside paths in Reading. Located in the town centre is Forbury Gardens, a public park built on the former on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey. The largest public park in Reading is Prospect Park, previously an estate owned by Frances Kendrick until 1901 when acquired by the Reading Corporation.

The principal NHS hospital in Reading is the Royal Berkshire Hospital, founded in 1839 and much enlarged and rebuilt since. There was a second major NHS general hospital in Reading, the Battle Hospital, which closed in 2005.Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust runs a NHS hospital, Prospect Park Hospital, that specialises in the provision of care for people with mental health and learning disabilities. Reading has two private hospitals, the Berkshire Independent Hospital in Coley Park and the Dunedin Hospital situated on the main A4 Bath Road.

The Reading Borough Public Library service dates back to 1877. Initially housed in Reading Town Hall, the central branch of the library relocated in 1985 to a new building on King's Road.

Mains water and sewerage services are supplied by Thames Water Utilities Limited, a private sector water supply company. Water abstraction and disposal is regulated by the Environment Agency. Reading's water supply is largely derived from underground aquifers, and as a consequence the water is hard. The commercial energy supplier for electricity and gas is at the consumer's choice. Southern Electric runs the local electricity distribution network, while Scotia Gas Networks runs the gas distribution network. One notable part of the local energy infrastructure is the presence of a 2 megawatt (peak) Enercon wind turbine at GreenPark, which is wired to the local sub-grid. The turbine has the potential to produce 3.5 million units of electricity a year, enough to power over a thousand homes. The dialling code for fixed-line telephones in Reading is 0118. BT provides fixed-line telephone coverage throughout the town, and ADSL broadband internet connection to most areas. Parts of Reading are cabled by Virgin Media, supplying cable television, telephone and broadband internet connections.

Transport

Reading's location in the Thames Valley to the west of London has made the town an important location in the nation's transport system.

River

from Caversham Bridge looking eastwards]] The town grew up as a river port at the confluence of the Thames and Kennet. Both of these rivers are navigable, and the locks of Caversham Lock, Blake's Lock, County Lock, Fobney Lock and Southcote Lock are all within the borough. Today navigation is exclusively leisure oriented, with private and hire boats dominating traffic. Scheduled boat services operate on the Thames, operating from wharves on the Reading side of the river near Caversham Bridge.

Road

Reading was a major staging point on the old Bath Road (A4) from London to Bath and Bristol. This road still carries local traffic, but has now been replaced for long distance traffic by the M4 motorway, which closely skirts the borough and serves it with three junctions J10-J12. Other main roads serving Reading include the A33, A327, A329, A4074 and A4155. Within Reading there is the IDR, a ring road for local traffic movements. The IDR is linked with the M4 by the A33 relief road. National Express Coaches run out of Calcot, at the M4's Junction 12. The Thames is crossed by both Reading and Caversham road bridges, while several road bridges cross the Kennet, including High Bridge, the oldest surviving bridge that crosses the Kennet.

Rail

. The original GWR building is now a pub called The Three Guineas.]] Reading is a major junction point on the national rail system, and as a consequence Reading station is a major transfer point as well as serving heavy originating and terminating traffic. Reading station will be redeveloped at a cost of £850m with grade separation of some conflicting traffic flows and extra platforms, to relieve severe congestion at this station. The project is scheduled to finish in 2015. Railway lines link Reading to both Paddington and Waterloo stations in London. Other stations in the Reading area are Reading West, Tilehurst and Earley, but all serve local trains only. A new station is planned on the Reading to Basingstoke Line serving GreenPark Business Park.

Air

There have been two airfields in Reading, one at Coley Park and one at Woodley, but these have both closed. The nearest airport is London Heathrow, which is away by road. An express bus service named RailAir links Reading with Heathrow, or the airport can be accessed by changing at Hayes and Harlington railway station from the local rail service to Paddington to the Heathrow Connect rail service.

Public transport

Today local public transport is largely road-based, and can be affected by peak hour congestion in the borough. A frequent local bus network within the borough, and a less frequent network in the surrounding area, are provided by Reading Buses. Other bus operators include First, Thames Travel, Newbury Buses.

Education

's main Whiteknights Campus]] Reading School, founded in 1125, is the 10th oldest school in England. There are six other state secondary schools and 37 state primary schools within the borough, together with a number of private and independent schools and nurseries.

Reading College has provided further education in Reading since 1955, with over 8,500 local learners on over 900 courses.

The University of Reading was established in 1892 as an affiliate of Oxford University. It moved to its London Road Campus in 1904 and to its new Whiteknights Campus in 1947. It took over the Bulmershe teacher training college in 1989, becoming Bulmershe Court Campus. The Henley Management College, situated in Buckinghamshire and about from Reading, was taken over in 2008, becoming Greenlands Campus. The University of West London maintains a presence in the town for its higher education students, principally in nursing, but has now divested itself of its previous ownership of Reading College and its further education students.

Museums

now houses the Museum]] The Museum of Reading opened in 1883 in the towns municipal buildings. It contains galleries relating to the history of Reading and to the excavations of Calleva Atrebatum, together with a full-size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, an art collection, and galleries relating to Huntley and Palmers.

The Museum of English Rural Life, in East Reading, is a museum dedicated to recording the changing face of farming and the countryside in England. It houses designated collections of national importance. It is owned and run by the University of Reading. On the University of Reading's Whiteknights Campus can be found the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology and Cole Museum of Zoology, together with the Harris Botanic Gardens. In the suburb of Woodley, the Museum of Berkshire Aviation has a collection of aircraft and other artifacts relating to the aircraft industry in the town.

Religion

tower, chequered with flint and ashlar]] Reading Minster, or the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin as it is more properly known, is Reading's oldest ecclesiastical foundation, known to have been founded by the 9th century and possibly earlier. Although eclipsed in importance by the later Abbey, Reading Minster has regained its importance since the destruction of the Abbey.

Reading Abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121. He was buried there, as were parts of his daughter Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers, Constance of York, and Princess Isabella of Cornwall, among others. The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during the dissolution of the monasteries and Henry VIII had the abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, hanged.

The mediaeval borough of Reading was served by three parish churches. Besides Reading Minster, these were St Giles' Church and St Laurence's Church churches, both of which are still in use as Anglican churches. The Franciscan friars built a friary in the town in 1311 and after the friars were expelled in 1538, the building was used as a hospital, a poorhouse and a jail, before being restored as the Anglican parish church of Greyfriars Church in 1863.

and St Laurence's Church tower from the Market Place]] St James' Church was built on a portion of the site of the abbey between 1837–40, and marked the return of the Roman Catholic faith to Reading. Reading was also the site of the death of Blessed Dominic Barberi, the Catholic missionary to England in the 19th century who received John Henry Newman into the Catholic faith.

Reading also has several places of worship of other religions. These include several mosques, such as the Central Reading Mosque and the Shantideva Mahayana Buddhist centre. A new Islamic centre is under construction on the Oxford Road in West Reading. The £3–4m Abu Bakr Islamic Centre was granted planning permission in 2002. The community-funded project began construction in 2006, but does have an estimated completion date. A second Islamic centre in eastern Reading has also been granted planning permission, the £4m project has garnered some controversy .

Sport

, home of Reading Football Club and London Irish]] Reading is the home of Reading Football Club, an association football club nicknamed The Royals, who were formed in 1871. Formerly based at Elm Park, the club plays at the 24,161 capacity Madejski Stadium. The stadium is named after chairman Sir John Madejski. Reading F.C. have spent two seasons in the Premier League after winning the 2005–06 Football League Championship with a record of 106 points. Reading Town Football Club, formed in 1966, play at Scours Lane and are currently playing in the Hellenic League Premier Division.

Reading is a centre for rugby union football in the area, with the Aviva Premiership team London Irish as tenants at the Madejski Stadium. Reading is also home to another three senior semi-professional rugby clubs; Reading Abbey R.F.C., Redingensians R.F.C. and Reading R.F.C. The town hosts several other football variants, Australian rules football team Reading Kangaroos and American football team Berkshire Renegades. Palmer Park Stadium within Palmer Park has a velodrome and athletics track. It is used by the Berkshire Renegades for training. Hockey is represented by Reading Hockey Club, who play in the Men's Premier Division and the Women's Division One of English Hockey League. The Reading Rockets are a basketball club that play in the English Basketball League. Rowing is represented by Reading Rowing Club and the university. The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake in Caversham provides training facilities, although much rowing is also conducted on the River Thames with the annual Reading Town Regatta taking place near Thames Valley Park. The town was home to a speedway team Reading Racers. The sport came to Reading in 1968 at Tilehurst Stadium, until the team then moved to Smallmead Stadium in Whitley, which was demolished at the end of 2008. The team is inactive pending the building of a new stadium.

climbing Russell Street in West Reading]] The Reading Half Marathon is held on the streets of Reading in March of each year, with 16,000 competitors from elite to fun runners. It was first run in 1983, taking place every year except from 2001, when it was cancelled as a result of concerns over that year's outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. The British Triathlon Association was formed at the town's former Mall health club in 11 December 1982. Britain's first ever triathlon was just outside Reading at Kirtons's Farm in Pingewood in 1983. Thames Valley Triathletes who are based in the town, is Britain's oldest triathlon club with origins in the 1984 event at nearby Heckfield when a relay team raced under the name Reading Triathlon Club. The Hexagon theatre was home to snooker's Grand Prix tournament from 1984-94, one of the sport's Big Four.

Reading-born Richard Burns became the first Englishman to win the World Rally Championship, in 2001.

Notable people

Town twinning

Reading is twinned with: Düsseldorf, Germany (since 1947, officially since 1988) Clonmel, Ireland (since 1994) San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua (since 1994) Speightstown, Barbados (since 2003)

See also

Reading (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading/Wokingham Urban Area

References

Bibliography

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External links

Visit Reading

Reading Borough Council

Category:Towns in Berkshire Category:Places in Berkshire listed in the Domesday Book Category:Local government in Berkshire Category:Local government districts of South East England Category:Unitary authorities of England Category:Local authorities adjoining the River Thames Category:Kennet and Avon Canal Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (UK English)