Wokingham Today, February 2, 2023

Suspected ‘cuckoo’ drug

evicteddealers

By DANIEL BLACKHAM dblackham@wokingham.today

THREE suspected drug dealers have been kicked out of a council house in Wokingham where it’s believed they were living without permission and exploiting the tenant.

Wokingham Borough Council and Thames Valley Police joined forces to secure a partial closure order on the property, on the Norreys estate, which runs until Thursday, April 6.

During this time, only specific people including council staff or police officers may enter while anyone else will be prosecuted.

The authorities will visit to check no-one is breaching the order and have pledged to work together to crack down on this problem across the borough.

The trio occupying the property, who had links to the borough but weren’t tenants, were arrested on suspicion of modern slavery offences and being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.

They are now subject to a criminal investigation.

This is believed to have been a case of “cuckooing”, in which criminals move into someone’s home and then increasingly abuse and control them, usually using violence or threats.

Members of the public reported concerns to the council about the property, including unfamiliar people coming and going at all hours or loitering outside.

It had become a magnet for nuisance noise, with doors banging and other disturbances day and night.

The council’s community safety team worked with the police to respond to these reports, who visited unannounced on Tuesday, January 3, and found the three suspects inside.

Both organisations worked together to secure the partial closure order at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 6.

The council is still working to protect the tenant’s mental and physical wellbeing.

n Continued on page 9

Rally calls for action over conditions in the classrooms

By PHIL CREIGHTON pcreighton@wokingham.today

TEACHERS gathered in their hundreds in Wokingham town centre yesterday as they went on strike over conditions and pay. After attending picket lines in their own schools, the teachers came together outside the town hall in Market Place where they heard a speech from First Days

Children’s Charity CEO Emma Cantrell before going on a march through the town, taking in Peach Place and the Shute End council offices.

They then returned to Market Place for some more speeches before dispersing.

The teachers heard many in their profession were quitting due to the pressures they were facing, and the action was a last resort.

n Full story page 4

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Practise public speaking with Toastmasters

MEMBERS of a speech making organisation meet fortnightly to improve their public speaking and gain confidence.

Participants give speeches for fun within a supportive and encouraging environment.

As well as working on communication, members practise leadership and observation as they give and receive positive feedback.

The Wokingham Speakers Toastmasters group meets at the Bradbury Centre, Peach Place, on the first and the third Tuesday of each month.

Doors open at 7.15pm.

The next events are on Tuesdays, February 7 and 21.

n For more information, and to join, visit: www.toastmasterclub.org

FEEDING TIME: Wokingham Town Mayor Cllr Maria Gee gives the Chinese lion some food at

Here be dragons!

the mayor gave the hungry dragon some vegetables to appease it.

By PHIL CREIGHTON news@wokingham.today

WOKINGHAM became Chinatown for a celebration of the Lunar New Year on Sunday, with dragons flying, tangerines flown and pak choi digested.

Market Place was packed with people for the event, organised by Wokingham Toun Council helped by Coffee and Craft (HK Project).

The showcase event was a performance by the Pak-Mei UK Lion Dance Troupe at noon.

This was a spectacular lion dance which saw the team throw tangerines into the crowds, before

Introducing it, the mayor of Wokingham town, Cllr Maria Gee, said: “Wokingham is proud to welcome people from all around the world, and I am delighted that we are celebrating this festival when there are many who cannot reunite today with loved ones overseas.

“I am delighted to have so many performers, artists, and helpers from across the south of England, so that we can celebrate in style.

“The lion dance, one of the most important traditions at this time of year will be performed shortly.

“The lion symbolises power, wisdom, and superiority.

Look out – blue bags are

By DANIEL BLACKHAM dblackham@wokingham.today

BLUE BAGS are on their way, according to Wokingham Borough Council.

From Monday, residents across the borough will be sent a roll of 54 blue general rubbish bags, covering between April and March.

It is expected that all houses will have received their deliveries by mid-March.

For financial reasons, the council’s executive agreed last September to reduce the number of blue bags from 80 to 54. It will also stop providing free food caddy liners due to rising costs.

Cllr Ian Shenton, executive member for environment, sport and leisure, said: “The reduction of the number of blue bags has allowed our waste budget to stay as previously set, instead of having to increase by £149,000. Stopping the supply of caddy liners has avoided adding a further £120,000.

“These changes will obviously help make a difference to this year’s

budget and allow us to focus on keeping our vital services going and supporting residents who need us during these turbulent times.”

A leaflet produced by the council will also be enclosed in the delivery to give information on how to recycle more and waste less.

Cllr Shenton added: “With these 54 blue bags, we are asking all residents to take on the ‘One Bag Challenge’ again and put out an average of one blue bag of general rubbish per week.”

The council has found that more than half of what goes into blue bags is recyclable, with food waste being the biggest culprit, followed by paper, cardboard, soft plastic bags and others.

If disposed of correctly, the council estimates this would save around £1 million a year.

Although food caddy liners are no longer supplied for free, the council is urging residents to continue using the food waste collection service.

Cllr Shenton said: “You can use whatever bags you have at home, buy your own or leave it unlined.

To advertise, call 0118 327 2662 Thursday, February 2, 2023 WOKINGHAM.TODAY 3

New clerk for town council

WOKINGHAM Town Council has a new clerk, after the retirement of her predecessor.

Katy Hughes (pictured) has joined the team at the town hall in Market Place, taking over from Jan Nowecki.

While she is new to Wokingham town, she is no stranger to the role, as she was previously town clerk to Wokingham Without Parish Council.

Before entering into the public sector, she worked in international finance in London, latterly in project and problem-solving roles.

She said she is honoured to be appointed to the role.

“Having lived within Wokingham borough for the past 16 years, I know the area and Wokingham town well. I am excited to be able to support the council in delivering services to the local community and supporting the council’s values of inclusivity, distinctiveness, sustainability, and service.

Chinese New Year celebrated

“Their presence is reported to bring good fortune and chase away evil spirits, so I definitely welcome our lion today.

“No matter where you are from – Wokingham, Reading, Bracknell, Windsor, and further afield –enjoy the day and I wish you great happiness and prosperity in 2023.”

The audience thronged around Market Place, spilling on the roads, such was the demand for the cultural extravaganza. There was also entertainment from Chinese Rose, a duo who performed traditional Chinese music on the Ehrhu and Pipa.

Craft activities based on the

on their way

“When recycled, food waste can generate energy to power our homes. It also breaks down into a liquid fertiliser rich in nitrogen for farmers’ fields, improving the soil and helping grow crops.

“If food waste is put into blue bags, it will be disposed of, rot and release methane, a greenhouse gas harmful to the environment.”

If residents need more green recycling bags, they can visit any of the collection hubss. Alternatively, they can be ordered on the council website, which can take 15 working days. n For more information on the blue bag delivery, visit: wokingham.gov.uk and search “annual blue bin bag delivery”.

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year of the rabbit were provided by morearts. Wokingham and Coffee and Craft (HK project).

And there was street food including sweet and savoury offerings, all with an Oriential theme.

Ahead of the celebration, Cllr Sally Gurney, chair of Wokingham Town Council’s Arts and Culture Committee: “We are delighted to bring a new event for Lunar New Year into our annual events calendar.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to experience Eastern cultural traditions from music, crafts, food, and dance and celebrate Lunar New Year across our diverse community.”

“As I settle in, I look forward to forging good working relationships with our residents, the many local businesses, service providers, charities and voluntary organisations that make Wokingham one of the best places to live and work within the UK.”

Ms Nowecki served the town council for 11 years. During her tenure she worked with Council to deliver a number of high-profile projects and built strong relationships across the whole community, including, an annual arts and culture programme was developed bringing free local entertainment to the town such as the International Street Concert, Wokingham Children’s Book Festival, Theatre in the Park and Chalk About It.

The leader of Wokingham Town Council, Cllr Imogen Shepherd-Dubey: “It’s been a pleasure to work with Jan Nowecki since I joined the Council in 2015 and became leader in 2019.

“Her passion for, and dedication to the town of Wokingham has been unmatched. She leaves the Town Council in great shape.

“Katy brings a broad set of skills from both business and local government, and I look forward to working with her and the council to champion the needs of residents and businesses.”

the climax of a dance held in Market Place on Sunday Pictures: Phil Creighton

Christingle service will celebrate Candlemas

FAMILIES are invited to a Candlemas event that marks when Christians remember the boy Jesus being presented in the temple. Children can bring their own Christingle – a small candle pressed into an orange, tied with a red ribbon, and bearing dried fruit or sweets on three cocktail sticks.

The fourth empty stick is a reminder of those less fortunate.

The service is at The Parish Church of St Andrew, Sonning on Sunday, February 5 at 10.30am.

A cash collection will be taken for Karun School in South India.

n For more details, log on to: sonningparish.org.uk/

Monday group for toddlers and carers in Wokingham

KINGS Kiddies is a group for children from birth to five years. They meet for play, songs, crafts and a story with Christian biblical focus.

Mums, dads, grandparents and carers enjoy time together while the children play.

Kings Kiddies meets on Mondays during term time.

Doors open at 10am at Kings Place, 9 Station Road, Wokingham. It costs £1 per child per session.

To join the group and to find out more, email: admin@kingschurch. org.uk

Telephone: 0118 961 9876 or search for Kings Kiddies on Facebook.

Teachers swap classroom for the

By Phil Creighton news@wokingham.today

A GOVERNMENT that is unwilling to negotiate has caused strikes that have shut schools across Wokingham borough.

That’s the message from the National Education Union, who said the Department of Education has been unwilling to “seriously engage with the causes of strike action”.

The union says teachers and school staff are facing realterms pay cuts, a recruitment crisis and missing training targets.

And yesterday (Wednesday, February 1), teachers walked out seeing a number of school closures.

In Wokingham Borough, they held picket lines at their own schools before gathering in Market Place at 11am for a rally. They heard speeches from local campaigners and also Emma Cantrell, the CEO of First Days Children’s Charity.

Afterwards, they went on a march through Wokingham, heading down Peach Street, through Peach Place, into Rose Street and Broad Street before going past the council offices and back to Market Place for more speeches.

This is the first of four planned days of strikes, unless the government manages to agree a settlement deal with the union.

But teachers striking did not have high hopes.

On the picket line at Bulmershe School was Kelly, who said: “The government has failed to meet recruitment and

retention targets for the past 10 years, so less people are coming into teaching which means class sizes are going up.

“Pay for teachers is at an all-time low, despite the government saying we’ve gotten you a 5% rise, the most we’ve had in 10 years, but it’s still well under inflation and it hasn’t

been funded, so this is coming from already stretched school budgets, taking the money out of educational resources and trips.

“Anything else that the school has on offer will be limited in the next couple of years because of underfunding.”

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She said the government’s action of taking money away from budgets was unfair on headteachers.

“They are caught in such a difficult position trying to keep their staff happy, trying to keep their workloads and stress down and then having more pressure because there’s less teachers.”

Kelly cited herself as an example, saying she was a PE teacher, but has also had to teach geography, history, computing.

“They also tried to put me in drama, and I’m not a specialist in any of those subjects,” she said. “It’s not because I don’t want to teach, I don’t want to let the children down, but I don’t know these subjects, so how can I support children?”

She thanked colleagues for turning out to the protests

and to the rally.

“We’ve had a fantastic turnout, it’s been brilliant from all members and members of the public. We’ve had loads of support on the picket lines and we had a great rally in Wokingham.

“We hope that Gillian Keegan will stand up and save our schools.”

Looking at the national picture, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “This is having consequences for learning, with disruption every day to children’s education. We can do better as a nation, for education, for our children if we invest more.”

But the government argues its funding of schools is at the highest level ever, and teachers don’t need to strike.

ON THE MOVE: Teachers taking part in the march through Wokingham yesterday Picture: Phil Creighton

picket line in national strike

Fire crews put out blazing car

FIRE CREWS were called to a car fire in Wokingham last week.

The incident took place around 2.46am on Sunday, January 22, in Fairview Road.

A Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service team from Wokingham Fire Station attended. Wearing breathing apparatus and using a hose reel, a firefighter put the blaze out and made the area safe.

Crews were on the scene for approximately one hour and five minutes.

Chimney fire in Woodley

home

FIRE CREWS were called to a Woodley home earlier this month to put out a chimney fire.

The incident occurred at 10.11pm on Saturday, January 21, at an address in Butts Hill Road.

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Education secretary Gillian Keegan said last week: “On the top of my in-tray when I got this job was a joint letter from the four major teaching unions – it asked for an extra £2 billion next year and the year after to support our schools with increased costs and to help fund this year’s pay awards.

“The unions asked, we delivered.”

Among those attending the rally in Wokingham was Bulmershe and Whitegates Labour councillor Shirley Boyt, who said: “I want to

show solidarity with teachers. They’ve not been shown any respect by this government for the last 12 years – enough is enough.

“It’s not just about pay, it’s about respecting the profession.”

She added: “I hope Labour would be handling it differently, sitting at the table with teachers, ensuring they had a fair deal, and not this constant changing of educational policy rather than the scattergun approach this government has had for the last 12 years.”

Using a chimney kit, a team from Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Wokingham Road station managed to put the blaze out. It took them just under 50 minutes to tackle the fire.

The service said that chimney fire safety advice is available on its website, www.rbfrs.co.uk

Market Place was packed with hundreds of teachers and supporters

Teachers on the picket line at Bulmershe School

Teachers gathered in Market Place

The strikers had a range of banners

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MP cuts ribbon to declare Lib Dems new office open

By PHIL CREIGHTON news@wokingham.today

AN MP paid a visit to Wokingham on Friday for a special ribbon cutting ceremony.

Christine Jardine declared the new constituency office of the Liberal Democrats open for business, as the party prepares to challenge Conservative Sir John Redwood in the forthcoming general election.

Wokingham is one of the party’s target seats, and the result will be hard to predict due to changes to boundaries meaning this will be the first time it will be contested in its new form.

Other factors, including the Conservatives’ low opinion poll rating, and the cost-of-living crisis, could affect the outcome of a seat that has been occupied by Sir John since 1987.

While Wokingham Conservatives have been based in offices in Rose Street for a number of years, this is the first time the Lib Dems have had premises.

Previously, campaigners worked out of people’s homes, with leaflets occupying many nooks and crannies.

Now, they have rooms in Indigo House, off Fishponds Road in Wokingham.

As part of her visit, she met with party supporters, gave them a pep talk and learned more about their campaigning.

Ms Jardine was pleased with the progress she and her Westminster colleagues had seen in Wokingham, saying she was impressed with what they have been doing.

“I was absolutely delighted to be asked to open the offices,” she said. “They’ve done such a good job for the people of Wokingham, and that’s reflected in results.

“You don’t win more seats, you don’t gain places in the local council unless you’re doing a good job for the people who are voting for you.

“That’s why I wanted to come and meet everybody and say thank you for

everything they’ve done and will do.

“They are drawing attention what Wokingham needs: an MP who will stand up for them.”

She cited a number of concerns that she says people are raising on the doorsteps.

“Conservatives MPs seem content to let sewage be pumped into our rivers and chalk streams without thinking about the damage that’s doing; our NHS is on its knees and needs support. We need GPs, dentists, the ambulance service – everything needs support, and everything needs change.

“We’re picking that up on the doorsteps across the country, Clive is picking that up here. People want someone who will stand up for them.”

Ms Jardine, who represents Edinburgh West, said Wokingham was much-talked about among her parliamentary colleagues.

“We talk all the time about what’s happening in different places, and who’s doing well – everybody knows what’s happening, and in Wokingham, we see the difference,” she explained, adding that she could see a difference between

Suspended sentence for drink driving on M4 and hitting lorry

A WOODLEY man who was nearly three times over the limit has been given a suspended jail sentence for drink driving on the M4.

Romeo Zingwe, 25 and from Fairwater Drive, has been banned from driving for three years by Reading Magistrates Court at a hearing held on Wednesday, January 25.

Magistrates heard that around 3.40pm on Monday, June 20, Zingwe was driving a white Mercedes A Class that hit the back of an HGV at excess speed on the westbound carriageway between junctions 8/9 and 10.

He provided a positive breath test. Officers’ checks confirmed he had been disqualified from driving since Thursday, June 9, 2022 for a previous drink-driving offence, and he had no insurance.

Zingwe was also found to

have 307 milligrammes of alcohol in his urine – the legal limit is 107. He also failed to nominate the driver at the time of the collision and his Mercedes had two front tyres with exposed cords. No one was injured.

Zingwe pleaded guilty to one count each of driving a motor vehicle dangerously, driving a motor vehicle when alcohol level above limit, driving while disqualified, using a motor vehicle on a road/public place without third party insurance, failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver/rider of a vehicle when required and two counts of using a motor vehicle/trailer with a tyre with any of the ply/ cord exposed.

He was sentenced to 13 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. As well as his driving ban, he had been given

Clive, who is the party’s candidate for the forthcoming general election in Wokingham.

“John Redwood is someone who has at least two jobs and is a very different type of politician from Clive, who is much more modern, much more in touch with his community, and wants to be a local champion rather than just sitting in parliament. We can’t do that –we don’t do that. We get out there,” Ms Jardine said.

While the General Election is still some away, the party is looking at its strategies for trying to win the Wokingham seat for the first time.

“The local party are doing such a good job. They are so committed to working for the community,” Mr Jardine said, adding that being elected would “make sure they get the representation they deserve and a voice that will speak out for them.

“We’re seeing in Blue Wall seats up and down England people coming to us in large numbers.

“Voters are unhappy with what this government has been doing. They want someone who will stand up for them. That’s us.”

Friendship club at WADE

an abstinence order, and told to pay costs of £272.

Zingwe was charged on December 15.

Investigating officer PC Greg Jones, of the Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit, based at Taplow police station, said: “Romeo Zingwe was extremely fortunate his behaviour did not lead to a more serious incident.

“He was nearly three times over the alcohol limit to drive having only been disqualified from driving 11 days earlier, as well as using a car with two tyres with the cords exposed.

“Thames Valley Police will robustly target offenders who drive dangerously and while over the alcohol limit or disqualified in order to keep the public safe on the roads.

“Those people who commit these offences will be put before the courts and brought to justice.”

WOKINGHAM’S only day centre for people over 60 has a new club, Friends Table.

The group meets once a week to chat, read newspapers, play board games, and try new crafts.

The club is free to attend, with lunch afterwards available to purchase.

Those wishing to stay on for a meal should book in advance.

The event takes place on Mondays weekly at the WADE Day Centre, Reading Road, from 10am to noon.

n For more information and to book a lunch, visit: www.wadecentre. org.uk

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Christine Jardine with Wokingham Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Clive Jones in the new Wokingham Lib Dem offices Picture: Phil Creighton

Borough’s sexual diversity revealed

By DANIEL BLACKHAM dblackham@wokingham.today

TRANSGENDER and non-binary people have been counted in the census for the first time in its 220-year history.

The figures for England and Wales, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last month, show that 262,000 people identify as a gender different to their sex registered at birth.

In Wokingham borough, more than 200 people are transgender: 99 women and 116 men.

There were 70 people who identified as non-binary, an umbrella term for those whose gender identity doesn’t sit comfortably with “man” or “woman”. Other gender identities tallied to 40 people.

Nationally, the number of people who said they were not the same gender as their birth sex amounted to 0.5% of the population.

The census also recorded sexuality for the first time.

The government has previously collected data on sexual orientation through the Annual Population Survey, but including the question in the census allows for a more

detailed understanding across England and Wales.

In Wokingham borough, 1,467 people identified as gay or lesbian, more than 1% of the population.

This was closely followed by 1,311 people choosing bisexual.

Pansexual, a person whose romantic and/or sexual attraction towards others is not limited by sex or gender, was selected by 233 people and 83 people identified as asexual, a person who does not experience sexual attraction.

Across England and Wales, 1.5 million people identified as gay or lesbian, bisexual or another sexual orientation, 3.2% of the population.

SCENIC SHROPSHIRE & Severn Valley Railway

The figures may include undercounting as the questions were voluntary and for people aged 16 and over.

LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall has hailed the results as a “historic step”. Its chief executive, Nancy Kelley, added: “For the past two centuries of data gathering through our national census, LGBTQ+ people have been invisible, with the stories of our communities, missing from the record.

“This is a historic step forward after decades of Stonewall campaigning to record sexual orientation, finally painting an accurate picture of the diverse ‘Rainbow Britain’ that we now live in.”

Quarters deliver festive gift thanks to property boards

A WOKINGHAM estate agency has raised more than £1,000 for charity thanks to a creative Christmas campaign.

For the second year running, Quarters has supported The Cowshed with its “Santa Please Stop Here!” message

NORFOLK’S

LITTLE TRAINS

The 25 boards, which were put up at properties across Wokingham, featured a winter theme with the message asking for the white-bearded present giver to pay them a visit.

For every board that was displayed, the Market Place-

based estate agency made a donation.

“We have seen a number of estate agents do similar things but we decided to put our own twist on it to have a bit of fun,” said Nick Harris, one of the cofounders of Quarters.

“All the boards were outside current or previous clients homes and, where we could, we picked those that have got young kids.

“We wanted to link in with a local charity and we had The Cowshed mentioned

favourably by several of our clients over the years.”

The boards have gone on to raise £1,140 thanks to donations from Quarters and residents who supported the cause.

The funds will be used by the Cowshed to continue supporting people of all backgrounds in a time of personal crisis.

This festive season, the charity provided more than 3,000 presents to individuals across Berkshire thanks to its Christmas Project.

Water firm’s accolade for supporting vulnerable customers

STAFF at one of the borough’s two water companies is celebrating after being recognised for its work to support vulnerable customers.

The BSI, the business standards and improvement company, has awarded a new Inclusive Service Kitemark to South East Water. And among the nine winners was local firm Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks.

The kitemark aims to show people that the company they are working with provides an inclusive and flexible service that benefits all consumers, regardless of personal circumstances.

To achieve the award they need to cover topics such as the identification of customer vulnerability, inclusive design of products and services are covered, as well as the adoption of AI (artificial intelligence) and data collection, protection and sharing to ensure that organisations are creating an

inclusive service for all.

To receive the kitemark, they underwent an audit, to maintain there will be ongoing surveillance.

Andy Clowes, head of customer experience and strategy at South East Water, said: “We are very proud to have again achieved this certification which shows our commitment to supporting vulnerable customers.

“We made a clear commitment across our organisation to transition to the new standard as early as we could to build on the previous standard when we became one of the first water companies to achieve certification.

“This new BSI Inclusive Service Kitemark has provided us with a great framework and focus for us to continually check we are doing all the right things to help identify and support our customers who need extra help.”

And Natasha Bambridge, global consumer promise practice director at BSI said: “Amid the cost of living crisis, and the growing number of vulnerable adults living in the UK, protecting vulnerable consumers has never been so critical. The Inclusive Service Kitemark demonstrates an organisations’ ongoing commitment to offering an inclusive service for all at such a critical time.

“All of the organisations that have achieved certification have proved they understand the impact of consumer vulnerability and provide an inclusive and flexible approach to address it.

“Therefore, these organisations are better able to meet a diverse range of consumer needs, making it easier for consumers to access information, services and products, make good decisions and achieve positive outcomes.”

IN THE FIGURES: Some of the people attending Wokingham Pride last year. This year’s event is on Saturday, July 8. Picture: Steve Smyth

ON MESSAGE: Quarters estate agency raised more than £1,000 thanks to customers displaying festive boards outside their homes in the run-up to Christmas Picture: Quarters Wokingham

EXCLUSIVE

By Phil Creighton news@wokingham.today

Suspected drug nest closed down Aldi reveals plans for third store

n From front page Perpetrators of cuckooing are often linked to “county lines” gangs moving drugs from London to sell in surrounding regions. Their victims may be vulnerable due to addictions or mental or physical health problems.

The perpetrators may know the victim, who may even see them as “friends”, and will slowly take control of every aspect of their lives – where they go, who they talk to and when they may enter or leave their own home.

They may claim the victim owes a debt and use this to justify their behaviour.

The council believes there is a growing number of incidents of this in the borough, and said it shares residents’ concerns.

Its community safety team has drawn up an action plan, in partnership with the police, that identifies a small minority of people and properties causing harassment, alarm and distress.

Cllr Ian Shenton, executive member for environment, sport and leisure, said: “We will not let people get away with this horrific crime, which causes huge suffering to those least able to protect themselves, and

encourage anyone who suspects it’s happening to report it.

“Victims’ lives become totally controlled so we’re working with the police and other organisations to

AN ALDI could be built in Winnersh is plans are approved by Wokingham Borough Council.

The supermarket has announced plans to create a store on land behind Halfords, off Reading Road.

It would be a 1,315 sq m sized store, offering the company’s mixture of ownlabel products, special offers and a selected range of branded goods.

If approved, it would be Wokingham’s third branch of the chain and could open next year. The others are in Earley and Wokingham town centre.

As well as being sited opposite the Halfords store, it will be close to branches of DIY chain Wickes and animal supplies store Pets4Home.

The Winnersh branch would have a car park for 124 cars, including eight family spaces and four electric vehicle charging points. There would also be spaces for three motorbikes.

The company has been leafleting residents to let them know about the projects, and they said it would bring an underutilised site into economic use, as well as more food choice to the area – there is already the Sainsbury’s store further up Reading Road, and there is also an Asda in Lower Earley. There are a number of smaller retailers available too.

They state that planning consent had previously been given for a car showroom on the site, and their proposals take into account the need to install appropriate drainage measures

to protect the site against flooding. The store would be raised above ground levels, and include undercroft flooding prevention voids.

Residents have already been commenting on the proposals on Wokingham Borough Council’s planning portal.

Concerns include road safety and access caused by the additional traffic heading to the store, but residents are also pleased that the land would be used in this way, with one saying: “It will bring life back into a dead area”.

Not everyone is in favour. Another

resident said the area had enough grocery stores, and called for alternatives.

“How about some new stores in this area, or a bowling alley, something for the kids to do as it’s a retail location.”

A special website has been set up by Aldi giving more details of its plans. This can be viewed at: www.aldiconsultation. co.uk/winnersh, while the application is available online at https://planning. wokingham.gov.uk/FastWebPL/ welcome.asp – and searching for reference 230099.

The closing date for comments is Thursday, February 16.

PROPOSAL: The Aldi would be built on land in Winnersh

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Consultation, consultation, consultation: Shinfield looks at traffic and recreation plans

EXCLUSIVE

By JI-MIN LEE jlee@wokingham.today

SHINFIELD residents attended a public consultation on Saturday to discuss two key areas of the village’s future.

Members of Shinfield Parish Council and the University of Reading presented proposals on traffic and sports and recreation facilities, while receiving feedback.

Traffic proposals focused on reducing congestion within the village while leisure plans included six sports pitches close to Shinfield West Pavilion, increased provision at Millworth Lane Recreation Ground, allotments, a growing garden and an outdoor learning area.

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Parish clerk Bruce Winton was full of praise for the event’s success. He said: “It’s been absolutely brilliant, we’ve had a great attendance. The purpose of the consultation from our point of view is to properly listen and learn.

“We have ideas which we’ve worked up into what we think are reasonable proposals, but that’s what they are, proposals.

“As a parish, we don’t operate in isolation. I’ve been chatting to a couple of councillors who have come up from Swallowfield because addressing an issue that affects us, will also benefit them.

“So it’s about working together, and with Wokingham Borough Council, not against them, to identify the problems and find practical solutions.”

He added that consulting with stakeholders will continue to play an important role as plans progress, with the parish council keen to maintain open dialogue with residents.

Becauseoftheverylowalcohol,itwasperfectly acceptableforsomeonetodrinkseveralglasses, withouttheriskofbecomingdrunk.Somemanual workerswoulddrinklargequantitiesasawaytoboth quenchthirstandtakeonmoreneededcaloriesfor theenergytowork.It’salsoproposed(albeitdebated) thatasmallbeerwasasaferwaytoconsumewater, whichatthetimemayhavecarrieddiseasesinits naturalform.

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Cllr Laurence James, the parish council’s vice chairman, is determined to solve issues residents have faced with traffic recently.

He said: “We’ve had people attend who have a vested interest in getting the traffic problems right.

I think they’ve put houses here without thinking about the internal communications and we’ve still got lots of traffic transitioning through

the village when it should be using the major arterial routes around it.

“We need to slow the traffic down within the village to make it safer and healthier, and force it back on the roads they should be using. That’s what all these proposals here are for.”

Cllr James expressed the parish council’s commitment to ensuring plans are sustainable and environmentally-friendly, saying the ultimate goal was to reduce the number of cars used in the village. He encouraged residents to consider using the 17 miles of paths and cycleways Shinfield has to offer.

The two consultations took place in separate rooms at the School Green Centre and were attended by hundreds of residents, sports team representatives and councillors.

Visitors included the University of Reading’s vice-chancellor Robert Van de Noort and Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for active travel, transport and highways.

Some residents expressed their concerns about the impact sports sites will have on the village’s biodiversity and nature, as well as adding to Shinfield’s traffic.

Cllr Ian Clarke, chair of the parish council’s recreation and amenities committee, sympathised with people who wanted to preserve nature within the village.

He said Shinfield’s current sports and leisure provision can no longer accommodate the increasing number of residents wanting to participate in sports.

“We’ve got between 2,000 and 2,500 people who want to play just football,” Cllr Clarke explained.

“We only have one 3G pitch at Ryeish Green and it’s overused.

“It’s costing local clubs, Spencers Wood and Shinfield, £40,000 each year to use.

“We’ve got more people, but don’t have the facilities.”

He added that decisions made now would have an impact on future generations and stressed the importance of establishing provision

for a growing number of women and girls in sport.

Molli Cleaver, the university’s community relations manager, said: “We are working with Shinfield Parish Council to ensure the views of residents are helping to shape the future of sport and recreation in Shinfield.

“The University is committed to proactively engaging with the community and I hope the consultation was one way in which we are demonstrating this commitment.

“We look forward to reviewing and providing a full response to the feedback and continuing to listen to residents as the proposals are developed. We are proud to be working with the Parish Council to enhance the provision for sports and recreation in Shinfield.”

n Residents who were unable to attend the consultation meetings can still have their say by completing an online questionnaire, visit: www. shinfieldparish.gov.uk n Viewpoints page 31

Farmers market set to return to Spencers Wood Exploration of forgiveness at chaplaincy lecture

A COMMUNITY group will host its monthly farmers market on Sunday, February 19.

Held at Spencers Wood village hall, Basingstoke Road, visitors can enjoy 30 food and product stalls, serving up award-winning pies, acrylic jewellery and much more.

Local businesses and individuals will showcase their fresh produce for visitors to peruse and purchase for themselves or for loved ones.

The market will see the return

of Taste of Genoa, who produce Italian food and impressed on debut, as well as regular favourites Unholy Donuts and Arborfill.

Visitors are recommended to travel by foot as parking is limited.

Usually taking place on the third Sunday of every month, the market’s February showcase runs from 10am-2pm.

n For more information, search Spencers Wood Farmers Market on: www.facebook.com

AN EXPLORATION of forgiveness

will be the focus for an annual lecture taking place at the University of Reading next month.

The Chaplaincy department is welcoming author Marina Cantacuzino on Thursday, March 9. She will be interviewed by chaplain Mark Laynesmith about her book Forgiveness: An Exploration.

The event will take place in the Van Emden Lecture Theatre,

in Edith Morley building on the Whiteknights Campus, from 7pm. Accompanying the session will be a photo exhibition, The Forgiveness Project. This will be on display in the university library’s foyer from Monday, March 6 through to Friday, March 10. Entry is free, and the events are open to the public. Places for Marina’s Q&A need to booked, by logging to: https://forms.office.com/ e/R3LEs6EzLc

POINTS OF VIEW: The vice-chancellor of the University of Reading, Professor Robert Van de Noort, listens to views of Shinfield residents at a consultation held in Shinfield Parish Hall on Saturday Picture: Ji-Min Lee

‘’Romantic Tea for Two’’

This Valentine’s at Chalk Restaurant, all the pastry chef’s skill and imagination has gone into creating a specially romantic and appealing selection of delicate finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones and a mouthwatering Valentine’s theme range of pastries.

Treat your loved one to a Valentine’s Afternoon Tea.

Valentine’s Afternoon Tea | £24 95 per person

Valentine’s Champagne Afternoon Tea | £29 95 per person

Valentine’s Afternoon Tea is served at 3pm or 3.30pm on Friday 10th, Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th, Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th of February

‘Love is in the air’ a perfect Valentine's treat with Chalk Restaurant

What could be more romantic than a table for two in the stunning candlelit surroundings?

Treat that someone special this Valentine’s to spectacular five course menu with glass of Pommery Champagne on arrival.

This is the perfect treat for loved ones and the ideal way to spend an evening or afternoon enjoying the finer things in life.

Glass of Champagne

Five-Course Menu

Matching Wine Available

Lunch | Priced at £39 95 per person

Dinner | Priced at £59.95 per person

Valentine’s Menu is available on Friday 10th, Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th, Monday 13th alongside our A La Carte Menu. On Tuesday 14th of February we will only be serving this menu in the evening

Another view Neil Coupe

Buying champers post-Brexit

OVER the past few years, my company has been giving its customers a box of Champagne as a Christmas gift.

We found a small French Champagne house to supply the product, as it seemed to be more thoughtful to send a gift that they could not buy in a local supermarket.

In the past, we would simply contact the supplier, pay the invoice, drive a van to France via the Eurotunnel, collect the wares and return home.

A couple of years of covid had put paid this, but as customers had expressed such appreciation for the gift, we decided to reintroduce it. Would Brexit make any difference?

I paid the invoice and booked the trip, informing our Customs Clearance Agent what I had done when asking him to prepare the import paperwork.

“We avoid alcohol like the plague. It’s a minefield,” was the less-than-reassuring response.

The next alarm bell was that I was advised that as I had booked my ticket as a private passenger, as I had done in past, the goods would be confiscated.

“Confiscated” being a word triggering teenage trauma of bringing chewing gum or other banned substances into school.

The journey was rebooked, this time as a freight customer, at twice the price.

The supplier gave me a Champagne Certificate, a certified invoice and a ‘DAE’, an 11-page French document with something to do with French excise duties.

The UK Customs Clearance Agent provided an Import Document and a ‘GMR’ (‘Goods Movement Reference’) document. The GMR is a scannable document used by Customs.

We then had to find a Customs Broker in Calais able to produce an export document known as an EUA. A further flurry of emails between ourselves, the Champagne supplier and the Customs Broker ensued, leading to us finally receiving it.

Armed with a file of documents I embarked on the trip to France. Arriving at the Eurotunnel I was stopped and ask for my GMR document.

I explained that I had one for the goods I was bringing back, and I was not taking anything with me. ‘Ah, but you still need a GMR’ said the attendant, although I was not moving any goods.

So, on top of the stress of ensuring I had the correct paperwork, I was now facing the ultimate trauma for a middle-aged Englishman –embarrassment.

After an hour waiting for my Customs Clearance Agent to open, another Eurotunnel employee sauntered over and had a chat about what I was waiting for, he told me that I did not actually need an MRN, as I was not actually taking anything to France with me.

After searching the Eurotunnel website, he was able to source a self-declaration document that I was able to sign and be on my way.

To buy products in France that used to be done as easily as buying products at home required a total of six documents from four different sources and plenty of confusion. An avalanche of red tape.

Do I plan to repeat the exercise next year? No. Whinging about how complex it is to import Champagne is not likely to gain much sympathy, but the underlying point is that if it is so much hassle for us to do business as an importer, then it is the same for people wanting to import from the UK.

Why, for example would a French customer buy gin from the UK, if they can buy a similar product say in Belgium without having to enter a world of administrative confusion and complexity?

For everyone’s sake, whatever Brexit means, we should be seeking to make doing business easier not more difficult.

Paul tees off with a tandoor after winning a lesson

Stop the pigeon, for a walk, and win

By Emma Merchant emerchant@rdg.today

DOG lovers can now order a new board game that will have them collecting treats, getting the zoomies, and winning a doggy trophy, while learning to be better canine carers.

Binfield dog walker Catherine Adams, has designed and developed a new board game that’s designed to help dog owners improve their skills and become perfect pup parents.

Catherine, who runs a dog walking business, 4 Paws & Pals Ltd, says: “I’ve noticed that dog owners differ greatly in their knowledge, understanding and attitude.

“I’m not a board game designer, and I don’t work in the industry, but as a person who cares deeply about the wellbeing of dogs, I tried to think of a way to inform people, including children, about the basics of good dog care.”

A WOKINGHAM man swapped his putter for a pan when he joined an award-winning chef for a lesson in cooking the perfect curry at a town centre restaurant.

Paul Sullivan, who won the prize during a charity event at Sand Martins Golf Club in Finchampstead, and his wife Elaine, joined Awanish Roy, executive chef at the Sultan in Market Place for a one-on-one masterclass on Indian cuisine.

Mr Roy said he enjoyed welcomed the couple into his kitchen.

“I always enjoy passing on some of the knowledge of Indian cooking I’ve acquired over many years,” he said.

“They were excellent pupils and showed a real flair for cooking at a

professional level. Hopefully they’ll be serving up the perfect curry to their dinner party guests.”

Mr Sullivan is the current captain of Sand Martins, which is planning to hold another charity event in September.

And Mr Roy – who has cooked at some of the biggest names in Indian cuisine including London’s Cinnamon Club – will be offering another cooking session as a prize.

Sultan is Wokingham’s oldest family run restaurant and has recently launched a new menu focusing on traditional Indian dishes with a modern, fine-dining twist.

It also offers an extensive list of cocktails and mocktails. n For more details, log on to: sultanindian.co.uk or call 0118 977 4397.

Train station man’s kindness rewarded with chocolate

IT’S ONE of our worst fears –waiting for a train and dropping something precious on to the tracks.

But a potential expensive loss was turned into a happy ending, thanks to the hard work of one Tywford railway station team members.

Mike Swift went above and beyond the call of duty last week to help a college student who saw her earpods – wireless headphones that allow phone users to listen to music – slip out of her hands and on to the tracks.

Due to it happening at rush hour, it wasn’t possible to retrieve them there and then, but Mr Swift waited until it was quieter to get them back to her.

And the next day, he was rewarded with a large bar of chocolate with a note that read: “To the man who got my airpod case back, I wanted to give you something as a thank you for your kindness

and giving up your time to help me out.”

Mr Swift was thrilled with the gesture.

“Just occasionally something happens and I think maybe there is hope for the human race,” he said.

Catherine’s game, Walkies, is for two or more players aged seven or above, and gives hints on training, social etiquette and even socially acceptable behaviour in public.

Catherine says she meets dog owners with different levels of experience.

“Some people say, ‘it looks cute, so I got a dog’, while others have had dogs all their lives.

“I’ve met people taking a puppy for a two-hour walk to tire it out, and I’ve tried to gently say that that’s not the best idea. Puppies should only be walked for around 15 minutes.

“So this game is a way to inform people in a non-judgmental way, starting with children, so that they learn the basics at a younger age.”

Walkies The Board Game is being launched at the All About Dogs Show at Newbury Showground on the weekend of April 15 and 16 at Newbury Showground, but it is now available to pre-order on Catherine’s website.

“It’s important to stress that this is

not a replacement for training carried out by a professional dog trainer, but it is based on UK laws and best practices,” says Catherine.

“In a nutshell, you are a dog owner walking your dog through a forest.

“To finish your walk and win the dog toy trophy, you need to collect treats. But you need to stop the pigeons eating them, and other dog players from stealing them from you.”.

Game players will also need to answer questions in four different categories: breeds, training, health and wellbeing, and general knowledge, in order to collect paw tokens.

“There are obstacles along the way,

Love is ... some sing-along silliness

A PLAYHATCH pub is hosting a Valentine themed event with love songs – and silliness.

The show at The Flowing Spring will include musical numbers and sketches performed by trio, Singalong-a-Nick.

And audiences can make an evening of it by booking a threecourse meal beforehand.

Band members are singer and vocalist Nick Willson, guitarist Steve Lester, and double-bass player Mr Minch. They appear regularly at the pub, where Nick is also co-landlord.

He and his wife, Hazel Lucas, enjoy arranging live music events for their customers.

Throughout the year they invite bands to perform a range of new material, and covers.

“We always look forward to the concerts,” says Nick. “It’s good fun, and makes a great change from the normal running of the pub.

“It really is as much for us as for our customers, and keeps us on our toes.”

Sing-along-a-Nick’s Valentine show will include some love songs, but Nick explains that people shouldn’t expect a romantic evening.

“There’s plenty of silliness, and additional sketches,” he says.

The band have been together for a number of years, and as their name suggests, are known for playing familiar songs their audiences can join in with.

Their new material and re-worded covers songs are interspersed with plenty of silliness, humour, and audience interaction.

“Lots of people like our Valentine show just because it’s a great alternative to a traditional romantic night out,” Nick adds.

“It’s a chance to have a relaxed meal without candlelight or pressure, and it’s followed by a giggle.”

FLAME ON: Paul and Elaine Sullivan enjoy a cooking lesson guided by Sultan executive chef Awanish Roy Picture: Sultan Balti

THANK YOU: A bar of chocolate with a heartfelt note was left at Twyford Station Picture: Mike Swift

take the dog win the game ...

WOOF: Catherine Adams with a doggy pal and her new board game, Walkies, which will be launched at the All About Dogs show taking place in Newbury in April Picture: Steve Smyth

THE UNIVERSITY of Reading has conducted a dig which discovered that Anglo-Saxon monasteries were more robust than first thought.

A team of archaeologists, led by Dr Gabor Thomas of the UoR, carried out an examination of Lyminge, in Kent, and found it to have been occupied for longer than expected.

The site’s location would have laid it open to particularly violent raids by Viking invaders in the late 8th and early 9th century.

Despite this, new evidence gathered there suggests that the site not only survived, as attested by its ruins, but may also have recovered from the attacks better than previously known.

HISTORY: A site in Lyminge in Kent has revealed more about the history of AngloSaxon monks Picture: The University of Reading

paints a more complex picture of the experience of monasteries during these troubled times.

“They were more resilient than the ‘sitting duck’ image portrayed in popular accounts of Viking raiding based on recorded historical events such as the iconic Viking raid on the island monastery of Lindisfarne in AD 793.

“However, the resilience of the monastery was subsequently stretched beyond breaking point.”

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too,” continues Catherine.

“Tree cards can be beneficial, detrimental or indifferent, and you can get the zoomies or super-zoomies.

“You may even get lost and have to await your owner at the ranger’s hut.”

Catherine had her idea for the game last Christmas when she was mulling over the events of a dog walking day.

“I realised I had the beginnings of a game, and shared it with my husband who agreed I might be on to something.

“We were up till 1am jotting down ideas.”

Walkies has been tested by Catherine’s clients, whose comments

have helped to improve it.

“They’ve enjoyed playing the game, and all say they’ve learned something,” says Catherine. “It’s very exciting, and rather nerve-wracking because I’m self-funding.

“The game is on Kickstarter, too.

“There’s nothing else like it on the market, and I’m really hoping it will become a big success, maybe even a trend next Christmas.”

n To pre-order the game, log on to: www.walkiestheboardgame.co.uk

n For more information about 4 Paws and Pals visit the group’s Facebook page, or log onto: www.4pawsandpals.co.uk

The main elements of the monastery, including the stone chapel at the heart of the site, were excavated between 2007-2015, and further in 2019.

Animal bones found at the site were carbon dated and showed that monks lived at the site for more than two centuries after it was established in the late 7th century.

Historical records at the nearby Canterbury Cathedral detail that the community was granted asylum within Canterbury, which was a former Roman town, following a raid in 804 CE.

But the new evidence shows that the monks living there not only returned to re-establish a settlement, but remained for well over a century.

The discovery came as a result of the finding of dateable artefacts, such as coins.

The Flowing Spring in Playhatch is hosting some Valentine’s fun Picture: Bradley Lucas Winner and loser

Dr Thomas said: “This research

POETRY CORNER

He explains: “By the end of the ninth century, at a time when Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great was engaged in a widescale conflict with invading Viking armies, the site of the monastery appears to have been completely abandoned.

“This was most likely due to sustained long-term pressure from Viking armies who are known to have been active in south-eastern Kent in the 880s and 890s.

“Settled life was only eventually restored in Lyminge during the 10th century, but under the authority of the Archbishops of Canterbury who had acquired the lands formerly belonging to the monastery.”

The findings were published in the Royal Society of Antiquaries’ journal, Archaeologia, on Friday, January 27.

Dr Gabor Thomas was nominated for Current Archaeology’s Archaeologist of the Year award for 2023 following his work at the site as well as at Bishopstone and Cookham.

n Voting is still open, and you can vote online via: archaeology.co.uk/awards/ archaeologist-of-the-year-2023

 Excursions to Stratford-upon-Avon, Worcester, Tewkesbury, Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold & Broadway

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Your break includes

 Return coach travel from Wokingham & Bracknell

 4 nights at the Pentire Hotel, Newquay with dinner & breakfast

 Entertainment some evenings

Hazel enjoys the events as much as Nick.

“Nick is a man of many talents,” she says.

“He’s played the piano for as long as I’ve known him, and our year really does revolve around live music.

“More and more people are discovering our little pub, and just I love sitting back and watching people enjoying our shows.

“This one promises to be creative, fun and unique.”

Tickets can be purchased for the event only, or for a three course meal as well.

Event only tickets cost £5, and are only available in person at the pub.

Tickets for the show and meal cost £25, purchasable online or in person from the pub.

Meals must be pre-ordered from the special menu.

The event takes place on Saturday, February 11, with meals served from 6.30pm, and entertainment at around 8.30pm.

n To book, view the meals menu, or for information about the band, visit: www.theflowingspringpub.co.uk

YES! I Win Every Time. Each win I grow, Gaining wealth and mates. Everyone shares my glory. And success breed more success. All singing when I am winning! Reached the top, the only way is down. Alone, crying coz I’m losing. And failure breeds more failure. No one shares my defeat. Lost all cash and chums. Each loss I shrink. Every time, I loose. NO!

Richard Stephenson

We love receiving your poetry and print a selection every week. Send yours to news@wokingham.today

 Excursions to Bodmin Jail, Padstow, Charlestown & Falmouth

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Uni dig turns up more than we thought about monks

Time to listen to the strikers

THE SHEER number of people who turned out to the teachers’ rally should be a warning cry to any politician.

The people are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it any more.

Not since the 1970s have so many industries been taking part in strike action at the same time, and for similar reasons.

In many cases, the issue isn’t just pay, but conditions.

Teachers are very clear about this: their pay rise should not come from the general budget, but be properly funded by the government.

And in all cases, the striking unions say the government is not prepared to negotiate properly.

It is a blinkered approach.

Quite clearly, the government did not fix the roof while the sun shined as we were promised back in 2010.

Nor has Brexit brought any real tangible benefits.

Something has to change.

And it has to be the government – it’s time to start listening!

CHURCH NOTES Strike one

AS I sit in my living room gazing out into the garden on a beautiful, crisp January morning with clear blue sky and a heavy frost on the ground, wrapped in my fluffy blanket because the thermostat has been turned down 3ºC, I reflect on the public sector workers, especially the nurses out on the picket lines.

Whatever our view on the rights and wrongs of them striking, it is staggering how they have fallen so quickly from the hero status they had in 2020.

It is sad that in the 21st Century, we need to have Wokingham Food Bank and Share. How we long for a society where the needs of all are met, and yet in this broken world we see unfairness and the gulf between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’.

Jesus Christ summed up the ten commandments: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ [Matthew 22 NIV]. But where many strive to fulfill the second (and well done to them), we will only see true fulfillment when we fulfill the first too.

Jesus points us forward to a day when we can know a society where truth and justice reign, when we can live in peace and fairness together with him. If you want to know more, why not join us for our Hope Explored or Christianity Explored courses?

Ian Stewart, a member of Christ Church

Wokingham writing on behalf of Churches

Together in Wokingham

Your letters

Real poverty and council rents

My work brings me into contact with people in real poverty, who cannot afford to feed themselves or their children adequately, heat their homes and, in some cases, are at real risk of losing them. Most have no choice but to live in social housing and not all are able to claim benefits, so this group in particular is extremely vulnerable to cost pressures.

Last year I wrote to your newspaper explaining how increases in council rents in England were set to be capped by the Government because of the cost-of-living crisis, otherwise the formula used to set them would have resulted in an 11 per cent increase for 2023. Following consultation, it set a 7 per cent overall limit but made clear this would not prevent individual councils from setting lower or no increases or even decreases if they so choose. In comparison, latest data from the ONS show that private rents in England increased by a more modest 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022.

At the time of writing again, I understand that Wokingham Borough Council intends to impose the maximum increase. When its new administration came to power last May, it said it would do things very differently to its predecessor. Clearly this pledge does not extend to its tenants, many of whom will be driven into or further into poverty by the decision.

I also explained previously that social housing in Wokingham is completely self-funding and not subsidised by council tax payers. Therefore, setting rents lower than 7 per cent would impact only on the users of the service itself, many of whom would accept a reduction in

From the vicechancellor

Robert Van de Noort

that service until financial pressures ease, particularly as the full rise would increase risk of eviction by the Council for those in difficulty. The liquidity of the Housing Revenue Account would not be impacted significantly either and which, in any case, is not required by law to be managed for profit just balance. This is what makes the Council’s stance so difficult to understand. It is looking to engineer suffering needlessly.

If anyone there deigns to reply to this letter, they will probably point to the support measures they offer to tenants. In truth, these are worthless, there being no value whatsoever in referring someone in extreme poverty and at risk of losing their home to a charity offering advice on how to try to economise. Unfortunately, tenants have no effective voice within the Council either, as the ‘Involved Tenant’ scheme it operates does not allow them to challenge substantive matters such as this and those who do participate in it are required to sign an agreement not to criticise the Council publicly.

Hence this appeal to the better nature of those now in charge should, collectively, they possess one. If they cannot do something which is in their direct control, straightforward to achieve and would prevent more financial misery being heaped on their poorest residents, what on earth are they doing in local politics? I would also encourage council tenants to lobby their ward councillors, some of whom are up for re-election soon.

Jack Carrington, Finchampstead

Take action before it’s needed

I’m starting to wonder if there are fundamental issues with the Wokingham Council Highway planning and development. In last week’s paper there were three stories about residents’ concerns

We love to hear from you! Send us your views on issues relating to the borough (in 250 words or less) to Wokingham.Today, Crown House, 231 Kings Road, Reading RG1 4LS or email: letters@wokingham.today We reserve the right to edit letters Views expressed in this section are not necessarily those of the paper

over the safety of roads, plus the lack of accessibility of the Tan House rail bridge. With the enlargement of the town, it is surely imperative for the council to listen to residents’ concerns before and after new developments are implemented.

I’m a regular user of the new William Heelas Way, and have seen the aftermath of multiple incidents at the London Road end, along with near misses on an almost daily basis.

Since the Eastern Gateway opened last year, there has been a dramatic increase in the volume and speed of traffic along the road. I’ve lost count of the number of times my children and I have almost been hit by cars not stopping at crossings.

The fact that local residents submitted a petition within a couple of weeks of the Eastern Gateway opening must surely raise some red flags? We are now a year on from that being submitted and it is only now being sent into a pool for a review.

According to the planning documents, when the distribution road opens fully, over 80% of the rush hour traffic from Finchampstead is expected to use it. This will see a huge increase over the levels of the traffic we are currently seeing. It’s imperative that the council listen to the people who are using this road every day, and feel scared doing so.

I fear that we are just waiting for a serious or fatal accident to occur before any action is taken.

Mike Williams, Wokingham

Tinnitus support

Next week is Tinnitus Week (6-12 February 2023) and latest research suggests that 1 in 7 adults have tinnitus.

Everyone’s tinnitus is different, but it’s usually described as a ringing, hissing, buzzing, roaring or humming sound. There may be one or more

conversations many points of view came across.

A large number of people I spoke to, many with school-age children, conveyed their passion for sport. They were excited by the prospect of creating new football and rugby pitches and other sports facilities. The idea for a 3G pitch was met with a lot of enthusiasm.

sounds and the noise may be there all the time or come and go. The causes of tinnitus can be linked to different things, including hearing loss, exposure to loud noise, certain medications, ear or head injuries, some ear conditions and emotional stress. Sometimes, there’s no recognisable link at all. Many people get tinnitus for a short time – for example, after being exposed to loud music, or when they have congestion because of a cold. But for some people, it doesn’t go away, and it can have a significant impact on their daily life.

The good news is, RNID is here to help. Our free Tinnitus Guide contains information on ways to manage tinnitus, from professional support to self-help options. It also includes information on useful apps and technology, how to support a loved one with tinnitus, and what to do if tinnitus is affecting your sleep. RNID is committed to funding research to silence tinnitus, and our guide contains the latest information on our work to identify the causes of tinnitus and develop strategies to treat it. You can find all this and more by downloading our free tinnitus guide at rnid.org.uk/tinnitus

Crystal Rolfe, Director of Health at RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People)

‘Demand Flexibility Service’energy saving scheme.

It’s 5.30 pm on Tuesday January 24th and I’m sitting at home in the cold, and the dark. Why? Is it because I’m skint, and my energy supplier is saying that saving electricity at peak times could unlock a much-needed reward, (that’s allegedly worth up to £100), or am I nostalgically remembering the power cuts and ‘three-day week’ of the early seventies?

Gary Freestone, via email

with that the loss of farmed open space. This is a fair question.

IWAS pleased to meet so many people in Shinfield last week, at the community consultation event held jointly by the University and Shinfield Parish Council. We were talking about plans for new facilities for sport and outdoor recreation.

As my University colleagues undertaking research in psychology and education have shown, getting outside for even mild activity can bring a huge boost to mental health and wellbeing, and can even help children get higher grades at school.

While Reading and Wokingham are blessed with great natural resources, geography alone doesn’t teach children learn to play sport or manage habitats for wildlife. We need dedicated people and space, and careful planning to do that.

After a decade of house building in Shinfield, largely on land formerly owned by the University, a conversation on the facilities that are needed to enjoy the outdoors was long overdue.

For the University and the parish council, this was a listening exercise – and from the many

Some wanted to know more about green spaces, such as the Ridge and Langley Mead SANGs (Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space). After the heavy rain, there is a lot of water covering the Langley Mead SANG, which is exactly what it is meant to do, reducing flood risk elsewhere in Shinfield and increasing their biodiversity.

Others were looking more for a destination in Shinfield, a place where residents can come together for a picnic or just meeting up with friends.

Our proposal for a community garden, including an orchard populated by Berkshire fruit trees from the University’s National Fruit Collection, received a lot of positive feedback.

A number of residents commented on the University selling farmland for housing, and

As a University, we have our roots in agriculture, and are committed to it for the long term. More broadly, we exist to enable learning and discovery. Selling land allows us to reinvest in education and research, while also providing the opportunity for new homes for members of our community.

As a University we have committed to be more open in what we are doing and why, including in the sale of land, and in our plans for development.

The recent community engagement event in Shinfield was a great help for the University, and I hope demonstrates a transparent and open relationship with our local communities.

My impressions on the day of the consultation are just that.

We will analyse all the written responses in the coming days and weeks, and continue to work with Shinfield Parish Council and others on finding the best solutions for new sport and outdoor recreation facilities.

Professor

Robert Van de Noort is the vice-chancellor of the University of Reading

Taking time to listen to Shinfield residents’ views

From the chamber

Cllr David Hare

Hospital discharge

CENTRAL Government is putting £750million into the NHS to help hospital discharge, but is this the answer to an ongoing problem?

Adult Social Care (ASC) is where some people are accommodated, either in care homes or with domiciliary care, and they are often blamed for delays, but what is the real situation?

Former NHS England chief executive Sir David Nicolson recently called the measurement of delayed discharge “useless” and explicitly designed to show social care in a poor light.

Over many years, and especially through austerity, Local Authorities got less and less money from Central Government.

This meant that all the services got less, as ASC is about 40% of the budget for Wokingham this affected the service in many ways. Coupled with this, the fact that the number of hospital beds has halved in the last 30 years, gets us into a different league.

Indeed, many people being discharged do not need residential care, but need the support necessary to re-establish them in the community. But often, if people are discharged into a care home for recuperation, they will get stuck in the care system and sometimes will never return

From the chamber

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen

Clarity needed

IN last week’s paper Cllr Andy Croy launched a breathless attack on Wokingham’s Conservative Group, perhaps because he finds his own awkward position propping up his Lib Dem Coalition partners indefensible.

In last month’s Council meeting he described us as “out of touch” which is funny because in the same sentence he was fiercely rejecting the notion of equal opportunities for women and girls.

Since September Conservative councillors have tried to bring a motion to Council celebrating the achievements of England’s Lionesses and calling on the Council to ensure girls in the Borough have the opportunity to play football at school. We all saw the success of England’s Women’s team. Many of those players

home.

Care workers wages have not gone up anything like enough, they are paid less that supermarket staff. So domiciliary is very short of care workers, these are the people who check someone is managing when they are sent home. As only about 5%, according to the Government, of people leaving hospital need to go into a care home, the people supporting residents in their own home is a vital part of this equation. Whether extra money will now be available for this is a question, but also where do domiciliary staff come from?

If the pay of these staff is increased, quite rightly, to encourage recruitment, what happens when this project finishes, do Local Authorities then have to pick up the increased cost?

Regarding care homes there is a similar problem. Wokingham cannot afford the cost of some of the more expensive homes, the budget is not available. The NHS is not used to placing people in homes, there needs to be an assessment of need, negotiation about cost relative to that need, and agreement about the expected length of stay. If these things are not done the wrong people will have the wrong care plan, and the problem will be moved from Hospital to care home. But are there beds available.

There are some beds available in care homes, but these come at a cost. One problem is staffing, again, care staff deserve to have their wages

increased, but if this happens what about the cost to the Wokingham in the long term? If more staff can be recruited to serve the increased number of beds, and this will only happen if wages are increased, the result will again be increased payments for Wokingham, with no increase in money available. Having aired my concerns about the NHS I would say that in Wokingham we work well with the NHS. Indeed with the emergence of the new Integrated Care System I believe we can see a future where we work even better together, not without disagreements but with a common goal to serve the people of Wokingham.

I believe Central Government needs to stop reacting to this difficulty with sticking plaster answers and look at the real problems. The system of care is broken because of long term lack of funding, resulting in a lack of care staff and care homes not having the incentive to run to full capacity.

What is needed is a long-term view, with Adult Care funding increasing, the Local Government Authority say by about £13billion, to pay care staff and to pay care homes, and so their staff, better. If this is not done the problem will keep being booted down the road, with short term answers that will often make the problem worse in the long term.

There is also the fact that hospital discharge must not be the epitome of funding. Keeping people out of hospital, with support in the community, good domiciliary care and appropriate day services, is vital but often overlooked.

These services are important, we can look at initiatives like the Wokingham KIT that helps people remain in the community. This supports people who have been identified as vulnerable, making sure they are cared for in the community and so helping to keep them out of hospital. There is also the fact that

He notes that we in the Conservative Group have called on the administration to reverse parking charges, and that we wouldn’t have increased charges by the amount that the Liberal Democrats have.

He then seems confused as to why we can’t say how much we would increase charges by until we produce an alternative budget.

discharge from hospital must be at the right time.

Speaking from experience being sent home when you don’t feel ready, then being readmitted some few days later is traumatic, a waste of time and blocks beds. Everyone must be fit to leave hospital (but are there enough beds for this) when they are discharged, re-admittance often means you are in hospital longer than if discharged at the right time.

There is another lesson that, I hope, must be learnt by the Government about last-minute, short-term, emergency funding of social care instead of a worked out, thought through, sustainable plan to deal with a recurring problem. If the investment needed to stabilise social care is too much, at least get some permanent funding into the system to increase care staff wages.

Yes, social care needs more investment to get it to where it needs to be. But in addition to this long-term investment much more would have happened to deal with the problem of people stuck in hospital if last spring commissioners and providers had been asked for their answers to the problem. If they knew they had £750m to deal with the problem, I am sure there would have been innovative ideas to boost capacity in home and social care.

I know many people in Wokingham who want to solve the pain of bed blocking, but don’t get a chance.

Instead, hospitals have been given control of a system they are not experienced in and providers have been left scrabbling around for some of this money. I expect there will be some positives from this input, but it will not be a long-term, sustainable answer to a problem that comes forward year after year and is not only, by a long way, the fault of social care.

Cllr David Hare is the Executive Member for Adult Care and Wellbeing

From the leader

Cllr Clive Jones

Partnership in action

ON Monday evening the borough council organized the first of a series of events designed to lead to the production of a jointly authored borough vision of what we want Wokingham to be like in the future.

The aim is to produce a community vision, not a council vision. It will be drawn up by all involved and will establish the priorities that the council will seek to deliver.

The process marks a radical and exciting departure from the top-down ‘the council knows best’ approach of the recent past.

It’s a sign that the council wants to work with its partners in a spirit of equality. The key principle is that we can deliver better outcomes for the community if we work together than if we work separately.

The opening meeting was attended by about 100 people from the voluntary and charitable sector, business, schools, the youth council, the vice-chancellor of Reading University, representatives from the police, fire and health services, faith and equality groups, the probation service, the chamber of commerce, tenant volunteers, and sports and leisure. I think all who attended thought it a great success and it was a good opportunity to have a conversation with many of the attendees and for them to also talk to each other.

The council’s Deputy Leader Stephen Conway, who has taken responsibility for fostering and developing partnership working, introduced the event, and it was facilitated by New Local,, who are independent public engagement experts.

didn’t have the opportunity to play football at school and have talked about the difficulties they have faced. They have also spoken about making football more accessible for future generations of girls – and why not?

We shouldn’t forget that the FA banned women’s football until 1971. I often played football with groups of local boys in my street but sadly at school it wasn’t an option for girls. Cllr

Croy bemoans the lack of funding for what he sees as extra provision but if a school offers football for boys it doesn’t need any new equipment or teachers in order to swap a few of the girls PE lessons for football – many schools are doing this. There is nothing extra needed to simply give girls the same opportunities as the boys.

On the night I am glad that all councillors supported the motion apart from the Labour councillors.

In his column Cllr Croy also kindly quoted me at length from an answer I gave to a question from him during the debate on car parking charges.

His extensive quote from me answers his own question. As an Opposition, we don’t have access to all the information that the administration has.

We have to make sure that our position on parking charges works within our alternative budget. We have been clear though that we don’t support the swinging increases proposed by the coalition that Cllr Croy and Labour are part of, and I can confirm that we would not increase charges by more than inflation and only when the economic environment supports that.

There is no earthly point in increasing charges if shops are empty and no one comes to the town centres.

We, and the council scrutiny committee, still haven’t been shown a business case for increasing parking charges, despite repeatedly asking for it to be made available – at the last Council meeting and in a column from my colleague Cllr Keith Baker.

At a Council meeting, we were asked to vote on these massive charge

increases and the Conservative councillors voted against – this was only after our petition forced the issue to be brought to all councillors in the first place, rather than just approved on the quiet by the Liberal Democrat led coalition. We have no way of knowing whether it will create the revenue that Liberal Democrat councillors claim. We can’t support it, and our residents don’t want it. The Labour Group, on the other hand, voted to increase parking charges.

So, Cllr Croy’s position is that he blindly went along with doubling car parking charges without having any proof that it would raise the money the Liberal Democrats say it will – or else his party have seen a business case and are working with the Liberal Democrats to prevent the Opposition and the public from seeing it. Either way, he and his Labour colleagues have helped the Liberal Democrats force through punishing parking charges without transparency and in the face of opposition from local people.

These charges will hit low-income households and struggling businesses the hardest.

Cllr Croy may be confused, but residents are very clear which side he is on, and it’s certainly not theirs.

The discussion ranged widely over what we thought were the strengths of the borough (its great sense of community, good employment opportunities, excellent schools and a world-class university) and then moved on to consider what we wanted the future to be like. There was a lot of commitment to developing the creative industries, using technology for the common good, tackling poverty and developing a more inclusive society where everyone could realise their potential regardless of their background and financial circumstances.

I was struck by the enthusiasm of all those who attended. I was particularly pleased to see the great contribution of the young people present - they are the future and their views need to be heard.

The next step is a series of workshops with different groups, such as the town and parish councils, business, the voluntary sector, and education and young people. These should take place this month and in March.

This is just the beginning of the council’s new approach to partnership working. We are committed to making a better Wokingham by working more closely with those many public-spirited people in the borough who can help us get to where we all want to be.

As I’ve said before, we can achieve more together than we can on our own.

Jorgensen

in the Conservative group leader on Wokingham Borough Council

Cllr Clive Jones is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council and ward member for Hawkedon

Cllr Pauline

New South East Regional Market Leader for PwC

ACCOUNTANCY firm PwC has appointed a new South East Regional Market Leader.

Julian Gray took on the role at the start of the year, taking over from Keith Harrington.

He joined the firm in 2016, having previously spent 10 years working as an established audit partner for EY.

And he will also continue to worked as market senior partner in the firm’s Southampton office, a role that sees him work with a wide range of businesses across a number of different sectors including retail and leisure, defence and technology.

Welcoming the appointment, Carl Sizer, PwC UK’s Head of Regions, said: “I’m delighted that Julian will be our new Regional Market Leader in the South East. His experience in the South Coast Market and the wider Region will make him a great Regional Leader for our people and our clients.

“I am really looking forward to working with Julian in his new role.”

Mr Gray said he had lived and worked in the region for most of his career.

“I fully recognise the opportunities that this region has for PwC and our clients,” he said..

“I would like to say thank you to Keith for his brilliant commitment to the Region over the last five years and I wish him the very best in his new roles.”

Mr Gray’s predecessor had been with PwC for more than 25 years, and was in the regional market leader role for five.

“I would also like to say a huge thank you to Keith Harrington,” Mr Sizer said. “He has led the South East Region with great passion and energy and has done an exceptional job as the Regional Market Leader in the South East. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

And Mr Harrington said he felt the time was right to take the next step in his career.

“This change allows me to focus on my new role supporting our Government and Health Industries Leadership Team as well as continuing with my existing Lead Client Partner roles,” he said.

“I am delighted to be handing over to Julian who brings a wealth of experience in the South East, allowing us to build on our very strong position in the market.”

100,000 businesses in Berkshire, and the number is still growing

By PHIL CREIGHTON news@rdg.today

THERE are now nearly 100,000 businesses across the county –and that number is growing all the time.

Berkshire LEP has just published its latest update on the area’s economy, the latest trends and employment patterns.

And despite the pandemic, and lockdowns, the number of businesses continues to grow –the Business in Berkshire report shows there are 97,711 businesses, increasing at a rate of 2.7% a year in the 10 years from 2011 to 2021.

Nine in 10 businesses are classed as micro – employing up to nine people – or small – between 10 and 49 employees.

Within Berkshire, the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead local authority area has the largest number of registered businesses, followed by Wokingham and West Berkshire. Bracknell Forest has the fewest registered businesses of the six local authority areas.

Just over a fifth of Berkshire firms operate in the ‘professional, scientific and technical’ industry, with a similar number in the ‘information and communication’ industry.

Berkshire’s higher concentration of firms in both of these sectors than the national average explains a lower fall in remote job postings.

Some sectors have been more resilient than others in Berkshire in recent years, with the life sciences and digital tech industry continuing to thrive.

Industries such as hospitality, tourism and travel suffered during the pandemic and are still in a recovery phase.

Alison Webster, CEO of Berkshire LEP said, “Our Business in Berkshire report allows us to chart the

economic health of Berkshire. It’s clear the effects of the pandemic on our local economy continues to challenge the business community.

“The full effects of Covid-19 on the economy of the Berkshire area will not be evident for some time; the same is true for the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

“We are working closely with our Berkshire Local Authorities and other partners and continue to invest in the local business support ecosystem and are delighted to be launching two new fully funded business enhancement support programmes.”

GROWTH: Berkshire continues to be an attractive place to do business

The will be funded by the local authorities using Shared Prosperity Funding, and see the Berkshire Growth Hub provide support to start-ups and high growth businesses ranging from workshops, one-to-one sessions and Masterclasses.

Ms Webster said: “Details will be released in the coming weeks so I would strongly encourage businesses to follow the Growth Hub on socials or subscribe to our newsletter as to not miss out on this opportunity.”

n The report can be read at: https://bit.ly/BiB21-22

Utilities firm says it has enjoyed its most successful year

A READING-based utilities firm says it has had its most successful year since it launched 16 years ago.

Leep Utilities, the owner and operator of last-mile utility networks said it has seen a 10% uplift in new contract wins, a 26% increase in contracted connections and a 26% increase in turnover compared to its previous financial year.

And it has secured more than 100,000 contracted multi-utility connections to homes and major businesses across the UK.

High-profile projects included Art’otel London Battersea Power Station, Plot A1 at Canada Water, the Axe Street landmark regeneration project in Barking and Gallions Quarter, near Royal Albert Dock, London.

The company, which has offices in Green Park, has started to rollout new-generation automatic meters across its water networks.

This enables the company to obtain live consumption data, so that its customers can better manage their water usage.

This is a growth from its launch, when Leep Utilities had an asset base of 2,000 connections within the Peel Group-only development portfolio and a team of 10 working out of a small, serviced office in Media City in Salford.

Since then, independent investment manager Ancala acquired an initial 50% of the

SUCCESS:

Tim Power, Director at Ancala Partners and Chairman of Leep Utilities

company, in a joint venture with Peel Group. It increased this share to 90% in 2019, and also acquired SSE Water.

There have been changes to the Leep team over the last 12 months, including Lee Kitchen as chief Financial Officer, Helen Bishop as Director of Customer Operations and Brian Loft as Director of Operations.

Tim Power, director at Ancala Partners and chairman of Leep Utilities, said: “While we celebrate

what has been a great year of growth, we’re very much looking to the future and the many opportunities open to us in terms of UK electric, water and, in particular, heat network connections.

“With the financial backing of Ancala, Leep has enjoyed a significant increase in scale and capabilities. Now, with the new team, company structure and offering in place, we’re in an incredibly strong position to realise what is a very ambitious growth strategy.

“We’re now working within a wider market, to offer all UK developers, contractors and consultants a flexible last-mile utility solution for new residential, commercial and mixed-use developments – whether that’s to adopt electricity, water or heating networks, or a combination of them all. We’re obviously very excited about what our future holds.”

Picture: Bárbara Cascão from Pixabay

EXECUTIVENEWS

Bottom-up consultation approach launched over future of borough

THE FUTURE of Wokingham borough will begin to be shaped, thanks to a new ‘bottom up’ approach.

On Monday, the council began a series of consultations aimed at helping devise a road map.

Among those taking part will be town and parish councils, voluntary bodies, equalities groups, businesses, faith groups, schools, young people, and the University of Reading.

Speaking at the start of the executive meeting held at Shute End on Thursday, January 26, council leader Clive Jones

said this approach was different from previous vision castings as it was devised by consulting with the community rather than creating it themselves.

“We have to lift our eyes from the immediate challenges and look ahead to map out a future that we can all feel part of,” he said.

“We want to involve our external partners in shaping a vision for the future that the council will then seek to implement through its strategy and policies. For the first time, the council is embracing a bottom-up rather than a topdown approach.

“This will truly be a borough vision, jointly authored by a range of interested parties, not just the council.”

Leading the project with the deputy leader of the council, Cllr Stephen Conway, but the consultation sessions will be led by community engagement specialists New Local.

And the borough councillors taking part will come from all sides of the political spectrum.

“The council will be there as an equal partner with the other bodies, not as the managers of the event,” Cllr Jones promised.

PHIL CREIGHTON reports on a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s ruling executive held on Thursday, January 26

Cost of Toutley care home queried

THE COSTS spent so far on a planning application for a 170-bed residential care home planned for Toutley East was questioned by a member of the public.

Keith Malvern raised the issue at a meeting of the Executive Committee held on Thursday, January 26.

Responding, Cllr David Hare, the executive member for health, wellbeing and adult services, said the site is a replacement for Southern Lodge and would be a specialist

Accommodation query for adults with additional needs

THE needs of adults with learning disabilities and mobility needs who need supported living accommodation was an issue raised by a resident.

At the executive meeting held on Thursday, January 26, Mel Horton asked Cllr David Hare, the executive member for health, wellbeing and adult services, how many people were on the waiting list for such a space.

Cllr Hare said that were 100 people, of which 14 had a learning disability coupled with mobility needs.

But, he added: “None of

these individuals have been assessed as having an urgent need for accommodation.”

Instead, they had “robust packages of support” to help carers and individuals.

He continued: “I’m very proud of the last two or three years, we have developed the housing stock in Wokingham. We have 29 individuals who have moved into adaptive accommodation in the last two or three years, and this accommodation was purpose built to support individuals with mobility needs.

“We will continue to build appropriate housing for the

Workshops will follow across this month and next. people who need it.”

Responding, Ms Horton wanted to know how much additional accommodation would become available over the next three months, saying her brother wanted to move to Wokingham, but “it has been politely suggested we look elsewhere”.

Cllr Hare said this wasn’t something he could answer, as it depended on a number of factors.

“We will go on working to ensure we go on working with Birmingham to ensure your brother can find somewhere down here.”

Bridge of whens .... Call to make improvements for footbridge

A FOOTBRIDGE over the A329m that connects Earley and Woodley is being considered for improvements following a monitoring inspection in December that found no safety concerns that could lead to its closure.

Cllr Norman Jorgensen (Con, Maiden Erlegh) asked Cllr Paul Fishwick, the executive member for active travel, EXECUTIVE members agreed a plan to switch its energy provider to help its energy go greener and save money.

Originally due to be agreed at the autumn executive meeting in October, it was deferred until details of the government’s energy support schemes were revealed.

Introducing it, Cllr Sarah Kerr, the executive member for Climate Emergency and Resident Services, said the council was continuing to keep an eye on further government

transport and highways, for more details about the future of the crossing, which helps link Earley station with Woodley.

“The council is currently investigating improvements to this bridge,” he said, adding there were investigations over whether the bridge needed refurbishment or replacement. schemes as the current ones only run until the end of the financial year.

The switch to a energy framework provider from CCS to Laser means the council can benefit from REGO (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin) contracts.

“They can offer some flexibility with how we purchase,” she explained, adding that they had a range of tariffs and variable pricing.

“More local authorities are moving over to Laser. It’s tried

Cllr Jorgensen said this was different to what they had been told over the past couple of years, and wanted to know what had changed and what the timescales would be.

“We need to await the findings from that report,” Cllr Fishwick responded. “That will determine the next steps going forward.”

dementia care home, aimed at offering high quality affordable care for residents.

“Approximately £340,000 was spent surveys, feasibility and design work, and the planning application preparation. About £500,000 has been spent on detailed designed and preparation for the construction of the site. This spend is within the capital budget for the project, which is in the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan,” he said.

Mr Malvern said there had

been “significant local concerns … particularly about the safety of the access from the A321.

“How much money has been spent to come to an acceptable solution, and how much money has been spent explaining to local residents and councillors?”

Cllr Hare said he wasn’t sure, but could get an answer from council officers, but “fairly intensive work” had been undertaken to make the site as safe as possible.

Future of bus funding uncertain

THE COUNCIL has no certainty over the level of funding it will receive from the government to help fund bus services across Wokingham.

Cllr Paul Fishwick, Executive Member for Active Travel, Transport and Highways, gave the bleak warning while presenting a paper about the Local Bus Services Improvement Plan to the executive meeting held on Thursday, January 26.

The council had not received any funding from the government to help run routes around the borough, despite seeing the second highest passenger growth in England, outside of London, in the 10 years leading up to the pandemic.

Passenger numbers, he said, are currently around 81% of pre-covid levels.

However, it was not all bad news. Neighbouring Reading Borough Council has received government funding, and this will have a halo effect on Wokingham services shared with Reading Buses. A number of routes, including the Oranges, Lions, and Leopards, connect the two boroughs.

Under the plan, there would be improvements on the A4 London Road, to help with the Orange routes to Woodley, while key junctions will benefit from new bus priority lanes to help services heading to Wokingham. There will also be more active enforcement of red routes and box junctions.

Cllr Fishwick said they had received feedback from the Department of Transport over their failed bid, which included looking at ways to

strengthen partnership working.

“Local bus services are vital for Wokingham Borough and the wider area. They play an important role for people to access jobs, retail and services, schools’/ further education, business to business connectivity, visiting the hospital/ health centres as well as for leisure activities,” he said.

“They are a lifeline for the community and the economy and carry 2.8 million passengers per annum.”

He added that council leader Cllr Clive Jones was a co-signature with him on a letter to the government. In it, they highlighted “the major issue of no clear future of funding support, as the challenge to fund and maintain a financially sustainable network, without central government assistance now rests with the council, local bus operators and our partners.”

This was followed up with a meeting with the Minister for Roads and Local Transport, Richard Holden, where they discussed driver shortages and a lack of future funding.

“We recognise the vital role of local bus services for our residents in offering greener and healthier travel alternatives,” Cllr Fishwick continued. “If we want to continue to have a good bus network, we also need more people to use the buses. I therefore urge residents to take the bus, whenever possible and with the £2 single fare incentive – except football and school allocated buses – now is a great time to start.”

backlog

and tested, it’s going to make us greener and save us money in the long run.”

Cllr Imogen Shepherd-Dubey, executive member for finance, said: “This scheme allows to take advantage of economies of scale and buying energy in bulk. It ensures that more of the energy we use will come from renewable sources.”

She thanked the council’s contracts and energy teams for the work they had carried out on this.

MORE THAN 5,000 roadworks are undertaken on Wokingham borough roads every year – with utility companies responsible for 75% of them. These repairs help weaken roads, causing to defects to appear, while the recent cold and wet weather will cause more problems according to Cllr Paul Fishwick, the executive member for active travel, transport and highways. He called on Westminster to do more to help fund councils so road maintenance can be carried out.

“We need investment from government now, and very quickly,” he said.

He was responding to a question from Cllr Alison Swaddle (Con, Coronation)

who wanted to know how the council would maintain the current level of road maintenance if there was no increased provision in the budget for the financial year ahead.

“We set aside £11 million for road repairs and a special pothole fund,” she said of her administration, which lost power in May. “In the coming budget year, it looks as though you’re going to cut funding for pothole maintenance in real terms.

“With inflation at 10%, surely this is going to have to mean cuts. After the harsh, cold winter that we are experiencing, roads are going to need more maintenance, not less,” she said, adding that

roads

residents of Ravensbourne Drive in Woodley were unhappy that parts of the road was resurfaced, and they weren’t happy with the quality of the work.

“What hope can you offer our residents that we will be able to offer them proper maintenance of their roads going forward?” she asked.

Cllr Fishwick said:

“There’s over £12.6 billion worth of backlog of highway maintenance across England and Wales. That funding needs to come from government. They have underinvested in local highway roads for a long, long time.

“Without that funding, our roads will continue to deteriorate.”

Energy strategy to make going green easier and save money

Roadworks and winter weaken

– and there’s a pothole

EXECUTIVENEWS

PHIL CREIGHTON reports on a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s ruling executive held on Thursday, January 26

Cllr says government is cause for delays to new housing plan

THE GOVERNMENT’S ongoing delays to publishing guidance over the future of planning rules for local councils is hindering progress of Wokingham council’s local plan update.

The document is a requirement as it allocates potential housing sites in the borough for a set period of time, in this case up to 2036.

The previous administration ran a consultation on its first drafts, which had to be withdrawn due to the Ministry of Defence vetoing a proposal to build a garden town in Grazeley.

It had not published the results of its second consultation before the change of leadership in the council last May.

Cllr Charles Margetts (Con, Finchampstead North) wanted to know when the

timetable for the new local plan would be published.

“As you will be aware that government is consulting on changes to the national planning policy, I cautiously welcomed some of the government’s proposals. However, it is important that we reflect on this before agreeing a revised programme for the local plan,” said Cllr Lindsay Ferris, the executive member for planning and the local plan.

“We continue to work on this so we are ready to push forward as soon as a national picture becomes clearer.”

Cllr Margetts responded by saying his ward has seen a number of planning applications which the council had, historically, been able to defend but now officers were recommending

approval or appeals had been lost.

“My concern is that this position of things not moving forward, except for the background work, to the next stage of consultation is making this easier for sites to be developed which the council has historically fought against,” he said.

“What protection can you give in the short term?”

Cllr Ferris reminded Cllr Margetts that under the previous administration, he had organised a petition calling on the Conservatives to drop Rooks Nest from the local plan.

“We are only doing what residents requested, and looking at the objections made by people across the borough.

“It is what we promised to do: listen to the objections, ask the officers

to see if there are any better options,” he continued.

“We lost the fiveyear-land supply (which protected the borough from speculative development) on February 18. 2022, three months before I took on the role.

“If the government proposals as they currently stand come into force in April, then overprovision (of housing) is taken into account … ours is calculated at 1,700.”

A second benefit is removing the housing buffer, which would reduce the housing allocation by 40 homes per year, or 500 over the lifetime of the local plan.

“The current proposal works on 780 dwellings a year, if we are able to get what I’ve just mentioned, we will have around about a figure of closer to

Work on 3G pitch in Lower Earley put on hold

600, if not below,” he said.

“I think it is worth fighting to have a local plan which is 2,200 plus lower than the original plan that was put together 12 months ago…

“I think it is 10 times better for us to have a local plan which is a much lower figure because of these proposals.”

He encouraged Cllr Margetts and his Conservative colleagues to lobby MPs to ensure the revised housing plan is passed by parliament.

Cllr Margetts responded by saying: “I’ve been lobbying my MP for about five, six years on these issues.

“You will not find any fight from me on that point.”

Cllr Jones quipped: “Has he listened?” before moving on to the next question.

RESIDENTS campaigning against plans to build a new 3G pitch on Maiden Erlegh School will be pleased to learn that Wokingham Borough Council is pausing work to allow a review to take place.

It will explore optimal pitch locations across the borough, to ensure maximum access with minimal disruption.

Cllr Ian Shenton, the executive member for environment, sports and leisure, introduced the review at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s ruling executive on Thursday, January26.

In July last year, the executive agreed to proceed with the Maiden Erlegh plan subject to a public consultation, he explained.

This showed there was demand for a pitch, but there were difficulties with the site and the council’s financial situation had worsened while costs increased.

“3G provision in the Earley and Lower Earley area needs to be reassessed,” he said.

“We believed this is best achieved as part of a revised borough-wide strategy, with the cessation of work on the Maiden Erlegh proposal at this time.”

Councillors present voted in favour of the pause.

Hurst appeal over 200 homes: Residents made passionate plea to save green space

By SUE CORCORAN news@wokingham.today

RESIDENTS fighting 200 new homes on a green field made passionate speeches to try to stop the building scheme.

They fear the plan will endanger their children and destroy wildlife. More than 400 residents objected to the proposed homes at Hurst getting planning permission.

On Tuesday the developers started their battle to overturn Wokingham Borough Council’s refusal of permission. They want to develop the land, now home to horses and donkeys, between Lodge Road and Tape Lane.

Resident Andrew Alsop of nearby School Road said he was driven to oppose the scheme by his personal pain as a schoolboy: his friend’s sister was killed in a road accident when leaving their school one afternoon.

He now lives close to St Nicholas Primary School in School Road, Hurst. He said he wanted to “prevent a similar devastating accident from happening again.”

He had vivid memories of seeing the pain of his friend and his family at a tree-planting ceremony for the teenager who was killed.

It “was so disturbing and upsetting and [it’s] why I’m here today,” he told the planning inquiry at Wokingham Borough Council’s offices.

He opposed the 200 homes because Hurst’s roads could not cope with one single extra car, he said.

School Road was narrow anyway, but parked cars made it single lane.

“The footpath is narrow, children are in the road as they are walked to and from their parked cars … mums are pushing buggies, walking dogs, other children are on bikes or scooters … it does feel like a perfect scenario for a devastating accident waiting to happen,” he said.

Clare Woodward of Sawpit Road showed a video of her walk with her son to St Nicholas School.

“We are very concerned that our road will become a major throughfare and a cut-through for traffic to Wokingham if an additional 200 houses are built,” she said.

Sawpit Road was a popular route to school and had no pavements.

The new homes would create light pollution.

“We have no light pollution [now] and can see the beautiful stars in the sky,” she said.

The sewerage system was inadequate for 200 more properties. In 2014 her garden was filled with sewage coming up from the main sewer. They’d had no showers or flush toilet for a week.

John Osborne of Hurst Village Society was concerned about the creation of a “largescale urban-style development on a greenfield site that would irreversible and damage the rural appearance and character of the village forever.”

Residents were concerned about the effects on schools, GP surgeries and hospitals when public services were overstretched.

Resident Frances Davis said previous planning inspectors had said the scheme’s site was an important green gap between Whistley Green and Hurst.

“We and so many others rely on this green field for our mental wellbeing,” she said.

“The appellants have a blank cheque to do exactly as they like, by using reserved matters to ride roughshod over residents’ views and will ultimately destroy our village and community.

“To lose the valued view of the wooded horizon, the green verges and rural view of the field and the peace and quiet and instead be faced with wall to wall bricks, tiles and roofs will quite simply destroy the character.”

There were already 50-minute waits to get through to the Twyford GPs on the phone.

The bus was not regular enough and not at the right times. Hurst residents had to use cars.

Jessica Lake, a mother of two young children, of Hogmoor Lane, said she moved to Hurst because they wanted a nice safe rural area. But having so many new homes [with cars] would mean her children could not walk to friends’ homes or cycle safely to The Piggott School.

Graham Welch of Tape Lane said three cars were written off in an accident on the A321. Children were at risk.

John Edwards said that in his 52 years in Hurst he had seen significant loss of plants and creatures.

Mr Edwards added: “Hurst’s wildlife has been depleted of many lapwings, finches, swifts, martins, sparrows, yellowhammers, Mistle thrushes, collared doves, bats, water voles, hedgehogs, frogs, roads and newts, rabbits and hares, farmland flowers, many butterflies and moths, and so many insects.”

In last weekend’s RSPB garden bird count he spotted

just 10 species, about half the count of 15-20 years ago. There were just nine butterflies in his survey last year. It was an alltime low in 13 years.

“The appeal site sits in the middle of a critical wildlife corridor between … east and west habitats. Consequently, the development of the site will cause demonstrable and irreplaceable harm to Hurst’s wildlife. By the appellant’s ecologists’ own admission, Hurst will be losing nearly 45% of its wildlife habitat on this site.”

Parish councillor Alastair Lyon said the proposal could mean an extra 1,800 vehicle journeys a day, plus delivery vehicles and others.

Aisling Humphries, 25 (pictured) said she commuted from Twyford station, car sharing with three others. It was increasingly difficult to park. The new Elizabeth Line was “not all it was made out to be.” The very slow service had “passengers packed in like sardines”.

King’s Counsel barrister Rupert Warren, speaking for the appellants, MacTaggart and Mickel Homes, did not question the residents.

He said permission should

be granted for the plan unless the harmful effects of the scheme would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits. This judgment had to be made because the council had a supply of housing land which would last just 3.95 years. The requirement is five.

The site is in flood zone 1. Mr Warren said that under the plan the site would be drained with a proper scheme. He said the landscape value and sensitivity of the site was only moderate. He admitted there would be “moderate” harm from its development.

He said the site was near an

GIVING EVIDENCE:

Hurst’s Wokingham Borough Councillor Wayne Smith, with papers, and Hurst Parish Council barrister Alex Shattock (centre)

excellent train service including the Elizabeth Line. Veteran trees would be protected. Benefits of the scheme would include the new homes, with 40% of them being affordable, and it had more benefits than harms.

Barrister Alex Shattock on behalf of Hurst Parish Council said: “This scheme represents a significant percentage increase to the population of Hurst and Whistley Green: almost 50%, virtually overnight … The appellant seeks to impose a large scheme on an area that the Development Plan tells us is the most inappropriate.”

He said Wokingham had over-delivered on new homes in the past.

The parish council would show Hurst and Whistley Green would be fundamentally changed by the plan. The scheme’s harms significantly outweighed its benefits.

Barrister for Wokingham Borough Council Matt Lewin said the proposal would be very significant unplanned development in an unsustainable countryside location. Mr Chris Hannington spoke about the benefits of the current undeveloped site’s landscape and trees. The hearing continues.

Custom and self-build homes proposed for Hurst for a second time

A SECOND scheme to build 33 custom and self-build homes on a green field has been proposed – even though the first one was refused permission a year ago.

This time the developers are proposing that 17 of the 33 homes at Broadcommon Road, Hurst, should be ‘affordable’ ones. Last time 14 were suggested.

Wokingham Borough Council, which will decide whether to give planning permission for the second scheme, has invited the public to give their views on it. The deadline for this is February 15.

The council said that the first plan would mean development encroaching on the countryside.

It also said the site was not at a convenient walking distance to facilities and services, public transport and schools. This would mean residents depending on cars, increasing carbon emissions.

They also had concerns about great crested newts, bats, reptiles and nesting birds and loss of agricultural land.

In the second proposal, just put forward, Leaper Land says it has given replies to the council’s reasons for refusal last time. They say that the extra affordable homes give significant weight in any judgment over whether the scheme’s benefits outweigh its harmful impacts.

And they say there are more

details about the potential impact on newts, bats and birds, “none of which are likely to be affected by the scheme.” The proposed planting and hedgerow improvements along with the new wetland area would bring about biodiversity gains. They say they show how the development’s residents will not be reliant on car use.

A new footpath has been suggested.

A row of semi-detached cottages has replaced an apartment block.

n Details of the new plan number 223805 can be found at https:// www.wokingham.gov.uk/ planning

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PUBLICNOTICES

ROADTRAFFICREGULATIONACT1984 WOKINGHAMBOROUGHCOUNCIL (B3430NINEMILERIDE,WOKINGHAM) (TEMPORARYPROHIBITIONOF DRIVING)ORDER2023

NOTICEISHEREBYgiventhatWokinghamBorough CouncilasTrafficAuthorityproposestomakeanOrder underSection14(1)(a)oftheRoadTrafficRegulation Act1984theeffectofwhichistoprohibitanyvehicle fromproceedingalong:

B3430NineMileRide,Wokinghambetweenits junctionswithHoneyHillandNewWokinghamRoad. Thealternativerouteforallvehiclesaffectedbythis restrictionshallbeviaOldWokinghamRoad,B3348 BracknellRoad,B3348DukesRideandNew WokinghamRoadorbythisrouteinreverse. Worksrequiringthisrestrictionwilltakeplacebetween 20thFebruaryand20thMarch2023

ThereasonfortheseprohibitionsistoallowSouthern GasNetworkscontractorstoundertakegas replacementschemeinsafety.

Accessforresidentsandbusinesseswithinthe boundariesoftheserestrictionswillbemaintainedatall times.

TherestrictionimposedbytheOrdershallonlyapply duringthoseperiodswhentrafficsignscomplyingwith theTrafficSignsRegulationsandGeneralDirections 2016arelawfullydisplayed.

TherestrictionscontainedintheOrdershallcomeinto operationonthe20thFebruary2023andshallcontinue inforceforaperiodnotexceeding18monthsoruntil theworkshavebeencompleted,whicheveristhe earlier.

Dated:2ndFebruary2023

ChrisEaston

AssistantDirector–HighwaysandTransport WokinghamBoroughCouncil CivicOffices ShuteEnd Wokingham BerkshireRG401WL

ROADTRAFFICREGULATIONACT1984

WOKINGHAMBOROUGHCOUNCIL (MILLEYLANE,HAREHATCH) (TEMPORARYPROHIBITIONOF DRIVING)ORDER2023

NOTICEISHEREBYgiventhatWokinghamBorough CouncilasTrafficAuthorityproposestomakeanOrder underSection14(1)(a)oftheRoadTrafficRegulation Act1984theeffectofwhichistoprohibitanyvehicle fromproceedingalong:

MilleyLane,HareHatchbetweenitsjunctionswith ScarlettsLaneandA4BathRoad.

Thealternativerouteforallvehiclesaffectedbythis restrictionshallbeviaA4BathRoadandScarlettsLane orbythisrouteinreverse.

Worksrequiringthisrestrictionwilltakeplacebetween 22ndFebruaryand24thFebruary2023.

ThereasonfortheseprohibitionsistoallowThames Watercontractorstoundertakecarriagewayservice piperepairworkinsafety.

Accessforresidentsandbusinesseswithinthe boundariesoftheserestrictionswillbemaintainedatall times.

TherestrictionimposedbytheOrdershallonlyapply duringthoseperiodswhentrafficsignscomplyingwith theTrafficSignsRegulationsandGeneralDirections 2016arelawfullydisplayed.

TherestrictionscontainedintheOrdershallcomeinto operationonthe22ndFebruary2023andshall continueinforceforaperiodnotexceeding18months oruntiltheworkshavebeencompleted,whicheveris theearlier.

Dated:2ndFebruary2023

ChrisEaston

AssistantDirector–HighwaysandTransport WokinghamBoroughCouncil

CivicOffices

ShuteEnd Wokingham

BerkshireRG401WL

ROADTRAFFICREGULATIONACT1984 WOKINGHAMBOROUGHCOUNCIL (VARIOUSROADS,EARLEY,

(TEMPORARYPROHIBITIONOF DRIVING)ORDER2023

NOTICEISHEREBYgiventhatWokinghamBorough CouncilasTrafficAuthorityproposestomakeanOrder underSection14(1)(a)oftheRoadTrafficRegulation Act1984theeffectofwhichisprohibitanyvehiclefrom proceedingalong:

1.MillLane,EarleyandSindleshambetweenits junctionswithB3270LowerEarleyWayandB3030 MoleRoad.

Thealternativerouteforallvehiclesaffectedbythis restrictionshallbeviaB3270LowerEarleyWayNorth, HatchFarmWay,B3030KingStreetLaneandB3030 MoleRoadorbythisrouteinreverse.

2.SandfordLane,Hurstbetweenitsjunctionswith B3030DavisStreetandMohawkWay.

Thealternativerouteforallvehiclesaffectedbythis restrictionshallbeviaB3030DavisStreet,B3030 RobinhoodLane,A329ReadingRoad,A3290Loddon BridgeandTheBaderWayInterchange,TheBaderWay andMohawkWayorbythisrouteinreverse. Worksrequiringtheserestrictionswilltakeplacewhen appropriatepermitsareinplace.

Thereasonfortheseprohibitionsistoallow WokinghamBoroughCouncilcontractorstoundertake annualroutinebridgemaintenanceworkinsafety. Accessforresidentsandbusinesseswithinthe boundariesoftheserestrictionswillbemaintainedatall times.

TherestrictionimposedbytheOrdershallonlyapply duringthoseperiodswhentrafficsignscomplyingwith theTrafficSignsRegulationsandGeneralDirections 2016arelawfullydisplayed.

TherestrictionscontainedintheOrdershallcomeinto operationonthe23rdFebruary2023andshallcontinue inforceforaperiodnotexceeding18monthsoruntil theworkshavebeencompleted,whicheveristhe earlier.

Dated:2ndFebruary2023

ChrisEaston AssistantDirector–HighwaysandTransport WokinghamBoroughCouncil CivicOffices ShuteEnd Wokingham BerkshireRG401WL

NOTICEISHEREBYgiventhatWokinghamBorough CouncilasTrafficAuthorityproposestomakeanOrder underSection14(1)(a)oftheRoadTrafficRegulation Act1984theeffectofwhichistoprohibitanyvehicle fromproceedingalong:

NorreysAvenue,Wokinghambetweenitsjunctionswith A329WiltshireRoadandElizabethRoad.

Thealternativerouteforalleastboundvehiclesaffected bythisrestrictionshallbeviaA329WiltshireRoad, A329LondonRoadandBarrettCrescent.

Thealternativerouteforallwestboundvehicles affectedbythisrestrictionshallbeviaBarrettCrescent, A329LondonRoad,A329PeachStreet,A329Market Place,A329BroadStreet,A329RectoryRoadandA329 WiltshireRoad.

Worksrequiringthisrestrictionwilltakeplaceon20th February2023.

ThereasonfortheseprohibitionsistoallowClearview ServicesGroupcontractorstoundertaketelecoms maintenanceusingcherrypickerinsafety.

Accessforresidentsandbusinesseswithinthe boundariesoftheserestrictionswillbemaintainedatall times.

TherestrictionimposedbytheOrdershallonlyapply duringthoseperiodswhentrafficsignscomplyingwith theTrafficSignsRegulationsandGeneralDirections 2016arelawfullydisplayed.

TherestrictionscontainedintheOrdershallcomeinto operationonthe20thFebruary2023andshallcontinue inforceforaperiodnotexceeding18monthsoruntil theworkshavebeencompleted,whicheveristhe earlier.

Dated:2ndFebruary2023

ChrisEaston AssistantDirector–HighwaysandTransport WokinghamBoroughCouncil CivicOffices ShuteEnd Wokingham BerkshireRG401WL

ROADTRAFFICREGULATIONACT1984 WOKINGHAMBOROUGHCOUNCIL (VARIOUSROADS,WOKINGHAM BOROUGH) (TEMPORARYPROHIBITIONOF DRIVING)ORDER2023

NOTICEISHEREBYgiventhatWokinghamBorough CouncilasTrafficAuthorityproposestomakeanOrder underSection14(1)(a)oftheRoadTrafficRegulation Act1984theeffectofwhichistoprohibitanyvehicle fromproceedingalong:

1.ChurchLane,Arborfieldbetweenitsjunctions withA327ReadingRoadandB3030SindleshamRoad. Thealternativerouteforallvehiclesaffectedbythis restrictionshallbeviaA327ReadingRoadandB3030 SindleshamRoadorbythisrouteinreverse. Worksrequiringthisrestrictionwilltakeplacebetween 20thFebruary2023and22ndFebruary2023.

2.BuncesShawRoad,FarleyHillbetweenits junctionswithCastleHillandChurchLaneArborfield. Thealternativerouteforallvehiclesaffectedbythis restrictionshallbeviaCastleHillandChurchLane Arborfieldorbythisrouteinreverse.

Worksrequiringthisrestrictionwilltakeplacebetween 1stMarch2023and3rdMarch2023.

3.BloomfieldhatchLane,Grazeleybetweenits junctionswithLambwoodHillandWokinghamBorough Boundary.

Thealternativerouteforallvehiclesaffectedbythis restrictionshallbeviaLambwoodHill,BloomfieldHatch Lane,GrazeleyandCrossLaneorbythisroutein reverse.

Worksrequiringthisrestrictionwilltakeplacebetween 15thMarch2023and17thMarch2023.

ThereasonfortheseprohibitionsistoallowBT contractorstoundertakeexcavationandreplacementof telecommunicationpolesandotherassociateddutiesin safety.

Accessforresidentsandbusinesseswithinthe boundariesoftheserestrictionswillbemaintainedatall times.

TherestrictionimposedbytheOrdershallonlyapply duringthoseperiodswhentrafficsignscomplyingwith theTrafficSignsRegulationsandGeneralDirections 2016arelawfullydisplayed.

TherestrictionscontainedintheOrdershallcomeinto operationonthe20thFebruary2023andshallcontinue inforceforaperiodnotexceeding18monthsoruntil theworkshavebeencompleted,whicheveristhe earlier.

Dated:2ndFebruary2023

ChrisEaston AssistantDirector–HighwaysandTransport WokinghamBoroughCouncil CivicOffices ShuteEnd Wokingham

BerkshireRG401WL

SINDLESHAMANDHURST)

ROADTRAFFICREGULATIONACT1984 WOKINGHAMBOROUGHCOUNCIL (NORREYSAVENUE,WOKINGHAM) (TEMPORARYPROHIBITIONOF DRIVING)ORDER2023

38 To advertise, email advertising@wokingham.today WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, February 2, 2023

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PUBLICNOTICES

WOKINGHAMBOROUGHCOUNCIL PLANNING APPLICATION

TheTownandCountryPlanning(DevelopmentManagementProcedure)(England)Order

2015 AND/OR Planning(ListedBuildingsandConservationAreas)Regulations1990

Thefollowingapplication(s)havebeensubmittedandareadvertisedforthereasonsbelow:

223805 Landat BroadcommonRoad, Hurst

230151 Acrefield,Charvil Lane,Sonning

PUBLICNOTICES

ROADTRAFFICREGULATIONACT1984 WOKINGHAMBOROUGHCOUNCIL (B3349BARKHAMROAD,WOKINGHAM) (TEMPORARYPROHIBITIONOFDRIVING)ORDER2023

NOTICEISHEREBYgiventhatWokinghamBoroughCouncilasTrafficAuthority proposestomakeanOrderunderSection14(1)(a)oftheRoadTrafficRegulationAct 1984theeffectofwhichistoprohibitanyvehiclefromproceedingalong: B3349BarkhamRoad,WokinghambetweenitsjunctionswithOxfordRoad andA321WellingtonRoad.

Thealternativerouteforallcarsandlightvehicles(Northbound)affectedbythe restrictionshallbeviaB3349BarkhamRoad,MollyMillarsLane,A321Finchampstead RoadandA321WellingtonRoad

Thealternativerouteforallcarsandlightvehicles(Southbound)affectedbythe restrictionshallbeviaStationApproach,A329ReadingRoad,A321Station Road,A321WellingtonRoad,A321FinchampsteadRoad,MollyMillarsLane andB3349BarkhamRoad.

Major Application

Conservation Area

230152 ArborfieldGarrison, &AdjoiningLand, Arborfield

Major Application

230163 1UpperTerrace, BearwoodRoad,

Workstoalisted building

Outlineplanningpermissionforaphaseddevelopment includingtheproposederectionofupto33no.Custom andSelf-Buildhomes(plots)toinclude17no.affordable homes,pluspublicopenspaceswithequippedplay, landscaping,andotherassociatedinfrastructure.(All mattersreservedexceptforaccess).

Applicationforremovalorvariationofacondition followinggrantofplanningpermission(183160).Full applicationfortheproposederectionof2nodwellings followingdemolitionofexistingdwelling consent(23/01/2019).Tovarycondition2,3toamendthe designofthedwellingstoimprovetheircontributionto theconservationareaandcondition10toprovidea drainagestrategy.

ApplicationfortheapprovalofReservedMatters pursuanttooutlineplanningconsentO/2014/2280 (dated02/04/2015).TheReservedMatterscomprise detailsof135dwellingswithinParcelO2(includingboth marketandaffordablehousing)withaccessfromBiggs Lane,associatedinternalaccessroads,parking, landscaping,openspace,footpathsanddrainage.Access, Appearance,Landscaping,LayoutandScaletobe considered.

ApplicationforListedBuildingConsentfortheproposed demolitionoftherearutilityroomextensionand alterationstotheoriginalwalllinewithanewkitchen window;tocreateaFrenchdrainandlowerthepatio; replaceexistingpatiodoorsinawideropening;toreplace theexistingdiningroomdoorandsidewindowwitha window;reversetheopen-planhallformationtoenclose thenewlivingroomwithnewstructureandlightweight walls;andreplacethemodernstaircasetocreatethe spaceforthenewLivingRoomwalls;toadjusttheexisting internalKitchendooropening;relocatetwooriginaldoors toonenewdoortotheBathroom;replacetwomodern fireplaces.

Theapplicationisavailabletoview onlineatwokingham.gov.uk � Planning � Searchplanningapplicationsand typingintheapplicationnumberabove. Commentsontheapplicationcanbemade onlinefromthiswebpage. Anycommentsmustarriveonorbeforethe20thofFebruary2023. Anycommentsmadearenotconfidentialandcan beseenbyanyoneastheyformpartofthepublicrecord.Thecomments,unlessoffensive,discriminatoryand/orracist, willappearontheCouncil’swebsitewithin24hoursand includethesubmittednameandaddress. Duetothehigh volumeofcommentsreceivedwedonotprovideindividualresponses.

Date:2ndFebruary2023

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TherestrictionscontainedintheOrdershallcomeintooperationonthe25thFebruary 2023andshallcontinueinforceforaperiodnotexceeding18monthsoruntilthe workshavebeencompleted,whicheveristheearlier.

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LEISURETODAY

Your guide to what’s on across Reading and Wokingham

more than ready for the ride’

ON the morning of Monday, January 30, the billboard outside Reading Station announced that Reading band Only The Poets had signed to EMI Records.

The band broke the news via Twitter with a video showing them making the announcement to fans in Berlin on Sunday, January 29.

While Berlin might seem like an unusual place to be celebrating, guitarist and lead vocalist Tommy Longhurst says it is indicative of the fandom they have garnered abroad.

“It’s rare to have the footprint we have and the fans we have already in Europe as an unsigned band.

“But we feel that support and love in rooms all over Europe and the UK.”

Last year, the band’s Our Time tour saw sold-out shows in Paris, Cologne, Oslo, Warsaw, Vienna, Barcelona, and Amsterdam across a 24-date run.

Only The Poets’ beginnings as a project lay in Woodley, though: “The live music scene – well Reading Festival

really – whetted my appetite,” Tommy explains.

“I started going before doing the band and it made me fall in love with the idea of writing music to be performed in that way.

“I showed Andy,” who is the other original member, on bass, “what I was working on, and we started jamming.

“We were joined by Clem and Marcus about four years ago, but they had worked on recording, and so they’re incredibly techy.

“It was a little like two bands came together, and now it feels like this has been the only ever line-up.”

Now that the band has been signed, Tommy says: “You feel very flattered, it’s what a lot of people strive for.

“We’ve built a lot on our own, so there’s no shame in saying that we feel like we were ready for that opportunity.”

He says the ability to keep the integrity of the relationships with fans was an important factor to consider.

“EMI gets what we’re about with

our fans, and we have to ensure nothing changes for them.

“Our message is that we are a family, and our shows are a safe space, and they are the driving force behind everything we have.

“Especially in the digital age, we strive to make it so that there’s no judgment.”

The fostering of this atmosphere has led to particularly touching moments, he says: “Fans have come up to us and told us they’ve met their best friends at our gigs.

“There’s no bigger compliment than people telling you that; we want to look after them, and thank them, because they’re why we got here, really.”

The band’s efforts to create this space is part of a growing movement of artists such as Yungblud who make the community and its well-being the focus of the movement.

“I write songs about important topics and it speaks to people – it’s really important for us to write about topics like mental health awareness.

“People didn’t traditionally, but now more than ever, which is brilliant and refreshing; negativity is pouring into the world and it affects people.”

This is also some of the focus of Tommy’s songwriting: “People get really emotional.

“You can either leave everything at

the door at our gigs if you want to, but we also see how much they can mean to people.

“It’s more important than ever that people know you’ve got their back.”

As well signing to EMI Records, the band is about to tour as support to Lewis Capaldi, also signed to the label.

Ahead of that, however, is the much more important matter of two sold-out homecoming shows at The Purple Turtle, which features in some of the band’s work.

“We’ve been very vocal about the Turtle and the nights we’ve had in there, and those shows will be special because it’s part of our world.

“Across the two shows, there’ll be about 600 people there, I think – the first time we played was about 20.

“I can’t wait – it means a lot to me, and that bar is ingrained in the DNA of Only The Poets.”

On signing with EMI, Tommy says: “I couldn’t speak more highly of them, we know how good they are at what they do.

“The ideas they throw out there are what we want and it doesn’t feel like much has changed, which is great.

“I’m quickly learning that, because we went full-time for about five months – flying to Oslo, Sweden, Atlanta – is that it sounds really glamorous.

“And I love how busy it is, but you

don’t have control so feeling anxious and excited is only natural.”

The band has had a number of turning points, including their appearance at the festival which started it all for Tommy.

“It was before they got rid of the NME stage, so it was as I remembered the festival, and we were stepping out to a beautiful moment– even for a Sunday morning.

“Playing the festival that made me fall in love with the idea of being in a band was the real full circle moment; we’re dying to play again.”

On the day that the band was signed, he says: “We weren’t together in the same place, but it was emotional, and we had a call and a heart-to-heart.

“We all celebrated individually, and it feels like the end goal, but this is where it starts.

“We were already hungry, and now it’s going to be on a whole new scale.

“We’re more than ready for the ride.”

While both of the band’s homecoming shows at The Purple Turtle are sold out, information about the band’s upcoming tour with Lewis Capaldi and their headline European tour in April, as well as links to their social media, can be found via: linktr.ee/ OnlyThePoets

‘We’re

Only The Poets have signed to EMI Records but, as JAKE CLOTHIER discovers, it’s home comforts such as The Purple Turtle that matter to the band

Wave hello to New Wave tribute show

TRIBUTE band Spandau Too bring the 1980s to life, with sounds of the New Wave London band.

Endorsed by Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley, the tribute show includes a string of the group’s hits.

Fans can expect to hear: To Cut A Long Story Short; Through The Barricades; Highly Strung; Lifeline; Gold; and True.

Spandau Too Tribute can be seen at Norden Farm Arts Centre, Maidenhead. The event is on Thursday, February 2.

Doors open at 8pm, and tickets cost £19.

n For more details, log on to: norden.farm or call the box office on: 01628 788977.

Join Mike on his first solo stand-up tour

FOR A night of nostalgia and fun, audiences can join Mike Bubbins for his first-ever solo UK stand-up tour.

The star of podcast The Socially Distant Sports Bar, and of BBC television comedies Mammoth, Tourist Trap and The Unexplainers, brings to life everything that he finds funny, has a laugh, and gets a bit annoyed maybe even very annoyed.

Audiences can expect stories and optimism, along with Bubbins’ response to berks past and future.

His THROWBACK tour visits

Maidenhead, Norden Farm Arts Centre on Saturday, February 4.

Doors open at 8pm, with tickets available for £19.50.

n For tickets and information log on to: norden.farm, or call the box office on: 01628 788977

It’s all the splurge as Bugsy makes return

RARE Productions presents 1930s New York gangster spoof, Bugsy Malone. A comedy musical all the family can enjoy, cream pies replace bullets, and children play the adults.

Bugsy Malone is at Reading’s Hexagon Theatre, on Friday and Saturday, February 10 and 11.

Doors open on Friday at 7.30pm, and on Saturday at 2pm and 6.30pm.

Tickets cost £20.50, and £18.50 for under 16s.

AT THE THEATRE

Bracknell –South Hill Park

www.southhillpark.org.uk

01344 484123

Toothpaste Kisses. Wed 1-Sat 4.

High School Musical on Stage. Thurs 2-Sat 4. The Comedy Cellar. Fri 3. West Forest Sinfonia. Sun 5. The

Hollow by Agatha Christie.

Wed 8-Sat 11. Prog Rock

night: Ruby Dawn and the Far Meadow. Wed 8.

Conservatoire: Renata Konyiccka. Fri 10. The Comedy Cellar. Fri 10. South Hill Park tours. Sun 12.

Wilde Sundays: Across The Sea, Marshpoem, Veronica Drosbowski. Sun 12.

FILMS: Call Jane. Fri 3-Sun 5.

Clara Sola. Mon 6-Tues 7.

A Bunch of Amateurs. Wed 8-Thurs 9. Guillermo

Del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Fri 10-Sun 12. She Said.

Fri 10-Sun 12.

Tickets cost £10 for an adult and child, and £7 for each additional for adult or child.

n For tickets and information visit: yvonne-arnaud.co.uk, or call the box office on: 01483 440000

In the park, in the dark, there is a shark

TIMOTHY Pope is looking through his telescope, when, in the park he sees a shark.

Youngsters can see all three of Nick Sharratt’s Shark in the Park early years books performed live on stage in this show: Shark in the Park, Shark in the Dark and Shark in the Park on a Windy Day.

A pre-show craft workshop Sunday February 12, allows children to make their own kaleidoscope to take into the show with them.

Shark In The Park is on at Newbury’s Corn Exchange, on Saturday and Sunday, February 11 and 12.

Performances on Saturday are at 1pm and 3pm.

On Sunday, a craft workshop at 10am precedes the show at 11am, and a second craft workshop at 1pm is followed by the show at 2pm.

n For tickets and information visit: whatsonreading.com, or call the box office: 0118 960 6060

Unhappy romance found in The Hollow

BRACKNELL’S Studio Theatre Company presents The Hollow, where the plot unfolds into an unhappy game of romantic follow-the-leader.

Romance explodes into murder one weekend at The Hollow, home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell, and everyone is a potential suspect.

Audiences can enjoy this Agatha Christie classic at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell.

Performances are from Wednesday, February 8 through to Saturday, February 11.

Doors open at 7.45pm, with tickets

Camberley –Theatre

www.camberleytheatre.biz

01276 707600

An Evening with Sir Geoff Hurst. Thurs 2. Rob Newman. Sat 4. Lloyd Griffith: One Tonne of Fun. Sun 5. The Little Mermaid, an adult panto. Tues 7-Wed 8. The

Scummy Mummies. Thurs 9.

A Tribute to The Carpenters. Fri 10. Ben Thompson as Elvis. Sun 12.

Guildford –Yvonne Arnaud

www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

01483 440000

Wodehouse in Wonderland. Thurs 2-Sat 4. Steel Magnolias. Tues 7-Sat 11. Adventures of an Ugly Duckling. Wed 8.

High Wycombe –Wycombe Swan

www.wycombeswan.co.uk

01494 512000

An Evening of Burlesque.

Thurs 2. David O’Doherty:

Whoa Is Me. Thurs 2. Jim

Davidson: Not Yet Cancelled.

costing £17, or £16 for concessions.

n For tickets and information log on to: www.southhillpark.org.uk, or call the box office on: 01344 484123

Renata tickles the ivories for concert

HUNGARIAN born, London-based concert pianist Renata Konyicska plays as part of the Conservatoire International Concert Series.

Her programme includes a complete performance of Chopin’s Preludes Op. 28, along with works by Mozart (Sonata in B flat) and Schubert’s Impromptu In C Minor.

She performs at Bracknell’s South Hill Park Arts Centre, on Friday, February 10. Doors open at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £16.50, £12.50 for over 65s, students and unemployed, and

Throwback. Sat 4. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Fri 9. Both Sides

Tickets cost £32, £35, and £39 depending on seat location, with concessions available at £12.

n For tickets and information visit: yvonne-arnaud.co.uk or call the box office on: 01483 440000.

£5.50 for under 18s.

n For tickets and information log on to: www.southhillpark.org.uk or call the box office on: 01344 484123

Quack quack!

ADVENTURES of an ugly duckling is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, with sensory role-play.

Written and told by Hannah Summers, with illustrations by Laura Bissonnet, it’s designed for little ones from babies to four years.

Ugly duckling Tully longs for adventure beyond the farm fences.

Full of questions, she takes a surprising journey to find out who she is and where she truly belongs.

The event can be seen at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud theatre, on Wednesday, February 8. Performances are at 11.30am and 1.30pm.

Reading –South Street

Tickets cost £14.75, or £12.75 for under 18s.

n For tickets and information log on to: www.cornexchangenew.com, or call the box office on: 08455 218218.

Gig will be cool for cats

WOKINGHAM Music Club welcomes Squeeze co-founder and songwriter Chris Difford.

For over 40 years, Chris has been at the forefront of British popular music, as bass player, vocalist and lyricist with new wave band Squeeze.

Formed in the late 1970s, the band is still active.

Difford also writes for other artists, including Brian Ferry and Lisa Stansfield. His concert includes Squeeze hits such as: Cool for Cats; Up The Junction; Tempted; and Pulling Mussels From A Shell, as well as his own solo numbers.

The event is at Luckley House School’s Whitty Theatre, on Friday, February 10.

Doors open at 7.30pm, with tickets available at £25.

n For tickets and information visit: www. wokinghammusicclub.co.uk

Fri 3. Friends Brunch. Sat 4. Tap Factory. Sat 4. The Story of Guitar Heroes. Sun 5. Hellfire Comedy Club. Thurs 9. The Mirror Crack’d. Tues 7-11.

Rob Auton: The Crowd Show.

Fri 10.

Henley –Kenton Theatre

www.kentontheatre.co.uk

01491 525050

The Great Canadian Songbook.

Thurs 2. Legends of Motown.

Sat 4. Shiplake College presents Alice Through The Looking Glass and The Seagull.

Wed 8. Carl Hutchinson: Watch Till The End. Sun 12.

Maidenhead –Norden Farm

www.nordenfarm.org

01628 788997

Spandau Too. Thurs 2. Tomorrow

Bird. Fri 3. Mike Bubbins:

Now: A Homage to the Songs of Joni Mitchell. Fri 9. Moscow Drug Club. Sat 10. Moonrakers. Sun 11. Just Radiohead. Sun 11.

Newbury –The Corn Exchange

www.cornexchangenew.com 0845 5218 218

The Chosen Haram. Thurs 2. Nick Cope Family Music. Sat 4. The Dolly Show. Sat 4.

Dementia Friendly Screening:

An American In Paris. Mon

6. Teechers Leavers ‘22. Tues 7-Thurs 9. Theatre Quiz night.

Fri 10. Babatunde Aleshe: Babahood. Sat 11. Shark In The Park. Sat 11-Sun 12.

Newbury – The Watermill

www.watermill.org.uk

01635 46044

Notes From A Small Island.

Fri 3-Sat Mar 18.

www.whatsonreading.com

0118 960 6060

Jen Brister: The Optimist.

Fri 3. Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen - SOLD OUT.

Sat 4. Fatherhood by Altered Skin. Wed 8.

Lucy Porter: Wake-up Call.

Thurs 9. Rhys James: Spilt Milk. Sat 11.

Reading –The Hexagon www.whatsonreading.com 0118 960 6060

Happy Hour Live. Thurs 2.

NT Live: The Crucible. Fri 3.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda

The Musical. Sat 4. Rare Productions presents Bugsy Malone. Fri 10-Sat 11.

Reading – Concert Hall

www.whatsonreading.com

0118 960 6060

NEXT SHOW: Arturo Castro Nogueras, guitar. Thurs Feb 16.

Reading –Progress Theatre www.progresstheatre.co.uk 0118 384 2195

NEXT SHOW: The Lonesome West. Mar 3-11.

Reading – Reading Rep Theatre www.readingrep.com 0118 370 2620

NEXT SHOW: Hedda Gabler. Feb 22-Mar 11.

Shinfield –Shinfield Players www.shinfieldplayers.org.uk 0118 975 8880

NEXT SHOW: Last Tango In Whitby. Wed Mar 1-Sat Mar 4.

Sonning – The Mill www.millatsonning.com 0118 969 8000

We’ll Always Have Paris. Until Mar 11. Sound of the 70s with The Zoots. Sun 5. Comedy Night. Mon 6. West End Meets Broadway. Sun 12.

Windsor –Theatre Royal www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk 01753 853888

Wodehouse in Wonderland. Thu 9-Sat 11.

Wokingham –Theatre www.wokinghamtheatre.org.uk 0118 978 5363

Wokingham Lions Comedy Night. Fri 3.

Wokingham –The Whitty Theatre www.thewhittytheatre.org 0118 974 3247

Anything Goes Theatre Company: More More More! Sat 4-Sun 5. Wokingham Music Club: Chris Difford live in concert. Fri 10.

Woodley – Theatre www.woodleytheatre.org 07488337838

NEXT SHOW: Educating Rita. June 20-24.

STARRING Laura Main (Call The Midwife), Steel Magnolias sees six fierce and sassy women setting the world to rights in their small town bustling beauty salon. Based on the film starring Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts, it’s described

as a raucous comedy masterpiece. The event takes place at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, from Tuesday, February 7, through to Saturday, February 11. Doors open at 7.30pm, with Thursday and Saturday matinées at 2.30pm.

A Lent choir promises ‘exquisite’ concert

READING Bach Choir promises a concert of beautiful music in preparation for Lent.

Works by Hayden, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Lotti will be performed in Reading.

Joined by a string quartet, the singers will perform a re-imagined version of one of Hayden’s oratorios, The Seven Last Words Of Christ.

The piece reflects on the final words Christians believe Jesus said when on the cross, and was one that Hayden cherished above many of his other compositions.

Other items in the programme are: Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang, op. 118; Mendelssohn’s Jesu, Meine Freude, MWV A 6, and Lotti’s Crucifixus á 8, which will be performed a capella.

The concert, Seven Last Words, promises to be moving and memorable. Daniel Mahoney conducts.

Reading Bach Choir chair Anne Ware says: “Daniel is our new conductor. He’s from Boston, and has been introducing us to the works of American composers.

“But most importantly, he’s been building us up after covid, and really helping us to come through that.”

Reading Bach choir sings a wide range of choral music, both ancient and modern, with a special focus on challenging and rewarding new music.

“The concert programme is really varied, and we’re excited to be accompanied by a string ensemble, which Daniel has gathered to perform with us,” continues Anne.

“The Mendelssohn is joyous, the Lotti is exquisite, and the venue is very beautiful (and heated), with a wonderful warm acoustic.”

Anne says that audiences will leave the concert feeling better than when they arrived.

“People should leave feeling uplifted, happy, and satisfied,” she says. “Nobody ever feels worse after listening to beautiful music, even if it’s sad, do they?

“It’s a great joy to hear good music, but it’s an even bigger joy to sing with a choir.

“And it’s good for mental health.”

The choir rehearses on Tuesdays, at St Andrew’s Church, Caversham at 7.30pm, and currently seeks new members, particularly basses.

This is Ukraine calling ... fundraising concert to take place in Reading’s town hall

A VERY special concert will take place in Reading later this month, aimed at helping raise money to help Ukraine.

Singers with a high standard of singing and musicianship are invited to try a couple of rehearsals before auditioning.

“The boys do tend to be a bit shy about coming forward,” says Anne.

“We’d love some more basses, especially, to come and try the group, to see if they like it.

“You need to know your way around the notes, but you don’t have to be brilliant.”

The group’s Seven Last Words concert takes place at All Saints Church, Downshire Square, on Saturday, February 11. Doors open at 7.30pm, with tickets available, costing £15, or £5 for under 18s.

n For details, call: 01628 638847 or visit: www.readingbachchoir.org.uk EMMA

Organised by The Reading Ukrainian Community Centre and Reading Borough Council, Good Evening! We’re From Ukraine! will be held in Reading Town Hall on Friday, February 17.

The event will showcase all aspects of Ukrainian culture, and compered by BBC Watchdog host Matt Allwright.

Among the acts will be dance ensemble Prolisok, who appeared on the BBCs One Show. The dance group will be premièring a special written dance for the evening.

Other acts include Mirage, who perform a modern take on Ukrainian songs.

Playing the bandura the national instrument of Ukraine is London ensemble “Band Era” who took part in BBC’s Radio Berkshire’s carol concert.

These and other special guests

performing both in English and Ukrainian will take to the stage. Proceeds will go towards Ukraine, which is facing immense hardships caused by Putin’s decision to illegally invade it.

The concert will be held on the first anniversary of the start of the conflict.

Reading’s Ukrainian Community Centre has been at the forefront of trying to help their country, organising aid collections, and supporting refugees who have come to the UK while the war is on.

Their efforts have been noticed: the Princess of Wales visited the Sidmouth Street centre last year, and the group also won a Pride of Reading special recognition award for their work.

n Tickets for the evening cost £27, and are available by calling the box office on: 0118 960 6060, or logging on to whatsonreading.com

SING UP: Reading Bach Choir promises a beautiful concert to uplift

PHIL CREIGHTON

“Visually and vocally gripping”

one of the most romantic operas ever written, includes a local brass band and snow effects.

“Authentic, tender and passionate”

RAYMOND GUBBAY presents

Lucy Porter to gig at South Street

STAND-UP comedian Lucy Porter will be returned to Reading next Thursday, as she brings her latest show to the town.

Wake-Up Call is a show about revelations, realisations and epiphanies – both large and small.

In it, Lucy tackles everything from bin collections to school fair tombolas, fused with the Scottish Enlightenment, pressure washers and Huel.

The show takes place at South Street on Thursday, February 9, from 8pm.

Tickets cost £20.

n For more details or book, call the box office on: 0118 960 6060, or log on to whatsonreading.com

Matilda on film

READING’S Hexagon theatre is going to become a cinema on Sunday.

The arts venue is screening the new version of Roald Dahl’s classic book Matilda.

The tale of a young girl who loves reading, she aims to give her wicked headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, a lesson she will never forget.

This new version features songs from the musical, craeted by Tim Michin.

It is screened at 2pm, and tickets cost £7.

n For more details or book, call the box office on: 0118 960 6060, or log on to whatsonreading.com

Gang Show marks 50 years of showtime

THE South East Berkshire Gang Show is to mark its 50th annual performance with a family variety show.

The group hopes people will come along to enjoy the show and support the young performers.

All are members of the Scouting and Guiding organisations and Trefoil Guild, and will perform musical numbers and comedy sketches.

“It’s a very exciting time,” says Elizabeth Marchant, South East Berkshire Gang Show chair.

“With it being such an important year for us, we’re stepping down memory lane.

“We’ve been looking through our archives to find music from earlier shows, and we’ve got some great numbers from the 1970s onwards, including Queen songs.”

This year around 50 children will be joined on stage by their group leaders, some of whom have been volunteering almost as long as The South East Berkshire Gang Show has existed, (their first show was in 1971).

“Our stage manager has been with us ever since he started out as a youngster,” says Ms Marchant.

“This will be his 49th show.”

Performers range in age from six to 70, with youngsters drawn from Scouting and Guiding organisations throughout

Wokingham, Bracknell and Crowthorne.

The youngest performers, The Mini Gang, will start the show, followed by acts from the rest of the company.

Around 100 volunteers make this show possible, with leaders, members and parents creating the set, organising the sound, and managing the huge wardrobe of costumes.

“It’s a community event,” says Ms Marchant. “Everyone’s very excited now that we’re so close to the performance, and able to rehearse on stage.

“And it’s really wonderful to be performing again after two years absent during covid.”

Performances are an opportunity for the company to raise money for a local charity.

“We’ll be having bucket collections each evening to support First Days,” says Ms Marchant.

“We’re very pleased to be able to support them in this way.

“It’s going to be a fun family show, and there really will be something for everyone.”

n The Gang Show takes place at South Hill Park in Bracknell, From Thursday, February 14 to Saturday, February 18. Performances start at 7.15pm, with an additional Saturday matinée at 2.15pm. Tuesday tickets cost £12, or £11 for over 65s. Remaining tickets cost £17, or £16 for over 65s, except for the last performance on Saturday evening, when all tickets cost £20. For tickets and information visit: www.southhillpark.org.uk

ON STAGE: Dutch indie band Pip Blom will return to Reading following their headline slot at the Are You Listening? festival back in May.

Picture: Eric de Redelijkheid via Wikimedia Commons

Pip Blom returns to The Face Bar for Indie Venue Week

THE FACE Bar will host a returning band as it marks Independent Venue Week.

Dutch indie band Pip Blom will return to Reading following their headline slot at the Are You Listening? festival back in May.

The band combines rock instrumentation with an often sunny, pop-infused outlook, fronted by the eponymous Pip herself.

They released their debut

album, Boat, back in 2019 and followed up with sophomore album, Welcome Break, in 2021. Independent Venue Week aims to celebrate and champion venues like The Face Bar and The Rising Sun Arts Centre which are run by communities.

Pip Blom will be performing at The Face Bar on Friday, February 3.

n Tickets cost £15, available via: www.ents24.com

Concerts in Caversham to see duo perform romantic music

THE FIRST concert of 2023 from Concerts in Caversham will take place on Saturday, February 25. Performing will be the duo of violinist Mary Hofman, and pianist John Ormorod. They will be playing a programme of late romantic period music: Dvorak’s Four

Romantic Pieces, Enescu’s Impressions d’enfance, Kodaly’s Three Hungarian Dances, and Brahms’ Sonata in D Minor.

The duo have performed across the world, including Malaysia, and Singapore, and recently released their first CD together, Unbroken Threads.

The event takes place at St Andrew’s Church in Caversham.

Tickets cost £22, £20 for over 60s, £16 for under 24s, and under 16s can enjoy the performance for free.

n For more details, log on to: www.concertsincaversham.co.uk

Circus of Horrors to turn Hexagon into a Haunted Fairground

A DANCE macabre will be returning to The Hexagon to thrill audiences ... and scare them a little too.

The Circus of Horrors has been touring since they formed in Glastonbury in 1995, and made annual stopovers in Reading.

This year’s new show is called The Haunted Fairground.

Set in a decrepit fairground on the edge of nowhere, it is haunted by creatures of the unknown.

What will they conjure out of the House of Wax and a Tesla coil machine?

The show features high production values including a top class special effects and lighting, all performed to an original rock score.

There will be amazing, bizarre

and daredevil circus acts, all with a forked tongue in cheek.

The show will be performed on Valentine’s Day - Tuesday, February 14, and is for adults only.

Tickets cost £23 or £28, with £3 discount for concessions, groups and students.

n For more details or book, call the box office on: 0118 960 6060, or log on to whatsonreading.com

THE GANG’S ALL HERE: A rehearsal for the South East Berkshire Gang Show’s big finale. Picture: courtesy of East Berkshire Gang Show

LIVEMUSIC

RaW Sounds Today Chris Hillman bit.ly/raw

sounds today

IT’S NOT just Old Macdonald who has some animals, but we’ve not got The Farm. Just 10 great tracks for you to listen to.

And the three new entries in our playlist all have links to the animal kingdom.

Catfish and Quantum Pig – well, that tenuous link is obvious. Squeeze? Well, they’re Cool For Cats. And all three will be performing over the coming days, so we can whet your appetite.

As ever, we’re on a mission to champion and showcase great music from acts that have a connection to Reading and Wokingham (that’s the RaW in our Sounds Today name).

It’s a mixture that will help you discover something new. All you have to do is find it on Spotify.

To hear this week’s selection, simply head to https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday and enjoy the music.

There is also a Facebook page and group chat that bands and music fans can tap into. You can search for RaW Sounds Today and it will come up.

GIG GUIDE

Thursday, February 2

BRACKNELL – The Acoustic Couch, The Ring RG12 1JG. The Bluepers and Support. Details: www. theacousticcouch.co.uk

BURGHFIELD – The Hatch Gate Inn, Reading Road RG30 3TH. Elvis night with Mike Nova. Details: 0118 983 2059.

READING – The Blagrave Arms, Blagrave Street RG1 1PW. Karaoke. Details: 0118 958 6775.

READING – The Butler, Chatham Street RG1 7DS. Fusion 6t. Details: 0118 959 5500.

READING – Gun Street Garden, Gun Street. Playground.

READING – Lola Lo, Friar Street. Skint Thursdays: Skint Rock, pop punk and classic rock, plus house and techo. Details: Twitter @skintmondays

READING – The Purple Turtle, Gun Street RG1 2JR. The MxX Rock Covers Band. Details: 0118 959 7196.

WOKINGHAM – The Victoria Arms, Easthampstead Road RG40 2EH. Open mic night. Details: 0118 979 9437.

Friday, February 3

BRACKNELL – The Acoustic Couch, The Ring RG12 1JG. One Last Day, Divide The Truth, The Whiskey Knights

Details: www.theacousticcouch.co.uk

BRACKNELL – The Keller, Coppid Beech Hotel, John Nike Way RG12 8TF. I Got Soul: D-Funkt. Details: 01344 303333.

EMMBROOK – The Dog and Duck, Matthewsgreen Road RG41 1JT. Karaoke. Details: 0118 978 0544.

READING – The Butler, Chatham Street RG1 7DS. Open mic night. Details: 0118 959 5500.

READING – The Face bar, Ambrose Place RG1 7JE. Heavy Pop presents Pip Blom with special guests. Details: 0118 959 5500.

READING – Progress Theatre, The Mount RG1 5HL. Jazz at Progress presents Gary Willcox’s Drummer/ Composer Project ... a celebration of the jazz ‘engine room’. Details: www. jazzinreading.com

READING – The Purple Turtle, Gun Street RG1 2JR. Genesis: Visible Touch.

Details: 0118 959 7196.

READING – The Purple Turtle, Gun Street RG1 2JR. OCD&B. Details: 0118 959

Catfish – Soulbreaker

Catfish is a band that brings blues music right up to date with an exciting sound that has brought them many well deserved nominations and awards at leading Blues organisations.

They perform throughout Europe and there’s an opportunity to see them live locally when they visit Wokingham Music Club on Friday February 17.

If you like your blues played by excellent musicians with powerful vocals, it’s well-worth getting along. This song is from their 2019 album, Burning Bridges – https://www.catfishband.com/

Quantum Pig – Keep the Nation Warm

This London-based duo have gone from strength to strength since the release of their debut album,

‘Songs of Industry and Sunshine’ on our White Star Records label and their first live show at Wokingham Festival.

Following a tour last year with Frost*, they will be supporting Lonely Robot at their February 8 Islington Assembly Hall show.

Lonely Robot’s Reading-based creator John Mitchell performs a brilliant guitar solo on this song from that debut album – https://quantumpig.live/

Squeeze – Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)

Wokingham Music Club has certainly brought some legendary songwriters to the area and next week on February 10, there’s another good one.

It’s Chris Difford who co-wrote and performed so many great songs with Squeeze and he will be performing his solo show for the club.

It’s at the Whitty Theatre and you can expect to hear some of those classic songs performed acoustically with chat from Chris about his fascinating career.

Here’s one of those classics – https://chrisdifford. com/

Gemma Rogers – The Great Escape

London-based Gemma came to Reading in November and performed a great show at the Facebar. This song is from her new four-track EP The Great Escape – https://www.gemmarogersmusic. com/

Lonely Robot – Lonely Robot

7196.

READING – The Rising Sun, Silver Street RG1 2ST. Club Velocity presents: Cities In Dust, This, As Loud As A Mouse.

Details: 0118 986 6788.

READING – Sub89, Friar Street RG1 1EP.

Genesis Visible Youch: The Shapes

Album at 40. Details: 0118 959 5395

READING – 3sixty Reading University

Students’ Union Reading RG6 6EH.

BBC Introducing Live ft. Maddie Ashman, Emily Craig, Henjila. Booking essential. Details: www.rusu.co.uk/ events

WOKINGHAM – Broad Street Tavern, Broad Street RG40 1AU. The Gas Trick Band. Details: 0118 977 3706.

WOKINGHAM – The Station Tap, Station Road RG40 2AD. Karaoke with Waynie. Details: 0118 977 4548.

WINNERSH – The Royal British Legion Club, Woodward Cl, Winnersh, Wokingham RG41 5LP. Wokingham Music Club presents The Wonder of Stevie: Celebrating the music of Stevie Wonder Details:www. wokinghammusicclub.co.uk

Saturday, February 4

BRACKNELL – The Acoustic Couch, The Ring RG12 1JG. Simply Weller. Details: www.theacousticcouch.co.uk

BRACKNELL – The Keller, Coppid Beech Hotel, John Nike Way RG12 8TF. Sound Intentions. Details: 01344 303333.

PURLEY – St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s Avenue,RG8 8BJ. James Kirby in concert. 7pm. £15, Under 17 £10.

Details: www.stmaryspurley.org.uk

READING – High Spirits Cocktail Company, Kings Road. Glow Party.

Details: Bookings@highspiritscc.com

READING – The Purple Turtle, Gun Street RG1 2JR. SoundJam. Details: 0118 959 7196.

READING – Queens Head, Christchurch Road RG2 7AZ. Jenny Fay and Friends.

Details: 0118 931 0232.

READING – The Rising Sun, Silver Street RG1 2ST. Club Velocity presents: Tom Webber, Darcey Hope, Uncle Peanut.

Details: 0118 986 6788.

READING – Salisbury Conservative Club, Kings Road RG1 4HX. The Skangsters.

Details: 0118 926 5804.

READING – Sub89, Friar Street RG1 1EP.

Resist launch party. Details: 0118 959 5395

READING – The Turks, London Road RG1 5BJ. Paddington. Details: 0118 957 6930

TILEHURST – The Royal British Legion Club, Downing Road RG31 5BB. Uptown Traffic. Details: 0118 942 9606.

TILEHURST – The Victoria, Norcot Road RG30 6BP. Rigsby. Details: 0118 941 5064.

WINNERSH – The Royal British Legion Club, Woodward Close RG41 5LP. Wokingham Music Club presents Some Kinda Wonderful: the music of Stevie Wonder. Details: www. wokinghammusicclub.co.uk

WOKINGHAM – Hope and Anchor, Station Road RG40 2AD. Kohazi!.

Details: 0118 977 0918.

WOKINGHAM – The Station Tap, Station Road RG40 2AD. DJ Bounce. Details: 0118 977 4548.

YATELEY – The Dog and Partridge, Reading Road GU46 7LR. The Turn. Details: 01252 870648.

Sunday, February 5

PANGBOURNE – Woking Men’s Club, Whitchurch Road, RG8 7BS. Pangbourne Jazz Club: Simon Bates. 7.30pm £10.

READING – Community Hall, Watlington House, Watlington Street RG1 4RJ. Readifolk presents: Singers Night. Details: www.readifolk.org.uk

READING – The Purple Turtle, Gun Street RG1 2JR. Reggae Sundays. Details: 0118 959 7196.

SONNING – The Mill at Sonning, Sonning Eye RG4 6TY. Sounds of the 70s with The Zoots. Details: 0118 969 8000.

WOKINGHAM – Hope and Anchor, Station Road RG40 2AD. Super chilled open mic. 3pm. Details: 0118 977 0918.

Monday, January 6

READING – The Purple Turtle, Gun Street RG1 2JR. Club reckless alternative club night. Details: 0118 959 7196.

WOKINGHAM – Hope and Anchor, Station Road RG40 2AD. Acoustic Cafe. 7.30pm. Details: 0118 977 0918.

Tuesday, February 7

BAGSHOT – The Foresters Arms, London Road. Bracknell Folk Club. Details: www.bracknellfolk.org.uk

PLAYHATCH – The Flowing Spring, Henley Road RG4 9RB. Unplugged Night. Details: 0118 969 98978.

SHERFIELD-ON-LODDON – The Four Horseshoes. Equinox jazz night with Sarah Jane Eveleigh. Details: 01256 882296.

WOKINGHAM – The Grasshopper, Rose Street RG40 1XU. Live at the Grasshopper: Mark Warner’s Full Swing. From 6.30pm. Details: 0118 901 2678.

Wednesday, February 8

BRACKNELL – South Hill Park, Ringmead RG12 7PA. Prog Rock night: Ruby Dawn and The Far Meadow. Details: 01344 484123.

READING – The Castle Tap, Castle Street RG1 7RJ. Monthly Shanty Session. Details: 0118 958 0473.

STOKE ROW – Crooked Billet RG9 5PU. Status Quo’s John Coghlan Quo Reimagined Jazz. Details: 01491 681048.

Thursday, February 9

READING – Lola Lo, Friar Street. Skint Thursdays: Skint Rock, pop punk and classic rock, plus house and techo. Details: Twitter @skintmondays

WOKINGHAM – Hope and Anchor, Station Road RG40 2AD. Acoustic night with Harley Hutchinson. Details: 0118 977 0918.

WOKINGHAM – The Victoria Arms, Easthampstead Road RG40 2EH. Open mic night. Details: 0118 979 9437.

Friday, February 10

BRACKNELL – The Acoustic Couch, The Ring RG12 1JG. London Beat Club, The Julia Set, Elephant Hawk. Details: www.theacousticcouch.co.uk

BRACKNELL – The Keller, Coppid Beech Hotel, John Nike Way RG12 8TF. All About You. Details: 01344 303333.

GORING – Goring Community Centre, The Old School, Station Road RG8 9HB. Goring Community Jazz Club presents Mingus Mingus Mingus. Details www.ticketsource.co.uk/ goring-community-jazz-club

Reading producer John Mitchell’s Lonely Robot play a rare live show at London’s Islington Assembly Hall on February 8. This is from the Please Come Home album, the first of their five albums – https:// www.facebook.com/LonelyRobotband/

Tom Webber – I’m Yours

Tom will be live in Reading this Saturday 4th to headline at the Rising Sun Arts Centre. It’s one of the Club Velocity promoted shows for Independent Venue Week – https://www.tomwebbermusic.com/

Flutatious – Spacechick (Mitchell Mix)

Flutatious recently performed a great show at Wokingham Music Club. This live fave from their Fluctuations EP was mixed by Lonely Robot’s John Mitchell – https://www.flutatious.co.uk/

Cities In Dust – Tornado Road

Guitar pop from the Reading band who are at one of Club Velocity’s Independent Venue Week shows this Friday – https://linktr.ee/ citiesindust

Adomania – I Always Seem to Break Something (At The Party)

They were No 6 in our best of 2022 and here’s their excellent new single – https://www.facebook. com/AdomaniaBand/

Darcy Hope – Landslide

Darcy, from Fleet, will be playing at the Tom Webber Rising Sun Arts Centre show this Saturday, Feb 4th – https://darceyhope.com

READING – The Butler, Chatham Street RG1 7DS. Open mic night. Details: 0118 959 5500.

READING – The Face bar, Ambrose Place RG1 7JE. Valentine’s Masquerade ball. Details: 0118 959 5500.

READING – The Jazz Cafe, Select Car leasing Stadium RG2 0FL. Valentine’s weekender. Details: 0118 968 1442.

WOKINGHAM – Broad Street Tavern, Broad Street RG40 1AU. Peach and the Prairie Dogs. Details: 0118 977 3706.

WOKINGHAM – The Station Tap, Station Road RG40 2AD. Karaoke with Waynie. Details: 0118 977 4548.

WOKINGHAM – The Whitty Theatre, Luckley House School, Luckley Road RG40 3EU. Wokingham Music Club presents Chris Difford. 7.30pm. Details:www.wokinghammusicclub. co.uk

Saturday, February 11

BRACKNELL – The Acoustic Couch, The Ring RG12 1JG. British Bluescasting Corporation. Details: www. theacousticcouch.co.uk

BRACKNELL – The Keller, Coppid Beech Hotel, John Nike Way RG12 8TF. Bottlekids. Details: 01344 303333.

CAVERSHAM – Caversham Park Village Social Club, Northbrook Road, Caversham Park Village RG4 6PF. Neon Daze. Details: 0118 334 1040.

CROWTHORNE – Royal British Legion, Wellington Road RG45 7LJ. Gary Roman as Elvis. Details: 01344 772161.

PLAYHATCH – The Flowing Spring, Henley Road RG4 9RB. Sing-along-aNick Valentine’s Special. Details: 0118 969 98978.

READING – The Blagrave Arms, Blagrave Street RG1 1PW. DJ F’Unkle. Details: 0118 958 6775.

READING – The Butler, Chatham Street RG1 7DS. Syn City Rockers. Details: 0118 959 5500.

READING – The Jazz Cafe, Select Car leasing Stadium RG2 0FL. Valentine’s weekender. Details: 0118 968 1442.

READING – Phantom Brewing, Meadow Road RG1 8LB. Brewery tour and tasting. Noon. Booking essential. Dark Days, Dark Beers with Darklands. Details: www.phantombrew.com

READING – Salisbury Conservative Club, Kings Road RG1 4HX. The Gas Trick Band. Details: 0118 926 5804.

READING – Sub89, Friar Street RG1 1EP. Fat Lip. Details: 0118 959 5395

READING – The Turks, London Road RG1 5BJ. Judas Rising. Details: 0118 957 6930

TILEHURST – The Royal British Legion Club, Downing Road RG31 5BB. Full Flavour. Details: 0118 942 9606.

TILEHURST – The Victoria, Norcot Road RG30 6BP. Live music. Details: 0118 941 5064.

WOKINGHAM – WADE, Reading Road RG41 1EH. Dance night with Abi Powell. 7.30pm. £11, includes snacks. Free parking at Masonic Hall opposite. Bring your own drinks and glasses. Details: wadecentre.org.uk/events

WOKINGHAM – The Whitty Theatre, Luckley House School, Luckley Road RG40 3EU. Wokingham Music Club presents Andy Fairweather Low and the Low Riders. 7.30pm. CANCELLED. Details:www.wokinghammusicclub. co.uk

WOKINGHAM – The Station Tap, Station Road RG40 2AD. DJ Bounce. Details: 0118 977 4548.

WOKINGHAM – Hope and Anchor, Station Road RG40 2AD. Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Rage Against The Machine tribute. 7.30pm. Details: 0118 977 0918.

WOKINGHAM – The Victoria Arms, Easthampstead Road RG40 2EH. Revolver. Details: 0118 979 9437.

Sunday, February 12

BRACKNELL – South Hill Park, Ringmead RG12 7PA. Wilde Sundays: Marc Woosnam, Marshpoem, Jack Frank.

Details: 01344 484123.

READING – Community Hall, Watlington House, Watlington Street RG1 4RJ. Readifolk presents: Skinner and T’Witch Details: www.readifolk.org.uk

READING – The Jazz Cafe, Select Car leasing Stadium RG2 0FL. Valentine’s weekender. Details: 0118 968 1442.

READING – The Purple Turtle, Gun Street RG1 2JR. Reggae Sundays. Details: 0118 959 7196.

SONNING – The Mill at Sonning, Sonning Eye RG4 6TY. West End Meets Broadway. Details: 0118 969 8000.

BLUES LIGHT: Matt Long of Catfish at The Acoustic Couch in Bracknell Picture: Andrew Merritt

WHAT’SON

Thursday, February 2

EARLEY – Trinity Church, Chalfont Close RG6 5HZ.

Re:Fresh with Friendship Table. 2pm-4pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

FINCHAMPSTEAD – Siren

Tap Yard, Alberto House, Marino Way RG40 4RF.

Siren Beer Discovery: An Introduction to Siren through the exploration of the various beer styles of the core range. Includes third-pints of each of the five core range beers. Tickets from £11.37. 7pm8pm. Details: https://www. sirencraftbrew.com

SPENCERS WOOD –Spencers Wood Pavilion, Clares Green Road RG7

1DY. Social Seniors Tea and Coffee with Friendship Table. 10am-noon. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – Bradbury Centre, Wokingham Methodist Church, Rose Street RG40 1XS. Cafe Mosiac lunch club with Friendship table. Noon-1.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – Broad Street Tavern, Broad Street RG40

1AU. Wokingham - People, Planet, Pint: Sustainability Meetup. 6pm.

WOKINGHAM – The Cornerstone, All Saints Church, Norreys Avenue, Wokingham RG40 1UE. Wokingham and East Berkshire Camera Club meeting Audio Visual Evening. 7.30pm. Details: www.webcc.org.uk

WOKINGHAM – The Rose Inn, Market Place RG40 1AS. Bang Bang Comedy night. 7.30pm. Adults only. Details: Search thelittleboxoffice.com for bangbangcomedy.

Friday, February 3

EARLEY – St Nicolas Church, Sutcliffe Avenue RG6

7JN. Re:Fresh cafe with Friendship Table. 10amnoon. Details: linkvisiting. org

READING – Progress Theatre, The Mount RG1 5HL. Jazz at Progress presents Gary Willcox’s Drummer/ Composer Project ... a celebration of the jazz ‘engine room’. 7.30pm.

£18, £16 concessions, £9 under 16s, plus booking fee. Details: www. jazzinreading.com

TILEHURST – Hall behind Methodist Church, School Road RG31 5AN.Triangle Players presents Robinson Crusoe - the pantomime. 7.30pm. Details: www. triangleplayers.co.uk

WOKINGHAM – Salvation Army, Sturges Road RG40 2HD. Cafe Refresh Friendship table. 10am-1.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – Norreys Church, Norreys Avenue RG40 1UU. T&C at SHARE Wokingham Friendship table. 12.30pm-2.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – St Paul’s Church Parish Rooms, Reading Road RG41 1EH. Coffee and Chat: a warm welcome, a listening ear and refreshments. 2pm4pm. Details: 0118 979 2122 or church.office@ spauls.co.uk.

WOKINGHAM – Wokingham Theatre, Twyford Road, RG40 5TU. Woky Comedy Night organised by Wokingham Lions. 7.30pm. Over 18s only. £17. Details: wokinghamlions.org.uk

WOOSEHILL – Acorn Community Centre, Fernlea Drive RG41 3DR. Acorn Cafe with Friendship table. 10.30am-noon. Details: linkvisiting.org

Saturday, February 4

CROWTHORNE – The Morgan Centre, Wellington Road RG45 7LD. Laughter Craft Comedy presents comedy night with Nathan Caton, Tom Deacon, Josh Baulf. 7pm. £14.30.

Details: http://www. laughtercraftcomedy.com/

FINCHAMPSTEAD –Siren Tap Yard, Alberto House, Marino Way RG40 4RF. Street

Food Saturday: Funky Pickle. From noon. Details: www. sirencraftbrew.com

PURLEY – St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s Avenue,RG8 8BJ. James Kirby in concert. 7pm. £15, Under 17 £10. Details: www. stmaryspurley.org.uk

READING – Cattle Market, Great Knollys Street RG1 7HU. Reading Farmers Market. 8.15amnoon. Details: www. thamesvalleyfarmers market.co.uk

SILCHESTER - Village Hall, Little London Road RG7 2ND. Village market: local produce and businesses. 10am-12.30pm. Details: 0118 970 0999 or www. silchestervillagemarket. org.uk.

SINDLESHAM – Sindlesham Court, Mole Road RG41 5EA. Chance to Dance Stars CIC 10th anniversary party. £35, includes three-course meal, entertainment and more. From 5pm. Details: www. sendanceclub.co.uk

SOUTHCOTE – Grange United Reformed Church, Circuit Lane RG30 3HD. Coffee Morning and Mini Market in aid of Thames Valley Animal Welfare. 10.30am12.30pm. Free entry.

Details: 07747 874525.

TILEHURST – Hall behind Methodist Church, School Road RG31 5AN.Triangle Players presents Robinson Crusoe - the pantomime. 3pm and 7pm. Details: www.triangleplayers.co.uk

WOKINGHAM WITHOUT –Pinewood Bar and Cafe, Pinewood Leisure Centre, Old Wokingham Road RG40 3AQ. Friendship table available. 9am-4pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOODLEY – Crockhamwell Road precinct. Woodley Town Centre presents Saturday market. 9am3pm. Details: www. woodleytowncentre.co.uk

WOOSEHILL – Woosehill Church, Chestnut Avenue RG41 3RS. Sip and Share with friendship table. 11am-noon, every second Saturday. Details: linkvisiting.org

Sunday, February 5

MORTIMER – De Vere Wokefield Estate, Goodboys Lane RG7 3AE. Wedding fair. 11am-3pm. Details: www. berkshireweddingfairs. co.uk

READING – All Nations Christian Centre, Berkeley Avenue RG1 6JE. The Way

ministry presents a warm bank: Free hot meal, free fresh and frozen food from our community fridge.

4.30pm-6pm. Details: 0118 950 5661.

READING – Blue Collar Corner, Hosier Street RG1 7QL. Reading’s Indie Market. 10am-3pm. Free entry.

READING – Rising Sun Arts Centre, Silver Street RG1 2ST. Dreading Poetry Slam.

7.30pm. Free entry. Details: www.risingsunartscentre. org

SPENCERS WOOD – Village Hall, Basingstoke Road RG7 1AP. Repair cafe. 10am.

WOKINGHAM – St Crispin’s Leisure Centre, London Road RG40 1SR. Antique and Collectors Fair.

10am-3pm. Details: 07723 068189.

WOODLEY – Crockhamwell Road precinct. Woodley Town Centre presents car boot sale. 8am-1pm. Cars £10, tables £8. Details: 07943 510108 or www. woodleytowncentre.co.uk

Monday, February 6

ARBORFIELD – Royal British Legion, Eversley Road RG2 9PR. Friendship table.

9.30am-11.30am. Details: linkvisiting.org

CROWTHORNE – Baptist Church, High Street RG45 7AT. Coffee Stop for Ukrainian refugees and their hosts: socialise and take part in English lessons.

12.30pm-2.30pm. Details: 01344 761725.

READING - Milk, Merchants Place RG1 1DT. Jelly’s The Creative book club meeting. 7pm-8.30pm. £2. Places limited, pre-booking essential. Details: jelly. org.uk

WOKINGHAM – Caudwell Hall Theatre, Holme Grange School, Heathlands Road, RG40 3AL.Wokingham Rock Choir free taster session.

7.30pm. Booking essential. Details: https://www. rockchoir.com/join/ Wokingham_Late_Session

WOKINGHAM – Salvation Army, Sturges Road RG40 2HD. Cafe Refresh Friendship table. 10am-1.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – Norreys Church, Norreys Avenue RG40 1UU. T&C at SHARE Wokingham Friendship table. 12.30pm-2.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOODLEY – Woodley Baptist Church, Hurricane Way RG5 4UX. Four Seasons cafe Friendship Table. 1.30pm-3.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

Tuesday, February 7

BEECH HILL - Memorial Hall, Beech Hill Road. Village teas: sandwiches, cakes and tea. 3pm-4pm.

EARLEY – Earley CResCent Resource Centre, Warbler Drive RG6 4HB. Friendship table. 2pm-3pm. Details: linkvisiting.org.

FINCHAMPSTEAD – FBC Centre Cafe, Gorse Ride North RG40 4ES. Friendship table. 10amnoon. Details: linkvisiting. org

WOKINGHAM – Bradbury Centre, Wokingham Methodist Church, Rose Street RG40 1XS. CLASP Wokingham cafe with Friendship table. 10am-noon. Every third and fourth Tuesday of the month. Details: linkvisiting. org

WOKINGHAM WITHOUT –Pinewood Bar and Cafe, Pinewood Leisure Centre, Old Wokingham Road RG40 3AQ. Friendship table available. 9am-4pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

Wednesday, February 8

EARLEY – Brookside Church, Brookside Close RG6 7HG. Open Door cafe with Friendship Table. 2pm4pm. Details: linkvisiting. org

WOKINGHAM – Bradbury Centre, Wokingham Methodist Church, Rose Street RG40 1XS. Cafe Mosiac with Friendship table. 11am-noon. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – Salvation Army, Sturges Road RG40 2HD. Cafe Refresh Friendship table. 10am-1.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – St Paul’s Parish Rooms, Reading Road RG41 1EH. Wokingham Rock Choir

free taster session. 12.15pm. Details: https:// www.rockchoir.com/join/ Wokingham_Morning_ Session

WOODLEY – Crockhamwell Road precinct. Woodley Town Centre presents Artisan market. 9am2pm. Details: www. woodleytowncentre.co.uk

Thursday, February 9

EARLEY – Trinity Church, Chalfont Close RG6 5HZ. Re:Fresh with Friendship Table. 2pm-4pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

FINCHAMPSTEAD – Siren Tap Yard, Alberto House, Marino Way RG40 4RF.

Siren Beer Discovery: An Introduction to Siren through the exploration of the various beer styles of the core range.

Includes third-pints of each of the five core range beers. Tickets from £11.37. 7pm-8pm. Details: https://www. sirencraftbrew.com/

READING – The Centre for Heritage and Family History, 2nd Floor, Reading Central Library, Abbey Square RG1 3BQ. The hidden history of Reading’s War Graves and Memorials Talk, a talk by Liz Tait, organised by the Berkshire Family History Society. 2pm-3.30pm. £5, £4 members. Details: 0118 950 9553.

SPENCERS WOOD –Spencers Wood Pavilion, Clares Green Road RG7 1DY. Social Seniors Tea and Coffee with Friendship Table. 10am-noon. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – Bradbury Centre, Wokingham Methodist Church, Rose Street RG40 1XS. Cafe Mosiac lunch club with Friendship table. Noon-1.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – The Whitty Theatre, Luckley House School, Luckley Road RG40 3EU. Wokingham Film Society presents: Before Sunrise (15). £6.50, £4 members. 7.30pm. Details: wokinghamfilmsociety.com

WOKINGHAM – The Cornerstone, All Saints Church, Norreys Avenue,

Wokingham RG40 1UE. Wokingham and East Berkshire Camera Club meeting Folio Evening 2. 7.30pm. Details: www. webcc.org.uk.

Friday, February 10

EARLEY – St Nicolas Church, Sutcliffe Avenue RG6 7JN. Re:Fresh cafe with Friendship Table. 10amnoon. Details: linkvisiting. org

READING – South Street Arts Centre. Poets Cafe.

8.30pm. Details: 0118 960 6060.

WOKINGHAM WITHOUT – Pinwood Theatre, Pinewood Leisure Centre, Old Wokingham Road RG30 3AQ. EBOS quiz night with fish and chip supper. Teams of up to six. £13. 8pm. Details: https:// www.facebook.com/ ebostheatre

WOKINGHAM – Salvation Army, Sturges Road RG40 2HD. Cafe Refresh Friendship table. 10am-1.30pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – Norreys Church, Norreys Avenue RG40 1UU. T&C at SHARE Wokingham Friendship table. 12.30pm-2.30pm.

Details: linkvisiting.org

WOKINGHAM – St Paul’s Church Parish Rooms, Reading Road RG41 1EH. Coffee and Chat: a warm welcome, a listening ear and refreshments. 2pm-4pm.

Details: 0118 979 2122 or church.office@spauls. co.uk.

WOOSEHILL – Acorn Community Centre, Fernlea Drive RG41 3DR. Acorn Cafe with Friendship table. 10.30am-noon.

Details: linkvisiting.org

Saturday, February 11

FINCHAMPSTEAD –Siren Tap Yard, Alberto House, Marino Way RG40 4RF. Street Food Saturday: Well Nice Food Co. From noon. Details: www. sirencraftbrew.com

and more. 7.30pm. £15, under 18s £5. Details: www.readingbachchoir. org.uk/

READING – Great Hall, university of Reading London Road RG1 5AQ. Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra winter concert: Liszt Prometheus, Ross Echo, and Tchaikosky Symphony No. 4. 7.30pm Details: www. aldworthphilharmonic. org.uk

WOKINGHAM – Mulgari Cars, Fishponds Road. Mulgari MINI coffee meet: coffee, doughnuts, cars. 9.30am-1.30pm.

WOKINGHAM – WADE, Reading Road RG41 1EH. Dance night with Abi Powell. 7.30pm. £11, includes snakcs. Free parking at Masonic Hall opposite. Bring your own drinks and glasses. Details: wadecentre.org. uk/events

WOKINGHAM WITHOUT –Pinewood Bar and Cafe, Pinewood Leisure Centre, Old Wokingham Road RG40 3AQ. Friendship table available. 9am-4pm. Details: linkvisiting.org

WOODLEY – Crockhamwell Road precinct. Woodley Town Centre presents Saturday market. 9am-3pm. Details: www.woodleytowncentre. co.uk

WOODLEY – Oakwood Centre, Headley Road. Thames Valley Ancient Egypt Society presents: Equipped for Eternity: The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife a lecture by Dr Ken Griffin. 2pm. Details: https://www.tvaes.org.uk/ Talks.php

WOOSEHILL – Woosehill Church, Chestnut Avenue RG41 3RS. Sip and Share with friendship table. 11am-noon, every second Saturday. Details: linkvisiting.org

Sunday, February 12

What’s on event submission form

What’s on event submission form

Holding a community event? Running a fun day? Organising a concert? Planning a friendship group? Get it listed in our what’s on guide by sending information to us. Use this form or email events@wokingham.today. Please note this service is for community groups, charities and not-for-profit activities. We cannot guarantee inclusion. Date of event:

READING – Phantom Brewing, Meadow Road RG1 8LB. Brewery tour and tasting. Noon. Booking essential. Dark Days, Dark Beers with Darklands. Details: www. phantombrew.com

GORING – St Thomas of Canterbury CofE Church, Off Manor Road RG8 9DS. Inaugural Organ Concert with Thomas Trotter. 7pm. £12. Details: http://www. st-marys-streatley.org.uk/

HURST – Hurst Village Hall, School Road, RG10 0DR. Hurst Bowling Club quiz night. 7pm. £16.50 per person. Includes light buffet supper. Bring own drinks and cups. Details: www.facebook.com/ hurstbowlingclub

READING – All Saints Church, Downshire Square RG1 6NN. Reading Bach

Choir: Seven Last Words, featuring works by Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn

READING – All Nations Christian Centre, Berkeley Avenue RG1 6JE. The Way ministry presents a warm bank: Free hot meal, free fresh and frozen food from our community fridge. 4.30pm-6pm. Details: 0118 950 5661.

WOKINGHAM –Easthampstead Park, Peacock Lane RG40 3DF. Wedding fair. 11am-3pm. Free. Details: www. berkshireweddingfairs. co.uk

WOKINGHAM – Market Place RG40 1AS. Sparkle Vegan Events presents vegan market. 11am3pm. Details: www. sparkleveganevents.com

WOODLEY – Crockhamwell Road precinct. Woodley Town Centre presents car boot sale. 8am-1pm. Cars £10, tables £8. Details: 07943 510108 or www. woodleytowncentre.co.uk

TO ADVERTISE ON THIS PAGE, CALL CLAIRE ON:

TEST YOUR BRAINPOWER

Quiz Challenge

1. How many faces, including the base, does a regular tetrahedron have?

2. What S is the title of a 2022 hit song by The Weeknd and a 1989 hit song by Elton John?

3. What is the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island?

4. Which instrument is associated with the jazz musician Django Reinhardt?

5. The semi-autonomous region known as the Choctaw Nation is in which country?

6. In the Bond film Quantum of Solace, Gemma Arterton played which character?

7. Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Serena Williams for a decade until 2022, was born in which country?

8. What do OO, HO and N have in common?

9. Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Helen Mirren have all played which British historical figure?

10. The echidna, also known as the spiny anteater, is native to which country?

Here are two miniature five-square crosswords using the same grid –but the letters have been mixed up. You have to work out which letters belong to which crossword.

1. Host slipping out with items to buy (8,4)

9. Neat prose produced in another language (9)

10. Antelope found in alarming numbers (3)

11. Like the one most suitable to enter the race? (7)

12. Mix left in the corner (5)

13. Most pleasant variety of insect (6)

15. Component part is representative (6)

18. Place where vulgar swearword is heard (5)

20. I twice left raft to arrange emergency operation (7)

22. No end of a boom at the health resort (3)

23. One’s standing may be raised by it (9)

24. Only partially unbiased at home? (4-8)

Place the four signs (add, subtract, multiply, divide) one in each circle so that the total of each across and down line is the same. Perform the first calculation in each line first and ignore the mathematical law which says you should always perform division and multiplication before addition and subtraction.

2. Livery of the cap I knocked about (7)

3. Bag a prize at boxing perhaps (5)

4. I get in muddle with light (6)

5. Parting word from an excellent extra (7)

6. In the evening left by the hearth (5)

7. Roars at marine during heavy rain (12)

8. Personal dissection? (4-8)

14. Objectively we will pay out for bar (7)

16. Let out after one of our countrymen is found to be frail (7)

17. It is considered lucky at the Monday race meeting (6)

19. Has fallen into a hundredmetre gap (5)

21. Something left in the barrel I concealed (5)

Each number in our Cross Code grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. You have three letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters should go in the missing squares.

As you get the letters, fill in other squares with the same number in the main grid and control grid. Check off the alphabetical list of letters as you identify them.

Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 to 9, and so must each 3 x 3 box.

How many words of four letters or more can you make from this Nonagram? Each word must use the central letter, and each letter may be used only once. At least one word using all nine letters can be found.

Guidelines:

ACROSS DOWN

Meet the Together Coalition

Time for kindness Sarah Browning

THIS week, I discovered the Together Coalition, a UK-wide community of organisations and individuals who believe we have much more in common than divides us.

Its aim is to: “build kinder, closer and more connected communities by bringing people together and bridging divides.”

Together has been my favourite word for a long time.

So this group immediately caught my eye.

More than that though, I like it because I think it highlights the power of kindness through connection.

IN THE GARDEN

Stories of connection

Local communities are driven by connections to the people around us. We live on the same streets, our kids go to the same schools, we put our bins out on the same day. And because we feel we share things with our community, we will often carry out small acts of kindness for each other.

The stories sent in to my Time for Kindness website often involve examples of community kindness, such as: Neighbours taking in parcels for the family next door who are out at work all day;

Road co-ordinators helping to put bins out or take them in for

elderly neighbours; People taking a cooked meal round to a friend who is unwell.

Other stories we hear about at Time for Kindness involve people who didn’t know each other beforehand, for example:

n Shoppers who let a stranger go in front of them at the supermarket because they were only buying two items;

n A person who picked up a dropped purse in the street and got it back to its owner;

n A commuter who gave up their seat on a train for a fellow traveller on crutches.

In almost all cases, whether the people in a story knew each other already or not, they tell us how good it felt to know that another human being cared enough to do something nice for them. Those connections are strong, even when they are fleeting.

More in common

Even when we have differences of opinion,

we must remind ourselves to actively look for something we share.

I believe the majority of people would help pick up dropped shopping, even if we knew that person had different political opinions to us or, perhaps worse, didn’t like our favourite TV programme.

Seeing another human being struggling, most people want to help.

In difficult times, it’s

Grow your own compost

GARDENING in February

is all about enjoying the early signs of spring and getting ready for the growing season.

No matter what the size of your planting space, you can lay the groundwork now for a beautiful display in the warmer months.

If you only do one thing this month you should get ready to feed your plants.

They’re about to have a huge growth surge.

However, if you look after your soil the plants will look after themselves.

Most soils benefit from the addition of well rotted organic matter in the form of garden compost that improves soil drainage and enriches the soil with nutrients.

Which is why making your own garden compost is a no-brainer – it’s easy, it’s free and it makes your garden grow.

So, thrifty tip for the month is … make your own compost bin - it can cost you absolutely nothing if you recycle and re-use old materials. If you have an old plastic dustbin with a lid, you have a composter.

Drill about 15 1-2cm holes in the sides of the bin and approx six holes of the same size in the bottom. Place the dustbin on bricks to allow for drainage.

Fill it with your composting materials and to mix the ingredients simply roll the bin around on the ground. It’s always good to start your compost from someone else’s so get a

Healthy, hearty soups

SOUPS are great for lunch or dinner, or even as a snack between meals in a mug.

Join in

even more important to look for those points of connection.

People will experience challenges in different ways, but looking for ways to show kindness can help us feel less alone.

And if you’re not on the giving or receiving end yourself, seeing the kindness of others can still give you a positive boost and connect you to the wider human community.

We can all take action. Organisations and individuals can join the Together Coalition. If you believe that kindness and connection are the way forward for all of us, why not take a look and join the community. Sarah Browning is a Kindness Cheerleader, Communicator and Strategist. For more, log on to: www. timeforkindness. co.uk

When planned properly, soups can be a healthy, balanced meal and be a great way to increase your intake of vegetables. They’re usually a low cost per portion, great to make in bulk and convenient to warm up in a hurry or take out and about in a flask.

We’ve outlined some tips for building a balanced, nutrient-dense soup below.

Base

A great soup starts with a tasty base. Sautéed onions, celery and garlic make a wonderful starter for most soups.

the fragrance is delightful and the autumn foliage is stunning. Although their branches can spread as they mature and some may end up wider than higher there are options for smaller gardens. If outside space is limited go for a variety with an upright habit of growth which spreads out less and casts less shade.

Witch hazels are happy in any soil so long as not waterlogged or chalky and are hardy plants that can be grown pretty much anywhere in the UK.

Pruning is often not necessary, but if you have to then snip back to two buds from the base of last year’s growth. Mulch in the autumn or early winter.

Next select your stock, homemade is best and the most cost effective as you can make it from leftover meat bones and vegetables. Shop-bought stock cubes can be high in added salt and sugar so if you are using these make sure you choose a low-salt and low-sugar variety or leave it out altogether. You can use herbs and spices to add depth of flavour.

Carbohydrates

White potatoes, sweet potatoes, wholewheat noodles/pasta, and brown rice are all great options for adding to soup.

They provide a healthy source of carbohydrates to give you the energy you need to fuel your body.

Vegetables

All vegetables work well in soups, try choosing ones you wouldn’t usually eat to increase the variety in your diet.

Butternut squash, parsnips, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli are great options.

Protein

friend with good compost to give you a bagful. It will contain all the right bacteria, insects and worms to give yours a kick start.

For successful composting you need to mix brown materials with green materials and add a bit of water to keep it moist.

A good ratio is two thirds brown (newspaper, shredded cardboard, straw, paper tissues, dead leaves, sticks and stalks) to one third green (fresh grass clippings, spent flowers, coffee grounds, teabags, kitchen scraps, crushed egg shells and plant prunings).

Some of the best plants to prune at this time of year are roses, which should be pruned in late winter and early spring. Advice from the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) is that

February is normally a good time for gardeners in the south, but in northern and colder areas, wait until March.

By following a few basic principles you can enjoy a lovely display later in the year. Cuts should be about 5mm above a bud and slope away from it. With bush or shrub roses, cut to an outward-facing bud to encourage an open centre.

Make clean cuts using sharp secateurs, or a pruning saw for thicker stems. Remove dead, diseased and damaged stems along with weak stems or ones that are crossing over others.

A plant that needs little pruning is the heavily scented Hamamelis or witch hazel. The colour is a lovely addition to the garden during winter,

Some popular varieties include Jelena – a prolific grower with large, densely packed orange flowers and spectacular autumn foliage, Wisley Supreme – a great combination of large bright yellow flowers and strong scent, and Sunburst – a narrow upright growth ideal for small spaces with unusually large, pale yellow flowers.

The RHS Gardener’s Checklist for February

n Take root cuttings

n Cut back perennials

n Clean your tools

n Warm the soil by covering with cloches

n Refresh winter pot displays

n Mulch perennial veg

n Prune deciduous hedges

n Trim winter heathers

n Sow peppers and chillies indoors

n Tidy citrus plants

Protein is often forgotten in soups, but it is an important nutrient for growth and repair in the body.

It also helps us feel fuller for longer which can help us maintain a healthy weight. Healthy sources of protein include chicken, turkey, fish and low-fat cheeses.

Plant based options such as different varieties of lentils and beans are healthful options, and these are a cheap option for bulking up soups.

n For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch. org.uk/healthy-tips

n To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heartresearch-uk-recipes-2/

n Or have a look through our Healthy Heart cookbook filled with recipes from top chefs, celebrities and food bloggers: https:// heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-ukcookbook/

Witch Hazel

BONUS POINT BY LATE GOAL ENJOY 7-UP

FANS HEAD TO OLD TRAFFORD

STRONG LAURIE STORMS COURSE

By DEBBIE TAYLOR sport@wokingham.today

READING ATHLETICS CLUB enjoyed a successful outing at the Southern Cross Country Championships at Beckenham Place Park.

More than 400 athletes competed over the two-lap course of 8km.

Reading AC had a successful outing with Laurie Marlow finishing in 35th with an outstanding showing to storm through the course looking strong every step of the way.

FOR ROYALS

DUMPED OUT BY RED DEVILS

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokingham.today

READING FC took more than 3,000 fans for a grand day out at Old Trafford for their FA Cup fourthround tie with Manchester United, but there was no fairy tale ending.

Although the result didn’t go the

way of the visitors, the fans can remain proud of the effort of the side who kept a full strength United side at bay for almost an hour.

A flurry of goals in quick succession, and a red card to Andy Carroll for a crunch tackle, could have seen the Royals humiliated with still 25 minutes left to play.

However, the 10-men Royals rallied to attack the Red Devils and managed to get themselves on the scoresheet when Amadou Mbengue was left unmarked f rom a corner and nodded past David De Gea to give the travelling fans something to remember.

Royals boss Paul Ince said: “It wasn’t about my reception, it was about the players and the 3,000 fans that travelled up. I’m proud of the way the players fought and never gave in, they didn’t let our fans down. Hopefully the fans are proud of us.

“We’ve now got to take that into our game against Watford.”

Next up with another strong run was Lydia Blythe in 109th position.

Not too far behind in 137th place was vet 50 Helen Antrum whose strength in training is showing during racing.

Next was a battle between Lucy Daniells and Shirley Ann Dix who both finished together on the line with the same time but positioned 174th and 175th.

Shirley was given the fourth scoring place but she couldn’t have done it without working hard with team mate Lucy.

Then Claire Mills ran her strongest race of the season in 276th followed closely behind by Millie Dainton in 287th.

Kathryn Tolson had an incident near the race start when an athlete fell badly in front of her. She showed true sportsmanship when she had to go and find help from a Marshall and about 10 minutes later continued with her race, having to pip off runners in front, finishing in an impressive 344th place.

The team finished in a strong 14th place with 47 complete teams.

CAMBRIDGE 27-33 RAMS

‘IT’S OUR BEST COMEBACK EVER’: RAMS’ LATE SCORE AGAINST RIVALS

By RICHARD ASHTON sport@wokingham.today

SEB Reynolds believes Rams’ astonishing 33-27 National One win at Cambridge is ‘probably the best comeback the team has ever done.’

On an emotional rollercoaster of an afternoon at Volac Park, Henry Bird’s 83rdminute score completed a dramatic turnaround from 27-12 down heading into the final quarter as the hosts’ 15-match winning streak on their own turf was ended in the most remarkable fashion.

Things had started badly for the visitors as Cambridge went 14-0 up on the back of tries from Anthony Maka and Ben

Brownlie, former Ram Steffan James adding the extras to both.

A superb Max Hayman five-pointer cut the gap, but with the Blood & Sand’s maul imperious, Brownlie went over for a second converted try and a 21-5 half-time advantage.

A James penalty extended the lead to 19 points before replacement Ben Henderson – outstanding after being introduced at the interval – smashed his way through three defenders for a score supremely converted by Alex Seers from the right-hand touchline.

But when James landed a second penalty his side held a significant advantage heading

into the final stages.

Yet Rams had looked dangerous with ball in hand all afternoon and Bird gave them a glimmer of hope as he dived over on the right, another substitute who made a major impact, Will Partington, with a fine conversion.

And the Chippenham boy then produced a sublime piece of skill to collect his own chip and dive over for a try he added to, making it 27-26 as the game headed into injury-time.

Partington slotted the conversion and, though Cambridge kicked a penalty to the corner at the death, Rams repelled the maul before Jak Rossiter won a breakdown penalty to secure a most

famous of victories. Director of rugby, Seb Reynolds, said: “It was a fantastic advert for National One, which is just a brilliant league.

“It looked at one point as though it could have been a comfortable win for Cambridge, but we came back and, while it wasn’t great for the ticker, it was a really enjoyable game in front of a terrific crowd.”

“We’ve not been involved in many of those games where we’ve had to make massive comebacks, and as a team it’s probably the best one we’ve ever done.

“We knew we had to play high-tempo and get in their half and we did it for the duration

of the game, and in the final few minutes it finally paid off and we got the job done.”

Despite trailing 21-5 at the interval, Reynolds said he never lost faith, while also paying tribute to the likes of Henderson, Partington and Ollie Allan who all stood out during the second period.

He continued: “It was actually a very good performance throughout and I felt we were very threatening in the first half, so I could see how tries would come.

“We were defending really well other than we lost our discipline and then they were able to get their maul game going, but credit to the guys who came off the bench,

they gave a big impact and energised the game.”

“Will’s got those little bits of genius in him – it was a moment of magic which really got us back in the game.”

And it was then over to Birdy, who sealed the deal with his seventh try in five games for Rams against the Blood & Sand.

“Credit to Birdy, the other guys in their 30s and the S&C team for keeping them so fresh – he looks younger than ever and it was typified by the way he finished it at the end.

“And we really appreciate the support which travels –they really added to the side and helped us across the line.”

Axel Kalling-Smith on the attack for Rams in their away victory against Cambridge, ending the home side’s 15-match winning streak Pictures: Tim Pitfield

GROVE 0-62 READING FOOTBALL

READING RUN IN EIGHT TO SECURE BIG WIN ROYALS SEAL LOAN DEAL FOR CHELSEA PROSPECT

By PETER CHIDGEY sport@wokingham.today

AN impressive second half display in which they ran in eight tries gave Reading a convincing victory over Grove.

Reading had let themselves get drawn into a battle of attrition in a first half which was a scrappy affair lasting 55 minutes because of a steady stream of injuries.

Reading got off to a great start when they stole the ball from a Grove ruck and moved it along the line for Will Proctor-Searle to cross for an unconverted try to give them an early lead.

The ball was swiftly moved along the back line to put Borthwick through a gap and he rounded the full-back to score under the posts.

Bowers converted to give Reading a 12-point lead at the break.

Just as in the first half, there was an early try this time from Webster who beat the covering defence

Reading RFC enjoyed besting Grove in a whitewash Picture: John Newport

after Dorliac had made good ground.

This was quickly followed by another try this time from the other wing Daw after some good inter-passing and initial breaks from Borthwick and Dorliac.

Reading kept up the pressure and Egan forced his way over for their fifth try after a line out drive was stopped close to the line.

An altercation in midfield held up play, after which the referee sent off the Grove number eight and Reading scrum half, Sam Bowers who were deemed to be the instigators.

Two more tries quickly followed, the first was scored by Proctor-Searle and the second by MurraySmith after a good back move.

Jack Carling, son of former England captain Will, converted one of these, having come off the bench for his Reading debut.

The ball eventually ended up with Jordan Gomez, who forced his way over, just managing to stay on his feet after an attempted tackle.

Carling converted with a good kick from wide out.

Reading scored again directly from the kick off. After an initial break from Egan who slickly passed the ball on, Borthwick made further ground and when overhauled, held onto the ball long enough to pass to King, who hared over in the corner.

There was just time for Webster to score his second and Reading’s tenth try, again outstripping the defence and for Carling to convert to round off the scoring.

On Saturday Reading take on second placed Stow and this win was perfect preparation for what should be an exciting encounter.

ON MONDAY, Reading completed their first signing of the January transfer window by capturing Cesare Casadei on loan from Chelsea.

The Royals are still under a transfer embargo but are able to complete free transfers or loan deals and have agreed a deal for the Italian midfielder.

The 20-year-old joined the West London club last summer from Inter Milan for around €20million.

He has represented Italy at all youth levels all the way up to U21s.

The Royals already have an established relationship with the Blues and currently have left-back Baba Rahman on loan for the second successive campaign.

The club’s head of football operations, Mark Bowen, said: “I am very pleased that we have been able to secure the services of a dynamic young player with energy, enthusiasm, ability and a lot of potential.

“This is a loan move that will benefit both the club and the player and I’m sure Cesare will hit the ground running and play an

important role in the remaining 18 games of the campaign.”

Manager Paul Ince said: “Our midfield resources have been stretched all season and Casadei will bring us another option in the middle of the park.

“He is comfortable on the ball, powerful in possession and he looks like an intelligent player with the vision to read the game well.”

Cesare Casadei signs for Royals on loan from Chelsea Picture: JasonPix

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokingham.today

Southern

Region Women’s

Division One North

WOODLEY UNITED are top of the table after they earned a stunning 7-0 win over CAVERSHAM UNITED.

A hat-trick from May Hamblin, a brace from Gemma Sims and goals from Sarah Lawrence and Mollie Haines saw the Kestrels thump seven past the Goats without reply.

FLY HIGH WITH

Woodley have a one point lead over second placed Milton United, while Caversham are in sixth.

Southern Region Women’s

League Cup

ASCOT UNITED progressed past Abingdon United thanks to a brace from Hayley Cruikshank.

The Yellas put their name in the hat for the next round with a 2-1 away victory.

EVERSLEY & CALIFORNIA

progressed to the next round with a 2-1 home win over Winchester City Flyers with goals from Rae Roberts and Joey Harfield-Brown.

Thames Valley Women’s Division One TILEHURST PANTHERS cut the gap on the top two in the table by overcoming WARGRAVE in a seven-goal thriller.

The Panthers took the spoils with a 4-3 win with a double

from Leah Why and goals from Deanna Cane and Arianna Di Lauro.

A brace from Millie Bilcliff and a goal from Hannah Sheehan weren’t enough to see Wargrave take anything from the match.

A first-half brace from Ben Harris put the Robins in control of the contest.

from home.

Harvey Harry put the Moles in front in the first-half before the hosts levelled the match. Harry sealed his brace in the second-half after converting from Massimo Giamattei’s cross to give his team three points.

Southern

League

Premier South

BRACKNELL TOWN picked up their 11th victory of the league campaign with success over Winchester City.

Winchester reduced the deficit but Bracknell quickly restored their two-goal advantage through George Knight to ensure they collected three points to put them in seventh.

Isthmian South Central

BINIFIELD moved into sixth position after they got the better of Bedfont Sports away

FA Vase fourth round

ASCOT UNITED ensured that they continued their journey in the FA Vase with an away win against Buckland Athletic.

Woodley United Ladies enjoyed a superb win over Caversham United Women Pictures: Andrew Batt

Sam Knight goes aerial from a corner for Eversley Pictures: Richard Milam

Adam Crocker shoots at goal

Woodley’s Sarah Lawrence in control

May Hamblin netted a hat-trick

Bonnie Messitt is dispossessed

SEVEN GOAL WIN

Dick Sawdon-Smith

The offsideoff-putting offence

PERHAPS the least understood of the Laws of football, is the offside law.

There has always been an offside law from the very beginning when the Rules of Association Football were drawn up in 1863.

I have a copy of these rules presented to me by a fellow referee, who said that my weekly column had helped him to reach level three in his refereeing career.

The offside Law took just one sentence.

Today, the spirit of the 1863 law still remains but of course is greatly changed, with many additional clauses being added.

It now fills three pages.

The last big change came in 2016, and it was part of this change that created the controversy at the recent Manchester United v Manchester City match.

Let’s look at the addition to the Laws that made it controversial: It comes in two parts.

The Yellas blew their opponents away with three goals in quick succession.

Sean McCormack broke the deadlock after 43 minutes before Ascot quickly added to their tally through Brendan Matthew just before half-time.

Continuing their clinical streak after the restart, Jordan Ajanlekoko made it three in the 51st minute.

The home team clawed a goal back but it was Ascot who sailed through to the next round.

Combined Counties Premier North

READING CITY continued their

FOOTBALL

pursuit for the league title with a win over bottom side Oxhey Jets.

A solitary goal was enough to win the game as the Cityzens took a clean sheet to close the gap on league leaders Ascot.

After 19 league games each, City trail the Yellas by five points.

Combined Counties Division One

BERKS COUNTY overturned a one-goal deficit to defeat FC Deportivo Galicia.

The Swords went a goal behind after 11 minutes, but levelled up just six minutes later through Sam Day.

Second-half strikes from Luke Hayden and Luke Hayling meant

that the Swords maintained their spot in fourth with a 3-1 success.

EVERSLEY & CALIFORNIA surrendered a one-goal lead to lose at home to London Samurai Rovers.

Adam Crocker gave the Boars an early lead, but the visitors hit back quickly to make it 1-1.

Rovers scored two more which gave them the points to leave Eversley in 12th position.

WOODLEY UNITED are in 13th position after they lost to British Airways.

The Kestrels went two goals behind and set up a nervy finish when Mark Williams made it 2-1, but they were unable to clinch an equaliser.

SUMAS SLIP TO COSTLY DEFEAT AFTER LATE PENALTY

By ARTHUR STRAND sport@wokingham.today

Holyport 1

Sumas 0

WOKINGHAM & EMMBROOK were dealt a costly defeat after conceding a late penalty away at Holyport.

The first half started with both teams breaking into each others’ areas with no great effect, apart from the Sumas having the better part of the game for a while. There were occasional breaks

by the hosts’ players and changes of direction from free kicks respectively.

Fouls were totting up and the free kicks were being traded with no goals forthcoming.

After a succession of free kicks after a corner kick goalmouth activity denied Holyport a goal.

Their assistant was shown the yellow card for leaving the bench and protesting to the referees one time too many.

The second half was played less in midfield but with Sumas dealing

Thames Valley Premier

YATELEY UNITED kept up their stunning league form with a 4-1 victory over READING YMCA

A brace from Charlie Westell and goals from Elliot Mitchell and Joshua Mynard gave Yateley their 15th consecutive win of the season, despite a goal from Pele Hagger for the visitors.

Yateley have an incredible 22 point lead at the top, while YMCA are in fourth.

BURGHFIELD were held to a draw at home to SB Phoenix. Harvey Beales netted for the Fielders to put them in fifth on 13 points from seven games.

WARGRAVE dropped to eighth in the table after they lost 3-2.

‘A player in an offside position is penalised if clearly attempting to play a ball which is close, and this action impacts on an opponent or making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball’.

This covers the sort of incident, where a player in an offside position, jumps to head a ball but misses.

Therefore he has not played the ball or interfered with play.

However, if the goalkeeper has taken up a position to save the expected header, and another attacker comes in from an onside position and scores, the goal would not be allowed.

The offside player has made an action that clearly impacted on the goalkeeper’s decision.

The scene was that Marcus Rashford was in an offside position running towards the ball, which was between him and the City goal.

When he got close to the ball, he was beaten to it by United team mate, Bruno Fernandes, coming in from the opposite direction, with a kick that put the ball in the back of the City’s net.

The goalkeeper was probably expecting Rashford to kick the ball.

with counter attacks and both keepers making crucial saves.

However as the game proceeded, the yellow card was produced several more times.

The second half continued with segments of play between free kicks.

The ambition was to gain sufficient ground in order to aim at goal.

Sumas worked the way forward a couple of times with some tight passes but yellow cards were the main statistic of the day.

Callum Wright received one prior

to the penalty for a shove in the back of a Holyport attacker.

Najee Zidane Holder took the spot kick and blasted the ball beyond the reach of Woodward.

The next five minutes Sumas spent trying to get an equaliser but a couple of shots, one from the right wing angled and went over the top.

Another from in front of goal never went into the back of the net as Wokingham lost out.

The match ended in dismay for the visitors.

Was he then offput, impacted, when Rashford left it for his team mate?

Or, bearing in mind that Rashford did not attempt to play the ball and the shot from Fernandes was from where Rashford would have kicked it, did this impact on the goalkeepers original positioning to save a shot from Rashford?

It’s a tight decision but the referee, Stuart Attwell, obviously didn’t think so and after discussion with his assistant referee, Darren Cann, and despite great City uproar, he allowed the goal to stand.

How they rated

Joe Lumley

Was fortunate not to get found out after some questionable distribution. Did well to keep out a moving Rashford free-kick early on.

Junior Hoilett

Had the unenviable task of handling Rashford, but acquitted himself well. Took a blow to the nose but braved it out.

Andy Yiadom

Was lively on both ends of the pitch. Did well to earn his side the corner which led to Reading’s goal.

Tom Holmes

Made several heroic last-ditch interventions to keep the home side at bay. Didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.

Tom McIntyre

Never got to grips with United’s runs from deep.

Baba Rahman

Struggled to contain Antony down United’s right. Was sparingly offered opportunities to venture forward.

Jeff Hendrick

Was never really able to get the ball down and play. Couldn’t hinder the Reds’ midfield fluency.

Mamadou Loum

Didn’t really know when to go with Fernandes or Casemiro. Poor in possession.

Tom Ince

Brought his typical energy to the game, but was often chasing shadows. Had more joy in advancing the ball in the second half.

Andy Caroll

Was starved of any real service, but two moments of ill-discipline saw the striker receive a deserved red card.

Lucas Joao

Did his utmost to get the ball to stick, but ultimately couldn’t affect proceedings.

Subs:

Tyrese Fornah 5, Amadou Mbengue 7, Dean Bouzanis n/a, Michael Craig n/a, Shane Long n/a

6 6 6

6 5 4

6 6 5

7 4

CARROLL SEES RED AS ROYALS ELIMINATED AT OLD TRAFFORD

MAN UNITED 3 READING 1

By Andy Preston apreston@Wokingham.today

READING FC’s hopes of causing an FA Cup shock were put to bed by Manchester United’s clinical second-half display which amended for a goalless opening 45 minutes.

After holding out throughout the first-half, which included a Marcus Rashford goal being disallowed for offside, the Red Devils turned on the style in the second-half.

The United win had a Brazilian flavour with a Casemiro double before Fred rounded off the scoring just after Andy Carroll had been sent off for two bookable offences.

The Royals gave the travelling support of 3,000 a goal to cheer when 21-year-old Amadou Mbengue netted a strike that will live long in his memory.

Up against his former club, Paul Ince named a strong starting eleven that included Lucas Joao and Andy Carroll up top.

With some world class talent at his disposal, Erik Ten Hag opted to go with a near to full strength line-up that saw in-form Marcus Rashford picked to start as well as Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes.

The Royals have just one win in their history against Man United, which came in the FA Cup in 1927 and they would be hoping to create another piece of history under the lights at Old Trafford.

Getting used to their surroundings under the bright

lights of Old Trafford, Reading had an early opening when Jeff Hendrick was tripped by Casemiro to win a free-kick, but Tom Ince’s effort was headed away by the wall.

United started to assert their dominance and won the first corner of the game when Aaron WanBissaka’s fizzed cross was deflected behind.

The hosts then had a free-kick of their own in a promising position that Christian Eriksen bent just past the far post.

The Royals had plenty of defending to do as they were pinned back by the home team, but for the most part they stood up to the test thrown at them.

Rashford struck a free-kick with plenty of power but not enough direction as it was pushed away by Joe Lumley before Eriksen’s follow up was well blocked by Mamadou Loum.

Tom Holmes continued to lead from the back and put in plenty of outstanding blocks to keep United at bay where he thwarted both Wout Weghorst and Eriksen in quick succession.

There were plenty of shots raining down on Lumley’s goal, but Reading held firm to limit United mainly to shots from distance.

The Red Devils found a breakthrough in the 35th minute when Rashford sneaked in at the back post and his header squeezed over the line. Or so they thought.

VAR came to the rescue for Reading with the goal chalked off due to Weghorst being found offside in the build-up.

Despite only having 20% possession throughout the first-half

with limited chances, the Royals did create a huge opening in first-half’s added time.

Tyrell Malacia dwelled on the ball in the box which allowed Junior Hoilett to snatch possession and fire a shot that was stopped by David De Gea as the teams went in level at the break .

Loum was caught in possession at the start of second-half proceedings, but Fernandes couldn’t take advantage and smacked the ball into the Stretford End.

Ten minutes after the restart, United had the ball in the net again and this time it stood.

Antony threaded a perfectly weighted pass to find the run of Casemiro who drifted into the box and dinked the ball over Lumley to put the Premier League side ahead.

Match stats

MAN UNITED: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire (c), Lindelof, Malacia, Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes, Antony, Weghorst

SUBS: Heaton, Martinez, Varane, Williams, Fred, Mainoo, Pellistri, Elanga, Garnacho

READING: Lumley, Hoilett, McIntyre, Yiadom (c), Holmes, Rahman, Loum, Hendrick, Ince, Joao, Carroll

SUBS: Bouzanis, Guinness-Walker, Mbengue, Dann, Craig, Fornah, Azeez, Long, Meite

GOALS: Casemiro 54’, 58’, Fred 66’, Mbengue 72’

United quickly added to their tally, again through Casemiro when the Brazilian’s 30 yard strike took a nick off the head of Holmes to find its way past Lumley into the corner.

Ince made his first switch with an hour gone which saw Tyrese Fornah take the place of Loum in the middle of the park.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as they were reduced to 10 men for the final 25 minutes.

Carroll was given his marching orders when he slid in late on Casemiro having already been booked just five minutes prior.

United then put the tie beyond their Championship opposition when substitute Fred reacted quickest to convert from a cross.

Ten Hag’s team came inches away from finding a fourth to continue the rout as the ball was scrambled off the line with Weghorst searching to mark his home debut with a goal.

Reading gave their travelling support something to cheer when they found an unlikely goal when substitute Amadou Mbneuge was given a free header and nodded past De Gea to reduce the deficit.

Ince then made three more switches which included Dean Bouzanis coming on for goalkeeper Lumley, despite there not appearing to be an injury to force the substitution. Meanwhile, Shane Long and Michael Craig replaced Joao and Hendrick.

A huge chance came Reading’s way when Tom Ince tricked his way into the box and fed the ball to Fornah, but he delayed his shot and the opportunity went begging.

Royals midfielder Tom Ince

Andy Carroll was sent off as Reading exited the FA Cup against Man United Stock Pictures: Luke Adams FA CUP

INCE: ‘HOPEFULLY THE FANS ARE PROUD OF US’

ROYALS LOOK TO TAKE THE STING OUT OF HORNETS

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokingham.today

READING FC will meet Watford for the third time this season when they host the Hornets at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday.

The teams go into the battle with one wn each against each other, Reading’s coming in the FA Cup third-round, while Watford won the Championship match earlier in the campaign.

The Royals go into the test on the back of four games without a win which leaves them 16th in the table, five points off the top six and 11 points above the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, Slaven Bilic’s team currently occupy one of the play-off positions in fourth on 44 points.

Reading FC boss Paul Ince said fans should be proud of the players following their FA Cup defeat to Manchester United Picture: Luke Adams

READING FC manager Paul Ince said he was ‘proud’ of his players’ after they exited the FA Cup with defeat to Manchester United.

After a determined first-half display to keep the game goalless, United struck three times in quick succession to take the tie away from Reading as Andy Carroll was also red carded.

“You’ve got to be proud of the players,” said Ince.

You know when you come to places like Old Trafford that you have to ride your luck. They put balls in our box, had one disallowed.

“That’s the first time I’ve managed under VAR so I was quite pleased for it in the first-half.

“You have to ride your luck to get anything and to go in at 0-0 there was a belief and we had a chance at the back end of the first-half. If that goes in we go in at 1-0.

“We gave them their goal, it was poor marking from our midfield and we let Casemiro go through, it was a wonderful finish. Then they were up for it and in the ascendancy.”

Ince lauded the character his team showed after going a man down as they were able to grab a goal when Amadou Mbengue got on the scoresheet to reduce the deficit.

He continued: “Let down isn’t the word. If you look at the first one over in the corner it wasn’t actually a foul.

“The linesman didn’t flag for it and the United players were walking away for a goal kick. The referee couldn’t wait to get his yellow card out, I’m disappointed with the referee.

“After that he made a foul on Eriksen and had to be careful. The last one he tries to pull out, but once you’ve been booked you can’t be making those tackles.

“The referee couldn’t wait to turn around and give him a second yellow but to be fair we probably played better with 10 men because we had to try and get back in the game.

“It wasn’t about my reception, it was about the players and the 3,000 fans that travelled up. I’m proud of the way the players fought and never gave in, they didn’t let our fans down. Hopefully the fans are proud of us.

“We’ve now got to take that into our game against Watford.”

They were leapfrogged at the weekend after losing out 2-0 to Middlesbrough who took the points with goals from Chuba Akpom and Marcus Forss.

Paul Ince’s men still boast an excellent home record, despite their troubles on the road, with the sixth best home form in the league.

Meanwhile, the Hornets have been strong on their travels and have picked up 20 points from 15 games giving them the seventh best record in the division.

After their recent torrid luck with injuries, Bilic’s men have strengthened their squad in the January transfer window by bringing in seven new additions,

FA WOMEN’S CUP

the latest of which being striker Britt Assombalonga.

Watford won the first meeting of the season between the teams in November with a double from Joao Pedro.

However, it was Reading who were victorious in last month’s FA Cup third round tie up against a

youthful Watford line-up.

The Royals sealed their place in the next round and set up an away day at Old Trafford, which they played last Saturday, with goals from Kelvin Abrefa and Shane Long.

Staying true to form, Watford have already dismissed one

manager this season after Rob Edwards, who was appointed after his impressive spell with Forest Green Rovers, was sacked after just 10 matches.

Astonishingly, Watford have had 18 different managers in the last 10 years after Bilic was selected to take over the club in September.

MOLONEY PERFORMS PENALTY HEROICS

Leicester City 2 Reading 2 (2-3 pens)

READING FC WOMEN continued their journey in the FA Women’s Cup thanks to penalty heroics from Grace Moloney in a shootout success.

Up against the fellow Women’s Super League strugglers, the Royals held their nerve from the spot after a 2-2 draw in extra time.

The Royals almost grabbed an early lead when Rachel Rowe latched onto Amalie Eikeland’s cross but her shot narrowly avoided sneaking into the bottom corner.

But they did take the lead with their next opening after executing a clinical counter attack.

Charlie Wellings threaded a superb pass into the path of Sanne Troeslgaard who took a touch to compose herself before she slotted the ball past the goalkeeper

to continue her excellent scoring form.

The WSL’s bottom side levelled the tie when Sam Tierney was allowed to have a free header from an inswinging free-kick and nodded past Moloney.

Moloney had to be at her best to stop Ava Baker from putting the Foxes in front when she dived low to her right to make a vital stop.

The Royals stopper made

another stunning save when she got her body in the way of Missy Goodwin’s powerful header to keep her side on level terms.

The game went into extra-time and it was Leicester who stole the initiative when Hannah Cain was quickest to react to a loose ball in the box and thumped the ball into the roof of the net from six yards.

The Foxes came inches away from taking control of the tie after a goalmouth scramble ensued after a set piece, but they were unable to find the net.

Reading found a response before the break in extra-time.

After it appeared that Eikeland was barged over in the box, Royals captain Emma Mukandi wasted no time in appealing for a penalty and stormed into the box before tucking the ball in at the near post.

The match had to be decided by the penalty spot.

Justine Vanhaevermaet and Natasha Dowie scored before Money kept out Ashleigh Plumptre to give Reading a 2-1 lead. Mukandi found the net for the second time in the tie with a confident penalty, Leicester scored and Deanna Cooper saw her effort saved to give Leicester hope, but that hope was short lived when Moloney flew to her right to save from Jones to win the match.

Leicester City: Leitzig, Tierney, Bott, Pike, Whelan (c), Howard, Goodwin, Plumptre, Purfield, Mace, Baker

Subs: Jones, Cain, Nevin, Collins, Simon, Lambourne, Levell, Eaton-Collins, Smith, Reavill

Reading: Moloney, Mukandi, Evans, Wellings, Eikeland, Harries, Cooper, Rowe, Vanhaevermaet, Woodham, Troelsgaard

Subs: Dowie, Primmer, Wade, Bryson, Moore, burns, Poulter, Hendrix, Jane

Goals: Troelsgaard 5’, Tierney 26’, Cain 92’ (ET), Mukandi 102’ (ET),

Femi Azeez in Reading’s FA Cup win over Watford Picture: Luke Adams

RUGBY

ABBEY DISPLAY DOMINANCE TO HAUL HOVE WITH BONUS POINT

By ANNETTE TOMAS sport@wokingham.today

ABBEY Women delivered an assured and complete team performance to secure a home bonus-point win over visitors Hove in front of a bumper crowd, recording their second win of 2023.

As well as an assured kicking performance, the talismanic Denton-Rice also added a hat-trick of her own to underpin a solid team performance.

Abbey could not convert the pressure into points until the 15th minute, when, after a series of excellent forward carries, fullback Lou Pullan released Alice Denton-Rice, who showed immense strength to power over the line.

An excellent driving maul, commanded by the influential Joey Fowler, brought Abbey to within metres of the line.

Scrum-half Ellie Denton-Rice swung play back round to the left, the ball eventually finding Hannah Skeels who crossed the whitewash for her maiden try.

Led by the ever-present Annabel Hawkins, the ball was distributed wide by Skeels to her opposite winger Jess Williams, who crossed for an easy score.

The second half brought much more of the same confident play that the team were clearly starting to enjoy.

Hungry for the bonus point, it was secured in style when, after

another superb driving maul from the pack, the backs executed well with hard-hitting centres DentonRice and Jess Gundry running some excellent lines to allow Annette Bevan to escape out of the back and wheel in for the bonus-point try. With their tails now up, Abbey continued to contain Hove for long passages of play with thumping tackles from Tori Kiff and replacements Fern Edgar and Clara Reynolds. It wasn’t long before Abbey were back in the Hove

22 and Alice Denton-Rice ran a pin-point perfect line off Bevan to score underneath the posts – her side’s fifth.

Credit must go to Hove as they continued to compete, pressuring Abbey’s front row at the scrum, who adapted and evolved magnificently to everything Hove threw at them.

Flanked by her fellow backs, they ran from their 22 and despite desperate tackle attempts from Pullan, Reynolds and Bevan, their

TABLE TENNIS PREVIEW

TOP TEAMS FIND BREATHING ROOM AFTER THUMPING VICTORIES

By NIGEL MALTBY

sport@wokingham.today

THE top two teams pulled further away from the chasing pack in division 1 with convincing 10-0 victories.

Leaders KINGFISHER A hosted TIDMARSH A and although Ross Saxby found himself at 0-2 in games and 1-5 in points, he was able to overturn a brave Division One debut performance for reserve Dale Ballard.

Martin Adams and Darren Jones completed maximums.

Despite coming back from behind and going to a deciding fifth game on four occasions, OUR LADY OF PEACE A managed the same score line over a luckless READING FC with Steve Murgatroyd, Mo Cook and Justin Mead spoiling the evening for Mike Childs, Wayne and Tony Alleyne.

The third and fourth placed teams both lost ground as a maximum from KINGFISHER D’S Graham Mendick could not

stop a 4-6 defeat to their B side with young Theo Kniep and Captain Phil Mead picking up two wins each.

Similarly, despite Gary Morgan carrying his squad by winning his three, SONNING COMMON & PEPPARD A could only manage a 5-5 with SONNING SPORTS A, who fielded their strongest squad with all members, Nick Sears, Dave Croucher and Paul Savage, who scored a mention-worthy 3-0 victory over Jamie Barlow, contributing.

KINGFISHER C’S relegation worries became more prevalent with a 3-7 defeat to Tilehurst RBL A despite a first win for Mike Douglas and a welcome return for Prayrit Ahluwalia, who could not stop an in-form Marc Brent taking a maximum on the night.

League leaders SONNING COMMON & PEPPARD D strengthened their position at the top of the division two table with a 9-1 win over

OUR LADY OF PEACE C with maximums for Danny Dockree and Mark Jones.

Sanket Dave recorded the one win for OLOP beating Jonathan Abbott three straight. Second placed SONNING COMMON & PEPPARD C lost ground on their club rivals after suffering a shock 8-2 loss against relegation threatened KINGFISHER F

Kingfisher skipper Roger Pritchard had an impressive maximum only dropping one game in the process and Ajai Kamath and Hamid Mohsnie both won twice.

In the Kingfisher local derby the improving E team beat their G team 7-3 with all of their players winning twice.

The G team’s Sajej Jaywant recorded a maximum including beating E team captain Clive Gold in five.

In a mid-table clash TILEHURST RBL B and TIDMARSH B fought out a well contested draw.

centre Emily Hird crossed for a deserved team try.

Abbey wanted to finish the game on their own terms, however, and at the final scrum, which was the last legal play of the match, captain Hawkins picked off the base to set up a platform for her team.

The Abbey pack, bolstered by the arrival of Katie Vinnac, hammered the Hove line, until Bevan demanded the ball, seeking out the sure hands of Alice Denton-Rice, who notched up her hat-trick try.

ROYALS LOOK TO FIX AWAY FORM AT LIVERPOOL

READING FC WOMEN will be seeking to pick up their first away points of the season when they face Liverpool on Sunday.

Kelly Chambers’ side go into the tie on the back of success in the FA Women’s Cup with a shootout win over Leicester City, but they have been struggling for points in the Women’s Super League.

Reading are currently in 10th position on seven points but have been defeated in all six of their away matches in the league this season.

Just one place and one point separates the teams heading into Sunday’s showdown with Liverpool on eight points, but they have played two less games than Reading.

Since winning promotion from the Championship last season, the Reds have acquitted themselves in the top flight.

They made a huge splash on the opening weekend with an incredible win over defending league champions Chelsea after Katie Stengel’s brace from the penalty spot saw them win 2-1.

A run of five successive defeats followed for Matt Beard’s team, but they got back on track with consecutive 3-3 draws.

One of those included their trip to the Select Car Leasing Stadium to face Reading in November.

The Reds had a 3-2 advantage until Sanne Troelsgaard snatched an 89th minute leveller to ensure the Royals claimed a point.

RESULTS

Saturday, January 28

FOOTBALL

FA Cup fourth-round

Manchester United 3-1 Reading

Southern League Premier South

Bracknell Town 3-1

Winchester City

Isthmian South Central Bedfont Sports 1-2 Binfield

Combined Counties Premier North

Oxhey Jets 0-1 Reading City

Holyport 1-0 Sumas

FA Vase fourth-round

Buckland Athletic 1-3 Ascot United

Combined Counties Division One

Berks County 3-1 FC Deportivo Galicia

Eversley & California 1-3

London Samurai Rovers Woodley United 1-2 British Airways

Thames Valley Premier League

Burghfield 1-1 SB Phoenix

Wargrave 2-3 Wraysbury

Village

Yateley United 4-1 Reading

YMCA

RUGBY UNION

National League One

Cambridge 27-33 Rams

South West Regional 2 Grove 0-62 Reading

London & SE Regional 1

Royal Wootton 47-29

Bracknell

HOCKEY

South Central Men’s North Division 1

Aylesbury v Sonning

Sunday, January 29

FA Women’s Cup

Leicester City 2-2 Reading (2-3 pens)

Cup

Abingdon United 1-2 Ascot United

Eversley & California 2-1

Winchester City Flyers

Southern Region Women’s Division One North

Woodley United 7-0

Caversham United

Thames Valley Women’s Division One

Wargrave 3-4 Tilehurst Panthers

Thames Valley Women’s Division 3S

Hawley 2-0 Wargrave

Larkspur Rovers 4-1 Shinfield Rangers

Hillingdon Abbots 1-3 Burghfield

FIXTURES

Saturday, February 4

FOOTBALL

Championship

Reading v Watford

Southern League Premier South

Hanwell Town v Bracknell Town

Isthmian South Central Binfield v Southall

Combined Counties Premier North

Ascot United v Oxhey Jets

Reading City v London Lions

Windsor v Sumas

Combined Counties Division One

Hillingdon v Woodley United

London Samurai Rovers v Berks County

Sandhurst Town v Eversley & California

RUGBY UNION

London & SE South Central Bracknell v Banbury

HOCKEY

South Central Men’s Premier 1

Reading 2s v Basingstoke

Women’s Conference West Trojans v Reading 2s

South Central Men’s North Division 1

Sonning v Milton Keynes 2s

South Central Women’s Premier 1 Henley v Sonning

South Central Men’s Premier 2 South Berkshire v Haslemere

South Central Women’s North Division 1 Aylesbury v South Berkshire

Sunday, February 5

FOOTBALL

Women’s Super League Liverpool v Reading

Southern Region Women’s Premier Division

Bournemouth Sports v Ascot United

Southern Region Women’s Division One North

Caversham United v Carterton

Eversley & California v Long Crendon

Penn & Tylers v Woodley

Cup

Ascot Reserves v Kingsclere

Oxford City U23s v Tilehurst Panthers

Wargrave v Wallingford & Crowmarsh

Denham United Reserves v S4K Berks County

Wycombe Wanderers v Eversley & California Reserves

Plate

Burghfield v Wycombe Saints

Caversham AFC v Long

Crendon Development

Wargrave v Shinfield Rangers

Yateley United v Milton Keynes City

Joey Fowler was dominant all game

Alice Denton-Rice scored a hat trick

Jess Gundry performed well at centre Pictures: @rugbygrandad

Hannah Skeels and Annette Bevan celebrate