Berkshire
23rd September 2017 Photos by Hetty
We followed the ‘Reading Town, River and Canal’ history trail on ifootpath.com – 3miles
We started at the Queen Victoria statue opposite the Town Hall
The Town Hall and Museum are four Victorian buildings – going left to right:
We walked along part of the Thames Path and saw various types of boats
This lock avoids the weir in the river
A lone swan
A spider on its web between plants
This barge has come from Saul Junction
The conkers were dropping from the trees – don’t stand there too long
This heron stood still near our river bank while people walked by
The junction of the rivers Thames and Kennet
From the horseshoe bridge at the junction
There were lots of swans (and a few geese and ducks) here
Reading was once famous for biscuits and this was part of the biscuit factory (which was the size of a small town in its heyday)
Huntley and Palmers were once the largest biscuit manufacturer in the world
This gate has a silhouette of Oscar Wilde, who spent some time in Reading Gaol (nearby)
There was once a huge Abbey here – now the ruins are being restored
Forbury Gardens is a Victorian park, on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey
This huge lion is a war memorial for the Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan in 1880.
One of the surviving parts of Reading Abbey
There are several fancy Victorian buildings in Reading town centre
We enjoyed our wander around the waterways of Reading, on a warm September afternoon