Wednesday 16 September 2009

Met up with some of my old team from CfBT after work on Friday to raise a glass to our colleague Ginette, who tragically died last week.

On Saturday dragged Ruth around a few local sites courtesy of Heritage Open Days 2009. We visited two churches in the morning, St Bartholomew's and St Luke’s, which together form a joint parish. St Bart's is used not only by a CofE congregation (they appear to use the Nave) but also by Greek Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox congregations (who use the Chancel – this had icons and decorative bits and pieces dotted about). The pulpit at St Bartholomew's was apparently the anonymous gift of two ladies who carved it themselves - Ruth and I were amused at the anonymity aspect and had visions of two elderly ladies smuggling a pulpit into the church under cover of darkness. St Luke's - the left-hand picture on the joint parish homepage - is a more imposing and coherent-looking building, probably thanks to being designed by just one architect (James Piers St Aubyn) as opposed to being a collection of add-ons.

We were welcomed at both churches by a few elderly members of the congregation who were so pleased to see us one suspected that they were having a quiet day. One chap at St Luke's even pursued me down the street to ask whether we were interested in seeing inside the church hall as well.

Had an hour to kill so descended on our friend Helen for a refreshing drink before heading to the Royal Berks to see the Medical Museum, part of the Berkshire Medical Heritage Centre. The museum, tucked away at basement level in the former hospital laundry, is a fascinating if gruesome collection of medical equipment and memorabilia. Some of the old obstetric and dental equipment is particularly unpleasant - thank God for progress - and an 'aerial' shot of what must have been close-on 100 patients in iron lungs was pretty sobering.

On the way out, I noticed a corridor going off to the left in the direction of the main hospital building and got to wondering about the no-doubt fascinating maze of underground tunnels that probably runs under the buildings. Found myself wishing for an alternative Heritage Open Day offering tours of underground tunnels and abandoned buildings - I'm sure it would draw an audience. My suggestions for an Alternative Heritage Open Day for Reading would be:

• The suspected sub-hospital catacombs, as mentioned above
  
• The disused Mecca Bingo above the (very) disused bus station. The bingo hall has been closed since 2003; the bus station underneath it has been abandoned for a lot longer. See pictures here and also a short piece from a contributor to the Urban Exploration forum - a fascinating (and doubtless not strictly lawful) endeavour. The contributor also has some photos of Friars Walk, a now-closed shopping precinct that used to house C&A among other places.
  
• Aldwych House, on the corner of Blagrave Street, which used to be occupied by Foster Wheeler. It had (or used to have) a bar in the basement – I once went there for a drink with a flirtatious Detective Sergeant when briefly temping for British Transport Police back in the early 1990s (see 2 September post).
  
• And possibly the long-abandoned Western Tower on Station Hill, which may still be the tallest building in Reading (not sure - I know it was at one point) – there are some entries on the UE forum - here and here - about this as well.