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Title Reading – Coley Park Short Description This Is a Fairly Short, Easy, Urban Walk, Just to the West of Reading Town Centre

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Title Reading – Coley Park Short Description This Is a Fairly Short, Easy, Urban Walk, Just to the West of Reading Town Centre Title Reading – Coley Park Short description This is a fairly short, easy, urban walk, just to the west of Reading town centre. The aim is to reveal some of the history that you would not expect to see, hidden in these streets. Long description This walk through apparently unprepossessing urban streets aims to explore the history of the area. It takes in the 17th Century manor of Coley, a 19th Century brickworks, and a WW1 Royal Flying Corps airfield. On the return leg we go along the Kennet and Avon Canal, past the sites of the CWS jam factory and the GWR goods yard, and end up at the medieval Reading Gaol. There are a few gentle hills or slopes during the walk and a kissing gate, but no styles. For an OpenStreetMap version of this walk's map please untick the default OS 1:25 000 scale map option before opening the guide or the map page. It is also available as an additional download, as is a historical version of the map, from around 1900. Research which provided the route and historical background for the walk was carried out primarily by Dennis Johnson, a member of the U3A Thames Valley Network "Historic Pathways" group. Other walks we have created include my Broadmoor and Steventon/Milton walks. Access info The LOGICAL start of the walk is the Berkshire Records Office, on the junction of Castle Hill and Coley Avenue. I call this LOGICAL, because this starts at the entrance to the general area of Coley Park. The Park-and-Ride bus from the Madejski Stadium will take you to Castle Street, and from there you can walk up Castle Hill. The 26 bus runs from the station and up Castle Hill. Alight at the "Russell Street" stop. (Russell Street is directly opposite Coley Avenue). Parking in this area is difficult but there are a few legal spots can be found. However, a PRACTICAL start point might be at Waypoint 8, because there is reasonable parking at many places along St Saviours Road. This leaves Coley Park as the climax of the walk – quite a reasonable alternative. Additional info Normally I would use this section to point out things of interest, but since the whole point of the walk is to have places of historical interest highlighted for you I have described these in the description of the appropriate stage of the walk. Being an urban walk, giving directions is relatively easy – usually it's a road name – so adding background material as I go along seemed the most sensible. I have also occasionally added a waypoint in order to explain something worth seeing – not for the usual reason that you would take a significant turn in your route at this point. The Holy Brook runs for six miles as a channel of the River Kennet, flowing to the north of the main channel from Arrowhead at Theale and then rejoining it in the centre of Reading, just downstream of the Abbey Mill by the prison. It powered the watermill of Reading Abbey, hence its name of the Holy Brook. You will cross this stream a couple of times on this route. Many details of Coley Park can be found on this comprehensive website : http://www.coleypark.com/ 1) Turn left from the Record Office drive and down Coley Avenue. This was, and still is, a tree-lined avenue, leading to Coley Park. The avenue's entrance had two ornate pillars, surmounted by griffins. Griffins were part of the crest of the Monck family, who owned Coley Park from 1810 to 1937. At the end of the road you meet the busy Berkeley Avenue, named after the MP for Reading from 1820 to 1830, John Berkeley Monck. This road is relatively recent, only being finished in 1908. 2) Cross the road at the pedestrian crossing and look back at two impressive villas. Avenue Villa (pictured) was built near the access way (now incorporated into Berkeley Ave) to Avenue Works Kilns (then still in production). Continue down the quieter, tree-lined hill opposite, still Coley Avenue. At the end of the road we reach the two matching lodges, which guard the entrance to Coley Park. 3) The right hand lodge is shown in the picture. The entrance to the park is now closed to the public and the land beyond is occupied by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We therefore take a detour to the left, through a kissing gate and down to the pedestrian crossing on Wensley Road. (Should you need them, the "Top Shops" are just to your left). Cross the road and turn right. Continue past the small roundabout and past the school entrances (Kate Winslet attended the Primary School here in the 1980's), as far as Lesford Road. On the opposite side of the road you will see the original Coley Mansion house, built in 1882 and a Grade II listed building – now part of the Berkshire Independent Hospital. 4) Looking west along the road you'll see in the distance three 15-storey blocks of flats, built in the 1950s as part of the council estate which occupies much of the old grounds of the manor (very different architectural concepts !). They were the tallest buildings in Reading when they were built. Retrace your steps back to the roundabout and on to the top of Old Lane. 5) Although this quiet lane abounds with "PRIVATE" signs, it is a public right of way. At the end of the road is a housing development, containing many buildings from the original Coley Farm. Fork right at the end of the lane along The Brook Mill and past the farm barn. Further on are the coach house and the dovecote. Most of these buildings and the two bridges you'll soon see are Heritage Listed. 6) Continue as far as the bridge over the Holy Brook, which allowed cows access to the water meadows beyond. In the late 19th Century these fields housed a Volunteer Rifle Range. Don't cross the bridge, but turn left along the footpath past the housing. When you reach the second bridge, turn left up Yew Lane, past a small car park, to see the farmyard and the other side of the dovecote. Continue back up the lane past Rose Cottage to rejoin Old Lane and retrace your steps to the top of the road again. Turn right and take the next road immediately on the right, St Saviours Road. At the point where it bears sharp left you'll see ahead the high wall of the old farm's walled garden. It conveniently now keeps the middle class suburban housing from the view of the upper classes in Coley Farm. Follow the road left and then turn right into Tyburton Place and half way down the road.. 7) You can see here part of the listed wall - they were obviously allowed to demolish part of it. Retrace your steps back up to St Saviours, turn right and on until you reach the start of the tree-lined recreation ground on the left. 8) There is a footpath heading gently up the hill skirting the houses on the left. At the top of the rise look right over the grassed area, where Reading Football Club had their first ground in 1882. The area where clay was dug out for the local brickworks forms a natural grandstand. Coley Kilns (Brick, Tile and Pottery Works) was where the playing field is now – it closed in 1880. In the fields beyond the eastern end of the rec was a WW1 airfield, the source of inspiration for the Biggles stories. Continue on the path down the hill, cross Holybrook Road and turn right. At the end turn left, down to Berkeley Avenue again, cross at the lights and take the short footpath straight ahead. Turn right along this service road. 9) It is interesting to see the different uses that old church buildings have been put to: St. Saviours Church, built in the 1890's, is now an evangelical Elim Pentacostal church and its church hall is now a drop in centre. Continue up to the pavement beside the main road and up the slope. The first bridge is over the Holy Brook. The next is over the A33 – in the distance it joins the Inner Distribution Road (IDR). 10) This bridge originally went over the GWR Coley Goods Yard. To this yard was delivered coal for delivery around Reading and the raw materials and end products from Symonds brewery, a timber yard and the CWS Jam Factory all passed through here. Take the first left after the bridge – "Temple Place leading to Lower Brook Street". On the left hand corner was the site of the jam factory. During WW1 it was taken over for use by the RFC flying school. Next on the left was the Reading Iron Works. When you reach Lower Brook Street, which crosses to the left, bear right round the end of the terrace along the towpath of the Kennet and Avon canal. 11) Continue under the Inner Distribution Road. At this point you can see County Lock, ahead and to the right. Immediately after the bridge is a cycleway/footpath to the left, but ignore this and take the next short path ahead and left into the modern housing. It is marked as a cycleway to the Town Centre. 12) Bear right along the path as it takes you across the front of a housing block on the right (notice the rail tracks embedded in the cobbled road) and shortly after you will see the Loch Fyne restaurant on your right.
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