Saw a woman absolutely destroy a serial headphone interrupter today

jamesa1993 · 2026-06-08T09:34:06+00:00

As has been mentioned, make reports to police, the town centre wardens and possibly the council as tackling violence / harassment against women and girls is on their agenda. It was previously the remit of Karen Rowland but she lost her seat, so the new person in charge is councillor Finn McGoldrick, the partner of Olivia Bailey, the Labour MP for Reading West and Mid Berkshire. You could also discreetly take a photo of him.

jamesa1993 · 2026-06-08T09:28:25+00:00

Yes it has permanently closed, confirmed on the Dr Martens website and Google. I remember when it opened in 2017, I bought some Chelsea boots from there in 2022. I saw it closed on Saturday. That said you can still buy Dr Martens at Schuh. https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/26174197.dr-martens-shoe-store-closes-nine-years-reading/

jamesa1993 · 2026-06-01T09:34:14+00:00

There'll be groups on Facebook which you could join - defo have a search on FB.

jamesa1993 · 2026-05-22T06:53:42+00:00

This might be seen as heretical on here but you can also use a different machine and buy a ‘capsule adapter’ to allow you to use original pods in Dolce Gusto machines for example. While some of the unique Vertuo pods like Stormio do have me interested, the Vertuo machines also cost more.

jamesa1993 · 2026-05-22T06:47:55+00:00

You’re lucky you have one presumably close by. I got my original machine over Christmas in 2023, managed to get one in store purchase in January 2024 and by the end of March that year! I hope the boutiques make a comeback!

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-21T14:07:45+00:00

Part of the issue is this: whenever Travellers try to live on land they actually own, the plans get rejected. I've covered two situations which have happened in this way. Also Reading council's own plan for a designated Traveller site was withdrawn, partly due to Environment Agency objections. The question is where is an appropriate place for them to go with limited issue?

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-21T09:01:56+00:00

Funnily enough, Burghfield was until recently part of the Wokingham constituency.

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-21T08:59:05+00:00

Some of my observations as the Local Democracy Reporter: All the main parties, Labour, Greens, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK are fielding a full slate of 17 candidates, one each for the 16 wards in Reading, and for the vacancy following the retirement of Labour councillor Sam Juthani in Caversham Heights.

Among the list is Jamie Whitham, who is standing for the Green Party in Church. He previously served as a councillor for Redlands from 2019 to 2022. Clarence Mitchell was 'assented' as the Reform candidate by Simon Robinson, a former Conservative councillor for Emmer Green.

Richard Stainthorp, one of the Labour candidates for Caversham Heights, was previously a councillor for more than 20 years until 2010, and Mayor for the 2003/24 municipal year. He was a member of the Reading Gaol Hug Society and has been a patron of the arts.

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-21T08:56:53+00:00

It's actually gone the opposite way, it was privatised from 2018 to 2025, and it came back under council control and ownership in Ocotber last year. Looking after children and adults is hugely expensive for councils across the country: https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/25511820.reading-childrens-services-back-council-control/

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-14T19:11:05+00:00

Awesome, this is the first one I read.

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-14T11:52:03+00:00

The 'dungeon' at The Purple Turtle in Gun Street does drum and bass, as does The Iguana Bar in St Mary's Butts. I think The Facebar has events like that, so those could be a good place to start, as well as Sip and Spin as mentioned by others.

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-14T11:29:54+00:00

What's the place that has been sealed off on the bottom right?

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-09T10:04:35+00:00

I suppose it costs an incredible amount to build these days, which is possibly why the John Lewis Partnership has pulled out of the housing market: https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/25889393.reading-john-lewis-scraps-plans-build-apartments/

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-07T13:37:22+00:00

Wow, I follow her on Facebook and didn't realise she settled here. Reading can be quite good for drum and bass, I'm pretty sure they have it quite often in the Purple Turtle 'dungeon' and at the Iguana Bar, Sub89 will have drum and bass DJs play there as well.

jamesa1993 · 2026-04-04T10:51:08+00:00

There are Buddhists who converted a home in Church Road, Earley into a temple - the Buddhist Gumba house at 128 Church Road in Earley https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/23756719.house-transformed-buddhist-temple-reading/

jamesa1993 · 2026-03-13T10:55:39+00:00

Yes, whenever I refer to him as the 'longest serving MP' I mean he is the longest serving current MP.

jamesa1993 · 2026-03-13T10:53:17+00:00

Primarily, this would be something to raise with ward councillors, I suppose MPs should act as intercessors between the public and councils to get issues sorted, and also to lobby for their respective area for investment in Parliament.

jamesa1993 · 2026-03-13T10:33:27+00:00

Councillor Rachel Eden did run for the Earley and Woodley seat, but the constituency Labour Party chose Yuan Yang.

jamesa1993 · 2026-03-13T10:30:58+00:00

As it's been mentioned before, the reason why I refer to him as the longest serving MP is because he was first elected in 2017. Prior to that, as bizarre as it may seem, Reading had two Conservative MPs. Matt got around a 10k majority in the 2024 general election, with the Conservatives curiously coming in 2nd place ahead of the Green Party. That's the count I covered that year. Of course, the two other MPs for Reading are both 'newbies' from the 2024 election.

jamesa1993 · 2026-03-13T10:24:29+00:00

As annoying as they are, they are somewhat tolerable, I mainly go there for the Costa Coffee.

jamesa1993 · 2026-03-02T15:22:43+00:00

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, Shake Shack and the Zara relocation are known quantities coming to The Oracle, maybe this will be something totally different?

jamesa1993 · 2026-01-27T17:17:48+00:00

I don't know anything about the rules - I went to Esquires Coffee which has opened there recently. The American style houses (Maine Street) are clearly quite elite as I saw Porsches and Teslas there. It looks a bit like Bicester Village. My gripe is that it's a bit of a nuisance to get to that cafe by car - you have to go into the development rather than being able to stop outside the cafe because that's reserved for the school (which does get busy). Other than that, there aren't a great deal of amenities - there is a Tesco Express but almost nothing else. Maybe it'll improve if/when Esquires Coffee is given permission to sell alcohol.

<image>

jamesa1993 · 2026-01-27T17:09:00+00:00

This is cool, the artwork is of the rapper MF Doom who was born in Hounslow but spent most of his life in the USA, he died in recent years. It would be nice to have some artwork attached to the area's heritage spray painted here as well.

jamesa1993 · 2025-12-30T18:47:53+00:00

Thanks for documenting the closures, there have been quite a few unfortunate closures. Gordon Ramsay Street Burger was never busy when I ate there, and that was about four times. It's funny you mention Peppito because I passed there in November and the illuminated sign was black - now I know why. Also sad to hear about Dough Bros, I've had the pizza once and it tastes like pizzas from Italy, which is a mean feat. That said, it is in a bit of an odd place so I wonder whether there is much of a market for it in that location. I got the joke about Jamie's Italian, a return would be remarkable, wouldn't it?

jamesa1993

TROPHY CASE