Reading (/ˈrɛdɪŋ/ⓘRED-ing)[2] is a town and borough inBerkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. Most ofits built-up area lies within theBorough of Reading, although some outer suburbs are parts of neighbouring local authority areas. It is located in theThames Valley at theconfluence of the riversThames andKennet.
Reading is a major commercial centre, especially for information technology and insurance.[3] It is also a regional retail centre, serving a large area of the Thames Valley with its shopping centres, includingthe Oracle, the Broad Street Mall, and the pedestrianised area around Broad Street. It is home to theUniversity of Reading. Every year it hosts theReading Festival, one of England's biggest music festivals. Reading has a professionalassociation football team,Reading F.C., and participates in many other sports.
Reading dates from the 8th century. It was a trading and ecclesiastical centre in theMiddle Ages, the site ofReading Abbey, one of the largest and richest monasteries ofmedieval England with royal connections, of which the 12th-century abbey gateway and significant ancient ruins remain. By 1525, Reading was the largest town in Berkshire, and tenth in England for taxable wealth. The town was seriously affected by theEnglish Civil War, with a major siege and loss of trade, but played a pivotal role in theGlorious Revolution, whose only significant military action was fought on its streets. The 18th century saw the beginning of a major ironworks in the town and the growth of thebrewing trade for which Reading was to become famous. The 19th century saw the coming of theGreat Western Railway and the development of the town's brewing, baking and seed-growing businesses, and the town grew rapidly as amanufacturing centre.
The earliest known name for Reading isReadingas, from the 8th century. The name probably comes from theReadingas, anAnglo-Saxon tribe whose name meansReada's People inOld English (the Anglo-Saxons often had the same name for a place and its inhabitants).[4]
The demonym for a person from Reading isRedingensian, giving the name of the local rugby teamRedingensians, based inSonning, and of former members ofReading School.[5][6]
Occupation at the site of Reading may date back to theRoman period, possibly in the form of a trading port forCalleva Atrebatum.[7] However, the first clear evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, when the town came to be known asReadingas. In late 870, an army ofDanes invaded the kingdom ofWessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in thefirst Battle of Reading,King Ethelred and his brotherAlfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when they retreated to their winter quarters inLondon.[8][9]
The town grew around a crossing of the River Kennet, about 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream from its confluence with the River Thames. In 1312, KingEdward II directed that its bridges should be kept in good order.[11] It is not known how badly Reading was affected by theBlack Death that swept throughEngland in the 14th century, but it is known that the abbot,Henry of Appleford, was one of its victims in 1361, and that nearbyHenley lost 60% of its population.[12] TheAbbey was largely destroyed in 1538 duringHenry VIII'sdissolution of the monasteries. The lastabbot,Hugh Faringdon, was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason andhanged, drawn and quartered in front of the Abbey Church.[13][14]
By 1525, Reading was the largest town inBerkshire and the tenth largest town in England when measured by taxable wealth reported in tax returns. By 1611, it had a population of over 5,000 and had grown rich on its trade in cloth, as instanced by the fortune made by local merchantJohn Kendrick.[12][15] Reading played a role during theEnglish Civil War. Despite its fortifications, it had aRoyalistgarrison imposed on it in 1642. The subsequentSiege of Reading byParliamentary forces succeeded in April 1643.[16] The town's cloth trade was especially badly damaged, and the town's economy did not fully recover until the 20th century.[9][17] Reading played a significant role during theGlorious Revolution: thesecond Battle of Reading was the only substantial military action of the campaign.[9][18]
The 18th century saw the beginning of a major iron works in the town and the growth of thebrewing trade for which Reading was to become famous.[19] Reading's trade benefited from better designedturnpike roads which helped it establish its location on the major coaching routes from London toOxford and theWest Country. In 1723, despite considerable local opposition, the Kennet Navigation opened theRiver Kennet to boats as far asNewbury. Opposition stopped when it became apparent that the new route benefited the town. After the opening of theKennet and Avon Canal in 1810, one could go by barge from Reading to theBristol Channel.[20] From 1714, and probably earlier, the role ofcounty town of Berkshire was shared between Reading andAbingdon.[21][22] In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was one of the southern termini of theHatfield and Reading Turnpike that allowed travellers from the north to continue their journey to the west without going through the congestion of London.
The town continued to expand in the 20th century, annexingCaversham across theRiver Thames inOxfordshire in 1911, as well as most ofTilehurst to the west at the same time. Reading suffered much less physical damage than many other English towns and cities during the twoworld wars of the 20th century, although many citizens were killed or injured. In one significantair raid on 10 February 1943 a singleLuftwaffe plane strafed and bombed the town centre, causing 41 deaths and over 100 injuries.[33]
TheLower Earley development, begun in 1977, was one of the largest private housing developments in Europe,[34][35] extending the urban area of Reading as far as theM4 Motorway. Further housing developments have increased the number of modern houses andhypermarkets in the outskirts of Reading. A major town-centre shopping centre,The Oracle, opened in 1999, is named after the 17th-centuryOracle workhouse, which once occupied a small part of the site. It provides three storeys of shopping space and boosted the local economy by providing 4,000 jobs.[36][37]
Reading was anancient borough, being described as a borough by the time of theDomesday Book in 1086. The borough was initially controlled byReading Abbey as itsmanorial owner. The town gradually gained a degree of independence from the abbey from the 13th century onwards, particularly after the town'smerchant guild was granted aroyal charter in 1253. Following thedissolution of the abbey in 1538 the borough was granted a new charter in 1542.[9] The borough boundaries were then set out in a subsequent charter fromElizabeth I in 1560. The borough covered the whole of the parish ofSt Laurence and parts of the parishes ofSt Giles andSt Mary. The part of St Giles' parish outside the borough was known as thehamlet ofWhitley, and the part of St Mary's parish outside the borough was known as thetithing ofSouthcote.[49]
The borough was reformed in 1836 to become amunicipal borough under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country.[50] The borough boundaries, which had not been changed since 1560, were enlarged in 1887 to take in Southcote, Whitley, the north-western parts ofEarley, and the eastern end of the parish ofTilehurst.[51][52] When elected county councils were established in 1889 under theLocal Government Act 1888, Reading was considered large enough for its existing borough council to provide county-level services, and so Reading was made acounty borough, independent fromBerkshire County Council.[50]
The borough boundaries were enlarged again in 1911 to take in Caversham on the north bank of the Thames fromOxfordshire (except theCaversham Park area, which was transferred to the parish ofEye and Dunsden), and most of the parish of Tilehurst (including the main village at Tilehurst Triangle and the area around the parish church at Churchend) to the west.[53]
Local government was reformed in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, which saw Reading redesignated as anon-metropolitan district, with Berkshire County Council providing county-level services in the borough for the first time. Ahead of those reforms, the borough council campaigned to have Reading's boundaries enlarged to take in Earley,Woodley,Purley on Thames, the residualTilehurst parish (covering the parts of Tilehurst which had not been transferred into the borough in 1911), and the eastern part of the parish ofTheale.[54] The government decided to make no change to Reading's boundaries, leaving them as they had been since last reviewed in 1911.[55] Shortly after the 1974 reforms came into effect, a more limited review of the borough's boundaries north of the Thames was carried out, which saw the Caversham Park area and part of the parish ofMapledurham on the western side of Caversham transferred into the borough of Reading in 1977.[56]
The borough council became a unitary authority in 1998, when the county council was abolished under theBanham Review, which saw the borough council take over county-level functions, effectively restoring the council to the powers it had held when Reading was a county borough prior to 1974.[57] As part of those reforms, the Local Government Commission had initially recommended expanding Reading's boundaries to include Earley, Tilehurst parish, Purley on Thames and the parts of the parishes ofShinfield,Burghfield and Theale north of theM4 motorway, but it was ultimately decided to leave Reading's boundaries unchanged.[58]
Reading's boundaries south of the Thames therefore have not changed since 1911, despite the urban area having now expanded well beyond the borough boundaries. Cross-boundary working between the borough council and the neighbouring councils which cover the suburban and adjoining rural areas is sometimes criticised, particularly over matters such as transport and school catchment areas.[59][60][61]
Prior to the 16th century, civic administration for the town of Reading was situated in theYield Hall, aguild hall situated by theRiver Kennet near today's Yield Hall Lane.[62] After a brief stay in what later becameGreyfriars Church, the town council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the refectory of theHospitium of St John, the former hospitium ofReading Abbey.[62] For some 400 years up to the 1970s, this was to remain the site of Reading's civic administration through the successive rebuilds that eventually created today'sTown Hall.[63] In 1976,Reading Borough Council moved to the newCivic Centre.[64] In 2014, they moved again to civic offices in a refurbished existing office building onBridge Street, in order to facilitate the demolition and redevelopment of the previous site.[65]
Reading is 42 miles (68 km) north of the English south coast. The centre of Reading is on a low ridge between theRiver Thames andRiver Kennet, close to theirconfluence, reflecting the town's history as a river port. Just above the confluence, the Kennet cuts through a narrow steep-sided gap in the hills forming the southern flank of the Thamesflood plain. The Kennet, which naturally divided into multiple shallow streams through the centre of Reading, was embanked as part of the construction of theKennet and Avon Canal in the 18th century, allowing the development ofwharves. The floodplains adjoining Reading's two rivers are subject to occasional flooding.[66][67]
As Reading has grown, its suburbs have spread: to the west between the two rivers into the foothills of theBerkshire Downs as far asCalcot,Tilehurst andPurley; to the south and south-east on the south side of theRiver Kennet as far asWhitley Wood andLower Earley and as far north of theThames into theChiltern Hills as far asCaversham Heights,Emmer Green andCaversham Park Village. Outside the central area, the floors of the valleys containing the two rivers remain largely unimprovedfloodplain. Apart from theM4 curving to the south there is only one road across the Kennet flood plain. All other routes between the three built-up areas are in the central area.[68]
Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Reading has amaritime climate, with limited seasonal temperature ranges and generally moderate rainfall throughout the year. The nearest officialMet Office weather station is located at theReading University Atmospheric Observatory on theWhiteknights Campus, which has recorded atmospheric measurements and meteorological observations since 1970.[69] The local absolute maximum temperature of 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) was recorded on 19 July 2022 and the local absolute minimum temperature of −14.5 °C (5.9 °F) was recorded in January 1982.
Climate data forReading University, elevation: 62 m (203 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1959–present
Population pyramid of Reading in 2021Borough of Reading population growth rate from 1801 to 2011
In mid-2018, the area covered by the Borough of Reading had 174,820 inhabitants and a population density of 4,327 per square kilometre (11,207/sq mi).[74] Meanwhile, thewider urban area had a population of 318,014 in the2011 census, ranking 23rd in the United Kingdom.[75] This grew to an estimated 337,108 by mid-2018.[76] According to the 2011 census, 74.8% of the borough's population were described asWhite (65.3%White British), 9.1% asSouth Asian, 6.7% asBlack, 3.9%Mixed, 4.5% asChinese and 0.9% as otherethnic group.[77] In 2010, it was reported that Reading had 150 different spoken languages within its population.[78][79] Reading has a large Polish community, which dates back over 30 years,[80] and in October 2006 theReading Chronicle printed 5,000 copies of a Polish edition called theKronika Reading.[81][82][83]
Reading International Business Park. This crescent of offices beside the A33 is home toVerizon, a telecommunications company, and was formerly the European headquarters ofWorldCom before its demiseThe front of the store on Broad StreetThe central lake makes a virtue of the necessity of flood alleviation measuresGreen Park wind turbine viewed from Lime Square
Reading is a commercial centre in theThames Valley andSouthern England. The town hosts the headquarters of several British companies and the United Kingdom offices of foreign multinationals, as well as being a major retail centre.[93] Whilst located close enough to London to be sometimes regarded as part of theLondon commuter belt, Reading is a net inward destination for commuters. During the morning peak period, there are some 30,000 inward arrivals in the town, compared to 24,000 departures.[94] Major companiesMicrosoft,Oracle[95] andHibu (formerly Yell Group)[96] have their headquarters in the Reading area. The insurance companyPrudential has an administration centre in the town.[97]PepsiCo[98] andWrigley[98] have offices.
Reading town centre is a major shopping centre. In 2007, an independent poll placed Reading 16th in a league table of best performing retail centres in the United Kingdom.[107][108] The main shopping street isBroad Street, which runs betweenThe Oracle in the east andBroad Street Mall in the west and was pedestrianised in 1995.[109] The smaller Friars Walk inFriar Street is closed and will be demolished if the proposedStation Hill redevelopment project goes ahead.[110] There are three majordepartment stores in Reading:John Lewis & Partners (known asHeelas until 2001),[111]Debenhams (now closed down), andHouse of Fraser.[112] TheBroad Street branch of booksellerWaterstone's is a conversion of anonconformist chapel dating from 1707.[113] Besides the two major shopping malls, Reading has three smaller shopping arcades, the Bristol and West Arcade, Harris Arcade and The Walk, which contain smaller specialist stores. An older form of retail facility is represented byUnion Street, popularly known asSmelly Alley.[114][115] Reading has no indoor market, but there is astreet market in Hosier Street.[116] Afarmers' market operates on two Saturdays a month.[117] The old VictorianCorn Exchange now provides an alternative access to a shopping centre.[118]
Every year Reading hosts theReading Festival, which has been running since 1971.[119][120] The festival takes place on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Augustbank holiday weekend and is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom aside from theGlastonbury Festival. Reading Festival takes place at Little Johns Farm in Reading, Richfield Avenue.[121] For some twenty years until 2006, Reading was also known for itsWOMAD Festival until it moved toCharlton Park inMalmesbury,Wiltshire.[122][123]
The ReadingBeer Festival was first held in 1994[124] and has now grown to one of the largest beer festivals in the United Kingdom. It is held atKing's Meadow for the five days immediately preceding theMay Day bank holiday every year.[125] Reading also holdsReading Pride, an annualLGBT festival in Kings Meadow.
TheFrank Matcham-designed Royal County Theatre, built in 1895, was located on the south side of Friar Street. It burned down in 1937.[126] Within thetown hall is a 700-seatconcert hall that houses aFather Willis organ.[127] Readingtheatre venues includeThe Hexagon and South Street Arts Centre.[128][129] Reading Repertory Theatre is based atReading College: its Royal Patron isPrince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh.[130]Amateur theatre venues in Reading includeProgress Theatre,[131] a self-governing, self-funding theatre group and registered charity founded in 1947 that operates and maintains its own 97-seat theatre.[132] Rabble Theatre[133] in Caversham and Reading Rep[134] on London Road offer classic and contemporary performances. Jelly[135] is an artist-led organisation that has been committed to improving access to the arts since 1993.
Jane Austen attended Reading LadiesBoarding School, based in theAbbey Gateway, in 1784–1786.[136]Mary Russell Mitford lived in Reading for a number of years and then spent the rest of her life just outside the town atThree Mile Cross andSwallowfield.[137] The fictionalBelford Regis of her eponymous novel,[138] first published in 1835, is largely based on Reading. Described withtopographical accuracy, it is still possible to follow the steps of the novel's characters in present-day Reading. Reading also appears in the works ofThomas Hardy where it is called 'Aldbrickham'.[139] It features most heavily in his final novel,Jude the Obscure, as the temporary home of Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead.
Oscar Wilde was imprisoned inReading Gaol from 1895 to 1897. While there, he wrote his letterDe Profundis. After his release, he lived in exile inFrance and wroteThe Ballad of Reading Gaol, based on his experience of the execution ofCharles Wooldridge, carried out in Reading Gaol whilst he was imprisoned there.[140][141] In March 2021, street artistBanksy claimed responsibility for a painting on the wall of the jail. It depicted an inmate escaping with bedsheets and a typewriter, said to resembleOscar Wilde.[142]
Reading was the location of the world's first commercial studio for photograph printing, which was set up byWilliam Henry Fox Talbot in 1844.[143]
Reading has a local newspaper, theReading Chronicle, published on Thursdays. The town's other local newspaper, theReading Post, ceased publication on paper in December 2014, in order to transition to an online only format under the titlegetreading. As of 2018,getreading joined the InYourArea local news network.[152] A local publishing company, theTwo Rivers Press, has published over 70 book titles, many on the topic of local history and art.[153][154] Three local radio stations broadcast from Reading:BBC Radio Berkshire,Heart South andGreatest Hits Radio Berkshire and North Hampshire. Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC South andITV Meridian,BBC London &ITV London can also be received. Reading has one local television station,That's Thames Valley, which broadcasts local news throughout the Greater Reading area.
Reading has over 100 parks and playgrounds, including 5 miles (8 km) of riverside paths. In the town centre isForbury Gardens, a public park built on the site of the outer court ofReading Abbey. The largest public park in Reading isProspect Park, an estate in west Reading previously owned by Frances Kendrick but acquired by Reading Corporation in 1901. This is complemented byPalmer Park, a purpose built public park in east Reading gifted to the town by the proprietors ofHuntley & Palmers in 1889.[156][157][158]
Mains water and sewerage services are provided byThames Water Utilities Limited, a private sector water supply company, whilst water abstraction and disposal is regulated by theEnvironment Agency. Reading's water supply is largely derived from undergroundaquifers, and as a consequence the water ishard.[168][169][170]
The commercial energy supplier for electricity and gas is at the consumer's choice.SSEN runs the local electricity distribution network, whileSGN runs the gas distribution network. A notable part of the local energy infrastructure is the presence of a 2megawatt (peak)Enerconwind turbine atGreen Park Business Park, with the potential to produce 2.7 millionkWh of electricity a year, enough to power over a thousand homes.[171] Additionally,Reading Hydro runs amicro hydroelectric power station on the Thames. Reading had its ownpower station in Vastern Road from 1895 to the 1960s. The power station was initially owned and operated by the Reading Electric Supply Company Limited, then from 1933 by the Reading Corporation until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948.[172]
Thedialling code for fixed-line telephones in Reading is 0118.BT provides fixed-line telephone coverage throughout the town andADSLbroadband internet connection to most areas. Parts of Reading are cabled byVirgin Media, supplying cable television, telephone and broadband internet connections.Hyperoptic also has a presence in the town, supplying Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband internet connections at speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s.[173]
Reading was a major staging point on theold Bath Road (A4) from London toAvonmouth near Bristol. This road still carries local traffic, but has now been replaced for long-distance traffic by theM4 motorway, which closely skirts the borough and serves it with three junctions, J10-J12. Other main roads serving Reading include theA33, A327,A329,A4074 and A4155. Within Reading there is theInner Distribution Road (IDR), a ring road for local traffic. The IDR is linked with the M4 by the A33relief road. TheThames is crossed by bothReading andCaversham road bridges, while several road bridges cross the Kennet, the oldest surviving one of which isHigh Bridge.[192]
Reading has two operationalpark and ride sites. Mereoak, a short distance south of Junction 11 of the M4, is also a stop forNational Express Coaches between London and the West.[193] A site outside theWinnersh Triangle railway station opened in 2015 and is easily accessed from the junction where the A329(M) becomes the A3290.[194]
Reading is a major junction point of theNational Rail system, and henceReading station is a transfer point and terminus. In a project that finished in 2015, Reading station was redeveloped at a cost of £850m, withgrade separation of some conflicting traffic flows, and extra platforms, to relieve severe congestion at this station.[195][196] Railway lines link Reading to bothPaddington andWaterloo stations in London. Other stations in the Reading area areReading West,Reading Green Park,Tilehurst andEarley.
Reading is a western terminus of theElizabeth line, which provides stopping services to London Paddington, and means Reading is featured on the LondonTube map. Cross-London connections are possible from Reading toAbbey Wood andShenfield in the east.[197]
There have been twoairfields in or near Reading, one atColey Park[198] and one atWoodley,[199] but they have both closed. The nearest international airport isLondon Heathrow, 20 miles (32 km) away. An express bus service namedRailAir links Reading with Heathrow,[200] or the airport can be accessed by rail by taking theElizabeth line toHayes & Harlington and changing for a connecting service to Heathrow. This journey takes around 45 minutes by rail.[201] London City Airport can be reached via a direct train toCustom House on the Elizabeth line followed by a short bus connection.Gatwick Airport can be accessed via a direct local train operating via Guildford, andLuton andStansted airports can be accessed with one change in Central London. Further afield,Southampton Airport can be accessed directly by rail in around 50-70 minutes depending on the service, or reached by road in approximately the same timeframe.
Today local public transport is largely by road, which is often affected by peak hour congestion in the borough. A frequent local bus network within the borough, and a less frequent network in the surrounding area, are provided byReading Buses - one of the few remainingmunicipal bus companies in the country - and its subsidiaries Newbury & District andThames Valley Buses. Other bus operators serving Reading includeCarousel Buses,Thames Travel and RedRose.[202]ReadiBus provides an on-demand transport service for people with restricted mobility in the area.[203]
In March 2011, Reading Borough Council approved a bike sharing scheme similar toLondon Cycle Hire Scheme, with 1,000 bicycles available at up to 150 docking stations across Reading. However this scheme came to an end in March 2019, with the operator unable to cover the operational costs or find a sponsor to do so.[204][205][206]
Reading Minster (the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin) is Reading's oldest ecclesiastical foundation, known to have been founded by the 9th century and possibly earlier.[208] Although eclipsed in importance by the later abbey, Reading Minster has regained its importance since the destruction of the abbey.Reading Abbey was founded byHenry I in 1121. He was buried there, as were parts of his daughterEmpress Matilda,William of Poitiers,Constance of York, and Princess Isabella of Cornwall, among others.[9][10] The abbey was one of the pilgrimage centres of medieval England; it held over 230relics including the hand ofSt. James. Today all that remains of the abbey are the inner rubble cores of the walls of many of the major buildings of the abbey, together with a much restored inner gateway and the intacthospitium.[209][210]
St James's Church was built on a portion of the site of the abbey between 1837 and 1840, and marked the return of theRoman Catholic faith to Reading. Reading was also the site of the death ofBlessed Dominic Barberi, the Catholic missionary to England in the 19th century who receivedJohn Henry Newman into the Catholic faith. There are now eight Roman Catholic parish churches in Reading.[216][217][218]Kings Road Baptist Church was founded in Reading in 1640 or 1641.[219] In addition to Catholicism and theChurch of England, theSeventh-Day Adventist denomination is also represented in the town, particularly by Reading West SDA Church on Loverock Road, Reading Central SDA Church on Tilehurst Road, and various other churches around Reading.[220][221]
Reading has had an organisedJewish community since 1886. At least one Jewish family living in the area has been traced back as far as 1842. The group grew to 13 families, who in 1886 declared themselves a community and commenced building asynagogue. On 31 October 1900, ReadingHebrew Congregation[222] officially opened in a solemn public ceremony, packed to capacity with dignitaries, led by theChief RabbiHermann Adler. Reading Hebrew Congregation, which still stands on its original site at the junction of Goldsmid Road and Clifton Street near the town centre, is aGrade II-listed building, built to a traditional design in theMoorish style. The community is affiliated with the OrthodoxUnited Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.[222] Reading also has aLiberal Jewish community which convenes in the ReadingQuaker Meeting House,[223] aModern Orthodox Judaismcommunity, an active Jewish Society for students at the university, as well as being served by aReform Jewish community which convenes in nearbyMaidenhead Synagogue.[224]
There are presently threemosques in Reading, initially just having the Central Reading Mosque on Waylen Street.[225] The £3–4mAbu Bakr Islamic Centre, onOxford Road inWest Reading, was granted planning permission in 2002. The community-funded project began construction in 2007,[226] and opened its doors in July 2013 - the holy month of Ramadan for this year.[227] A secondIslamic centre in eastern Reading has also been granted planning permission.[228] This £4m project has garnered some controversy.[229] Reading also has places of worship of other religions: the ShantidevaMahayana Buddhist centre,[230] aHindu temple,[231] aSikhgurdwara,[232] aSalvation Army citadel,[233] aQuaker meeting house,[234] and aChristadelphian Hall.[235]
TheReading Half Marathon is held on the streets of Reading in March of each year, with 16,000 competitors from elite to fun runners.[250] It was first run in 1983 and has taken place in every subsequent year except 2001, when it was cancelled because of concerns over that year's outbreak offoot-and-mouth disease, 2018, when it was cancelled on the morning of the race due to heavy overnight snowfall, and 2020, when it was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[251][252][253] TheBritish Triathlon Association was formed at the town's formerMallhealth club on 11 December 1982.[254] Britain's first evertriathlon took place just outside Reading at Kirtons's Farm inPingewood in 1983 and was revived 10 years' later by Banana Leisure with one of the original organisers as Event Director.[255]Thames Valley Triathletes, based in the town, is Britain's oldest triathlon club, having its origins in the 1984 event at nearbyHeckfield, when arelay team raced under the nameReading Triathlon Club.[256] The Hexagon was home tosnooker'sGrand Prix tournament, one of the sport's "Big Four", from 1984 to 1994.[257][258]
Though not twinned with Reading, two suburbs of theNew Zealand city ofDunedin — Caversham andForbury — were named after places in and around Reading by early New Zealand settler and Reading nativeWilliam Henry Valpy.
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