Main Page
The Ding is a guide to anything to do with Reading generally: arts, culture, community, business, services, history, sports, recreation, education, politics etc...
It's a Wiki (like Wikipedia): anyone can create and update pages (though you need to register as an editor first). (We have some RULES regarding discrimination, exploitation, advertising etc.)
We don't want to replace any existing sites and groups covering Reading or areas or groups within Reading: where these exist we'll link to them. For example there are:
- Explore Reading a recent (July 2017) site reporting on "things to do, places to eat or drink and cultural events to check out in Reading, UK"
- Reading Forum bulletin board
- Next Door - another web-based forum, which looks a bit like facebook (incorporates the old Streetlife)
- Facebook groups:
We also have our own The Ding Facebook group for day-to-day discussions and events.
This wiki currently has these pages:
- ALRSM Reading Show
- A Different World Festival
- All About Dogs
- Amber & the Professors
- Apollo Big Band
- Are You Listening? Festival
- Bastille Day Festival
- Berkshire Motor Show and Reading Pageant
- Black History Month
- Blue Sky Big Band
- Broad St circa 1933
- Bunkfest
- Burghfest
- Café Zazous
- Caversham Arts Trail
- Choirs & Choral Societies
- Cinema
- Cornerstone's Annual Beer & Music Festival
- Craft Theory Festival
- Creating and Editing Articles
- Dance
- Earth Living Festival
- East Reading Festival
- Example article
- Explore Reading
- Fairtrade Fortnight
- Forbury Band Concert Season
- Forbury Gardens
- Global Cafe
- Goring and Streatley Regatta and River Festival
- Heather Jayne and the Red Shoes
- Help Improve This Site
- Henley Arts Trail
- Henley Festival
- Here Comes The Sun Festival
- History
- Innovations Jazz Orchestra
- Ma Bessie Band
- Main Page
- Make and mend
- Mapledurham Food Festival
- Marvellous Festival
- Music
- Newbury Radio Rally
- Newbury Showground
- Newbury Spring Festival
- Open For Art
- Open Studios
- Oxford Classic Jazz
- Oxford Lindy Exchange
- Oxjam Reading Takeover
- Pages in The Ding
- Pages wanted in The Ding
- Palmer Park
- Parks, Play Areas & Open Spaces
- Pint of Science
- Places of Worship & Faith Groups
- Progress Theatre
- Prospect Park
- Pubs & Bars
- Quaffable Reading
- RISC
- RSAC
- RULES
- Reading Beer & Cider Festival
- Reading Borough Council
- Reading Brick Show
- Reading Carnival
- Reading Children's Festival
- Reading Comic-Con
- Reading Fake Festival
- Reading Festival
- Reading Fringe Festival
- Reading Literature Festival
- Reading Pride Festival
- Reading Swing Exchange
- Reading Town Meal
- Reading Vegan Festival
- Reading Vintage Toy Fair
- Reading Water Fest
- Reading on Thames Festival
- Readipop Festival
- Red Sky Festival
- Retrofestival
- Rising Sun Arts Centre
- Royal Windsor Horse Show
- Shit & Not Shit Pubs in Reading
- Signature Sounds
- South Oxfordshire District Council
- Southern Counties Canine Association General Championship Show
- Springstock
- Stoke Row Steam Rally
- Sunny Saturdays
- Talks & Meetings
- Thames Valley Balboa Festival
- The Ding Dong Daddios
- The Purple Turtle
- The Retreat
- The Royal County of Berkshire Show
- The Silver Heels
- The Sportfish Show
- The Village Festival
- The Whiskey Affair
- Tilehurst Festival
- Tradespeople
- Twyford Beer Festival
- University of Reading Big Band
- Vaisakhi
- Watlington House
- West Berkshire Council
- WhatPub
- Whiteknights Studio Trail
- Wokingham Borough Council
- Woodcote Rally
Here are some other topics this site could cover:
Contents
- 1 Recreation: arts, culture, entertainment, sports etc
- 1.1 Allotments & Gardening Schemes
- 1.2 Art
- 1.3 Birding (Bird Watching)
- 1.4 Cafes & Restaurants
- 1.5 Choirs & Choral Societies
- 1.6 Cinema
- 1.7 Climbing
- 1.8 Dance
- 1.9 Karting
- 1.10 Music
- 1.11 Museums
- 1.12 Parks, Play Areas & Open Spaces
- 1.13 Pubs & Bars
- 1.14 Sports
- 1.15 Swimming
- 1.16 Talks & Meetings
- 1.17 Theatre
- 1.18 Walking
- 2 Resources
- 3 Charity / Voluntary sector
- 4 History
- 5 Others
Recreation: arts, culture, entertainment, sports etc
Reading Arts and Venues Hexagon, South St, Progress Theatre etc
Allotments & Gardening Schemes
- Erleigh Road Community Garden facebook
Art
- Jelly
- Pictures At Our Exhibition with Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra
- OHOS
- Artists' studio trails - Whiteknights, Caversham
- Rising Sun Arts Centre
Birding (Bird Watching)
Cafes & Restaurants
Vegan
Tutu's Ethiopian Table at Global Cafe - Tuesday to Friday, until 9pm
The Fishermans Cottage (Facebook) (which now styles itself a "Gastropub")
"All the Indian restaurants, many of the Chinese, there are 2 good Lebanese restaurants (The Bakery House being one), Wagamumas, The Handmade Burger Company (4 vegan burgers), the various sushi bars such as Itsu, The Lounges, Wetherspoons has a vegan menu, Zizzi has a vegan menu, mission burrito, The Flowing Spring, Nandos(!), Greek restaurants are normally good (one in Caversham), Toby Carvery(!), Pret is advancing quickly." On the question of ghee in Indian food: "Most times ghee is vegetable oil because of the cost. The restaurant will boast about butter in a dish if it contains it."
"Alto lounge caversham and Bosco lounge Woodley"
Nomad Bakery
Spice Oven in Caversham used to have an extensive vegan menu but I think the number of dishes has been reduced as it attempts to include more "international" cuisines.
Choirs & Choral Societies
Reading has many choirs ranging from traditional choral societies to operatic societies and rock choirs. Between them, the different choirs cater for all levels of ability from people who have not sung in a choir before to singers of near-professional quality. They include barbershop, gospel and community choirs.
See Choirs & Choral Societies for more information.
Cinema
Climbing
Climbing wall
Dance
The Reading area has classes in a wide variety of dance from the well-established forms of ballroom and ballet to more recently popular forms such as swing, street and salsa. Some of these classes, for example ballet and street, are commonly (though not exclusively) extra-curricular classes for school aged children while dances such as swing and salsa tend to be more youth and adult oriented and often have social events.
Karting
Woodley
Music
Museums
- Reading Museum at Town Hall
- Museum of English Rural Life
- URE museum @ UoR
- Medical museum @ hospital
- Blake's Lock?
- Woodley Air Museum
Parks, Play Areas & Open Spaces
Reading has many open-air recreational spaces ranging from children’s play areas through parks and recreation grounds to nature reserves and areas of woodland. See Parks, Play Areas & Open Spaces for more information.
Pubs & Bars
Reading has more than a hundred pubs and bars (and more besides in the surrounding villages) where people can meet, relax and socialise. The pubs and bars range in style from traditional pubs to modern bars, individual pubs to pubs in national chains, family-friendly pubs to more adult-oriented pubs with a rich variety within those spectrums. Many have food available and a substantial number have occasional live music.
See Pubs & Bars for more information.
Sports
doing/watching
- running - park runs, half marathon, fun runs
- football, rugby, tennis, rowing
Swimming
- Rivermead
- Central pools
- cemetery junction?
- King's Meadow lido?
- Northumberland Ave leisure centre
- woodley/Southcote/Calcot/Caversham?
Talks & Meetings
Theatre
- Hexagon
- South St
- Progress
- Shinfield
Walking
walking clubs / meet-up groups etc?
Resources
Government
Local: Reading, Wokingham, West Berks, South Oxon Westminster Europe
Reading
wards find councillor
Housing
- Co-housing
- Draught Busters - a range of resources for improving the comfort and energy efficiency of houses, either DIY or help for those who can't do their own.
Transport
- Trains
- Buses
- Coaches
- Cycling
Parking
Reading Borough Council
- Parking page
- permits
- Penalty Charge Notices (parking tickets) (also bus lane fines)
- PCN details form to eneter numberplate and PCN number to find details of the PCN and to appeal
Services
Rubbish collections
Reading bin dates, what you can put in recycling bins etc
- see also forthcoming changes to bin days
Smallmead Recycling Centre aka the "Tip"
More about the Tip (including permits) at RBC's Rubbish page
Noise & nuisance
Noise & nuisance caused by University students: Report to Sarah Gardner, Community Relations Manager [1] 0118 378 6764. The uni security can be contacted on 0118 378 7799. Video / audio / photographs / addresses help.
Smoky buses and lorries
Report a smoky lorry or bus Report an excessively smoky lorry or bus exhaust to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). (You can’t report other types of smoky vehicles to DVSA.)
Community
Mediation
"Resolve Mediation is a charity based in East Reading that offers mediation services across Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Our team of specialist mediators works with individuals and families to resolve conflict in neighbourhood, family and workplace settings.
We also provide training to those who would like to volunteer or progress towards paid work as sessional workers within the field of mediation."
Children
NCT Nappy Library (Facebook page) information, advice and support on all things cloth nappies!
Childcare & Early Years
Childcare Reading Services Guide
Day Nurseries with full day care in Reading
Rose Garden Early Years Christchurch Gardens RG2 7AH
- parent/carere and child groups, and nursery
Education
Schools
List of Schools in Reading Wikipedia
Alder Bridge Steiner-Waldorf School at Aldermaston Wharf, Padworth, just off A4
College & University
Adult Education
- New Directions
Extra-mural / evening classes
- Oxford Uni courses at London Rd
Health
Hospital
Doctors
Dentists
Opticians
In a discussion on the facebook Earley Residents Discussion Group several people recommended
- Kirks in Whitley Street
- Eyesite on Friar Street
- Stephen Abery near Brookside Surgery in Gipsy Lane / back of Asda complex
- Leightons - seem to be recommendations for various branches including Woodley and Wokingham
Vets
Maps
- council boundaries
- Reading and Wokingham boundaries - discussion
- parliamentary boundaries
- postcode areas (wikipedia)
- parking restrictions
- cycle routes
- walks
- historical
media
- BBC Radio Berkshire
- 2-ten fm
- BBC South TV
- Get Reading
- Reading Chronicle
- University - Spark?
- Alt Reading - online magazine focusing on arts, entertainment and culture in Reading.
Places of Worship & Faith Groups
Reading has many places of worship supporting a variety of faiths and communities.
See Places of Worship & Faith Groups for more information.
other
- Libraries
- Bicycle Kitchen
- Freegle
- Room hire (RISC, Wycliffe baptist church on the kings road)
- Catering (Gyorgi & Rina?)
Trades
Free give/request groups
- Freegle
- FREE STUFF in Reading Facebook group
Buy/sell groups
- Gumtree
- Buy and sell in Reading Facebook
- Readings NO1 buy and sell anything!!!!!!! Facebook
- Southcote Buy And Sell ! Facebook
- Items for Sale in Tilehurst and West Reading & Surrounding Area Facebook
- buy and sell anything in woodley, earley and lower earley Facebook
Non-cash trading
- LETS stands for Local Exchange Trading Scheme. It's a scheme that allows local people to exchange goods and services with one another without using money. Reading LETS' currency is called Readies: As a rough guide, 10 Readies is equivalent to one hour's work. Everyone's time is equally appreciated.
Charity / Voluntary sector
- We are a community organisation that bakes birthday cakes for families who find it difficult to provide a cake for their child.
The cakes are baked by local volunteer bakers who aim to decorate them with the child's favourite theme. It's free, friendly and confidential.
- We are part of the national Free Cakes for Kids UK network.
Reading Toy Run annual pre-xmas ride by Christian Motorcyclists across South Reading collecting toys for children, in aid of Barnardo's
Reading Refugee Response Hub Facebook group
- "Reading drop off for Calaid - Solidarity with the refugee people of Calais"
- Receiving donations and getting them to where they are needed, organising events in Reading to raise funds and awareness.
Environmental
GREN: Greater Reading Environmental Network - umbrella organisation of groups and individuals around Reading who care about sustainability, environment, climate change, conservation and planning issues. (Also on facebook)
Econet (do the annual xmas tree sale at Caversham Court)
Earley Environmental Group - also on facebook
History
Others
Cemetery Junction film
Reading festival
University
Whiteknights Park
WWII hospital
Douglas Bader
Woodley airfield
black history centre mural