Caversham comes together for the BIG Community Picnic
SUNDAY 7 AUGUST saw Caversham at its very best, as neighbours, families and local businesses gathered for the first ever BIG Community Picnic. And what a joy it was to see. The idea was simple: celebrate our green spaces, our beautiful stretch of the River Thames, and the wonderful community we all get to call home, while giving a proud shout out to the independent businesses that make our area so special.
It was free, it was wholesome, and it was exactly the kind of grassroots event we hope will grow bigger and better every single year. There was plenty to enjoy.
FourBears Books set up a gorgeous reading corner for little ones, sparking imaginations with story after story. Yoga Reading ran a full day of free gentle stretch and beginner yoga sessions, welcoming anyone who fancied a bit of calm in the sunshine. Katia Bailey of Yoga Reading said “It was
fantastic seeing so many people enjoying Christchurch Meadows. It was an absolutely scorching day and people were making the most of the paddling pool, the ice cream van and coffee truck!”…Read More
Making the connections
CONNECTING THE members of our community is at the heart of our mission for the Caversham Bridge, and our lead article on the BIG Community Picnic (above) is a great example of bringing our community together. Other examples include our Talking Point from Catherine Radcliffe on the subject of Love your neighbour (p2) and our Community Connections article featuring Len Middleton (p8). In a similar vein, our Kind Community article this month features the staff at Bridge Street business Fox Payne and their fund raising efforts for a charity supporting a local family’s fight against a rare muscle wasting disease (p2)…Read More
Caversham Firm takes on 12 mile walk for local boy’s charity
A CAVERSHAM-BASED company laced up their boots this September to support a local family’s fight against a rare muscle wasting disease. Fox Payne Associates, who provide personal financial advice, have pledged three years of support to Ben vs Duchenne, the family fund set up for Ben, a local boy living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)…Read More
Great drama close to home
THERE’S AN astonishing amount of great theatre happening – and all on our doorstep. Progress Theatre is continuing its 80th anniversary year with a play by US writer Clare Barron: Dance Nation will be performed at Progress Theatre from 13-17 October. Meanwhile Reading Rep Theatre continues to develop its programme as a professional company based in King’s Road, Reading. The current production of Dracula is continuing until 10 October…Read More
Getting ready for the Caversham Court Halloween Trail
FRIENDS OF the Gardens will be hosting their popular Halloween Trail on Sat 31 October and Sunday 1 November. Once more there will be a variety of weird characters and strange creatures for you to discover. The trail creator, Hester Casey, has been busy making an array of new displays using recycled materials and says : “The assistant in Oxfam was very glad to sell me this mask and rid the shop of it, as it had been freaking him out for too long”. The displays will be on view during daylight hours and are a great alternative to trick or treating for children. They will appeal to adults as well, as they have historical, humorous or thought-provoking messages…Read More
IN THE NEWS
THE 7 AUGUST 2026 Henley Standard reported on 50 years since Paul Ranson took over Nash and Co, jewellers on Bridge Street, Caversham. The shop has been a jewellers since 1870, and the name Nash dates from before the Second World War. Paul, who lives in Emmer Green, decided not to change the name of the business, and customers sometimes assume it is his name. He is assisted by his daughter, Daisy, who has helped him in the shop since she was 14 and started working there full time when she was 22. Paul has noted many changes over the last 50 years, not least the increase in traffic on Bridge Street, which means he can no longer park outside the shop!…Read More
Spices along the Bridge
STOP THREE on our food trail follows the pattern of the first two stops— taking in food and local history. The first stop was riverside tea and cake at Caversham Court Gardens, and the second focused on wine in the courtyard at The Collective or Griffin pub, down from St Anne’s Well – offering healing waters to drink that are rather different from those of the well…Read More
Caversham Horticultural Society Autumn Show
AFTER A summer of repeated heatwaves and drought, I feared that the annual Autumn Show would be a disappointing event with few submitted entries. However, our gardeners came up trumps despite these challenging conditions and submitted many entries from their gardens and allotments. In addition, the handicrafts and domestic categories were also well supported with entries. Congratulations to everyone who took part and thank you to all who came along to support the show…Read More
A welcome for the Revd Denise Binks
THE METHODIST Church in Caversham has a new minister. A welcome service for the Reverend Denise Binks was held at Caversham Heights Methodist Church on 10 September, with representatives from Churches Together in Caversham, as well as many members from the hurches she will be serving. Denise has taken up the appointment as Minister for Christchurch Woodley and Gosbrook Road and Caversham Heights Methodist Churches. She will be working alongside Deacon Sarah Wickett and Reverend David Jenkins…Read More
For Your Bookshelf
IT’S OCTOBER, the nights are drawing in and bringing with it a cold air of spookiness ahead of Halloween; which makes my children’s pick for this month especially appropriate. It’s The October Witches by Jennifer Claessen, in which 13-year-old Clemmie Merlyn lives with her mother, aunts and cousin – an ancient family of witches. But the witches’ magic isn’t permanent; it descends from the stars for just one month every year – October. As if by magic, a new Kate Wells Malvern Farm Mystery comes not once a year, but twice. The incredibly prolific Kate’s latest (and apparently final) instalment in the series is the eighth since 2023. A Midnight Murder is out now, and we find our old friend Jude Gray getting ready to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the village pub with her friends, family, and the inhabitants of Malvern End…Read More
Season kicks off with well-loved comedy
PROGRESS THEATRE has kicked off its venerable 80th season with the stage version of the satirical novel Cold Comfort Farm, written by Stella Gibbons in 1932. Adapted by Paul Doust in 1993, the stage version provided plenty of scope for Progress to showcase the talents and ingenuity of this highly regarded amateur theatre group. For Jo Metcalf, involved with Progress for nine years in a variety of roles including fundraising and premises management as well as acting, this was her first full length directorial debut…Read More
Happy Wanderer explores the hedgerow
WILL THE dog-roses in the hedges have enough moisture to produce their usual array of red rose-hips this year, I wonder? There were some fine shows of dog-roses in bloom earlier in the year, but I’m writing this at a time when virtually no rain has fallen for a month and more. When I began considering this article, I thought I’d better find out what the word “hip” actually signified in this context and over the years, and reached for the appropriate volume of the Oxford English Dictionary. There was nothing extraordinary: the words “heop” and “hep” meaning the fruit of the rose appear in the written language from Anglo-Saxon times, and are related to words in Old High German and Middle High German meaning a spiny bush. Then later in the Middle Ages in Britain the word gets modified to “hip”…Read More
Virtuoso pianist to perform music inspired by hometown
ONCE AGAIN, St Andrew’s Church will be the venue for inspiring music brought to our doorstep by Concerts in Caversham. Their Autumn concert, on 24 October, will feature Max Mostkovski – a virtuoso, prizewinning solo pianist who will perform a programme of music inspired by composers associated with his hometown of Leipzig. The concert will include works by JS Bach, CPE Bach, Schumann and Mendelssohn. Max will introduce and explain his inspiration for this delightful programme as he goes along…Read More
Goodbye to Cadeaux, welcome to a new The Edit
SADLY, WE HAVE had to say a fond farewell to Cadeaux, but the good news is that we can welcome a new revamped The Edit in its place. Janina Maher’s drawing this month is already nostalgic, but re-furbishing work was well advanced at the time of writing and a new The Edit at 57 Church Street should have opened its doors to the public by the time this edition of the Caversham Bridge is published.
The owner of both Cadeaux and The Edit is successful local entrepreneur, Samantha Smith, who also owns the popular Collective Café in Church Road…Read More
Elephant Update
THAMES HOSPICE’S eye-catching trail of excitingly painted elephants, which could be spotted from Windsor to Slough over the summer, has ended… and the fundraising is taking place this month! All the elephants featured in the Trunks Across The Thames display (including one by Nina O’Connell) will be up for auction on October 15…Read More
Have you tried these?
COME ON – perhaps you have decided to give up gardening after the drought we have suffered? Or you might think October is the time merely to admire the Chrysanthemum and Dahlia flowers? Hard luck – because my role is to encourage you and point out some of the things you ought to be doing. First, on a note of inspiration, have you ever considered trying Thunbergia? If not, give it a go next year. It is a climber but worthwhile. I had never bothered to grow it before because it is an annual, and I guess I want my climbers to appear year after year. This year, for some unknown reason, I decided to give Thunbergia a go…Read More
Selling your home and viewings
WHEN YOU come to sell your home, it might be a long time since you did a property viewing, and things have undoubtedly changed. In the past, vendors always did their own viewings, but now estate agents usually show people around. Although the thought of people looking around your property may seem nerve-wracking, your agent should help you prepare beforehand so that your home looks its best. Viewings give your agent a valuable opportunity to find out how your property sits in the current market and how it might compare to other properties your viewers have seen. Your potential buyers should get around 30 minutes for a viewing (more if it is a large house or a second viewing). Some of the main things on viewers’ checklists might include: The big-ticket items – roof and windows, the most expensive to fix or replace, so information on both is helpful. Also, the boiler and fuse board; viewers like to see where these are located, how old they are, when the electrics were last checked, and where the water tank is located, if you have one…Read More
Design and make a pond this winter
WE HAVE HAD a hot, dry summer and many of us improved our muscle tone carrying watering cans! By the time you read this, I am sure we’ll have had heavy rain, flooding, another warm spell and warnings of a cold, wet winter ahead. However, hotter and drier summers are part of our future, making life harder for humans and wildlife. Creating a garden pond has always been great for wildlife but has become even more important as natural water sources disappear during droughts and vegetation ceases to provide morning dew and moisture for wildlife. Please consider adding a pond to your garden this winter…Read More
Old fire station hosts postponed exhibition
ART EXHIBITIONS don’t spring up out of nowhere – they are always the result of long months of planning, producing then curating the results, enticing the public to view and be tempted to buy the work displayed. Well, that’s the theory! In the autumn of last year, artist Nina O’Connell and three friends were all set to put on their joint exhibition entitled Artistic Alchemy at Henley’s Old Fire Station Gallery when the plug was pulled. “They needed to fix the roof, but then due to the discovery of bats the work suddenly had to be brought forward before their winter hibernation. This meant our exhibition had to be pulled!” jeweller Grant Forsyth recalled…Read More
Volunteering at Thames Hospice Superstore
HAVE YOU thought about volunteering with Thames Hospice at their Reading Superstore? Volunteering with Thames Hospice is a chance to do something that truly matters. Whether you have a few hours to spare, want to meet new people, learn new skills, or simply give something back, there’s a role to suit you. Our volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. They help us raise vital funds, support our services, and create welcoming experiences for patients, families and visitors. Every contribution, however big or small, makes a difference, and we simply couldn’t do what we do without them…Read More
When the seasons change… so can your skin
AS WE MOVE from one season to the next, our skin often has a little wobble—and if you have rosacea, you might know exactly what I mean! The transitional months can be one of the trickiest times for rosacea sufferers. One minute it is warm enough for sunglasses, the next you’re reaching for a jumper. Our skin is not always sure what it is supposed to be doing, and these constant changes in temperature can trigger redness, flushing and sensitivity. I often hear clients say, “My skincare must have stopped working”. In reality, it isn’t usually your products causing the problem—it’s the weather keeping your skin on its toes! The good news is that you do not need to overhaul your skincare routine completely. In fact, this is often the worst thing you can do…Read More
Smoothing over the spikes
THERE IS A lot of talk at this time about how best to consume meals, in what ways sugar can be restricted or managed, and an overall awareness of mind-body implications of food and food timing. Symptoms are messages – The mid-morning cravings, the crash after lunch, the afternoon brain fog, the restless night after dinner: all are messages your body may be trying to send you. And, unfortunately, many people tend to ignore these messages. I stumbled on a study that made this feel even more important…Read More