"Not In Anybody's Top 10 Plac ..." a Reading Travel Page by johngayton

Reading isn't really the sort of place which you would normally consider as a tourist destination here in the UK, well I certainly didn't. Until last year my only experience of Reading had been when changing trains, or perhaps getting the bus to Heathrow, and as such, apart from a single (disappointing) foray into the town in search of a pub, all I really saw of the place was the confines of the railway station and its forecourt.

Although at this stage I should note that there is an excellent pub, The Three Guineas" attached to the station itself (Tip to follow under "Things To Do") - which is probably why I was disinclined to leave the environs.

It just so happened that after my 4 month break in the US and Greece last year, I arrived back in the UK with no great enthusiasm for returning to the grind, nor even having made a decision exactly where I was going back to: the mental coin being tossed between Essex and Devon. With both choices having similar merits, I was temporarily stuck in the total void of vacillation and hence ended up spending the weekend in Reading - which if you check on the map is pretty much midway betwixt the twain!

Having chosen Reading as a sort of anonymous no-man's land with the intention of just chilling out for a couple of days before heading either East or West, I was indeed surprised by how pleasant a place it really is, once one sees beyond the ugly facades of the modern shops and office blocks and begin to discover the hidden joys of the town with its river and canal, the historic Abbey and its associated buildings, the industrial heritage, and, of course, the pubs!!

The pubs are always the most important thing about a place - it's all very well and fine having wonderful architecture, culture and history, but if the pubs are naff, then that's another place to be struck off the "revisit list". Reading is definitely on the list!!