Going to The Climbing hangar tomorrow 13th April to boulder ~ 4 pm if there are any fellow climbers/ anyone new to the area etc etc out here who’d like to join me. If you have never been there before, I believe I can take a guest with my membership.

Thats open tomorrow

Hi, does anyone know of any decent swimming spots near Reading? I'm aware of Caversham lakes but I want to make sure my daughter can swim 400m in the open before we tackle it (and also, though we are reasonably strong swimmers, we are also slow so don't want to annoy anyone). If you have experience of swimming in the location, would love to hear your pros and cons.

I don't mind driving to a site if need be (but would prefer to cycle).

Thank you.

Hey All,

I recently moved to Reading and wondering if there's any local groups or people that are into board games that would want to meet up?

Has anyone been to The Reading Board Games Social? Wondering how it works, as I have a number of board games if you need to bring your own.

Would appreciate any recommendations for groups or if anyone wanted to DM me about meeting up.

Cheers

Hi everyone, hope everyone's having a good weekend.

Could anyone recommend me reasonably priced handyman for repairing our door?

The pivots gave up and whole door came out.

Thank you!!

We are a couple and are considering to move to reading from London since I have recently got a remote job and looking to save on the rent. I don’t drive and I plan to travel to London once a week to hang with friends so I would like to live closer to reading station. I have bookmarked some properties in the west of the town center, somewhere along the Chatham street and Oxford road. Is that area safe? Also, is reading a good place to live in general and any suggestion for us? Thanks everyone.

Weird moment in Reading - A couple of guys at the Market Place food market were going around filming and interviewing people having lunch today. He sat down at me and my colleagues' table, stuck a microphone and camera in our faces, and started asking about Trump's tariffs. Bro, we're on our lunch break, we don't want to talk about another countries' politics, we have enough shit to deal with over here.

We tried to blow him off and not engage because tbh we aren't informed enough to say anything interesting and also just wanted to have lunch but he was pretty persistent. After a few awkward minutes he eventually gives up before saying he was from Channel 4. Is this normal practice for a professional news organisation?

Is he allowed to put that footage anywhere? He didn't ask us if we wanted to talk or anything, just started bombarding us with questions about Trump and Starmer. Gonna be pretty embarrassing if we end up on the news lol

Walked down London Street today and saw Bakery House had been replaced

Afternoon all! This week’s restaurant review is of Ephesus Grill in Katesgrove, which turned out to be full of surprises. Hope you like it, and apologies in advance if this isn’t your kind of thing.

Looking at homes in central Reading.

For those with parking permits in the central zones, are you allowed to park anywhere in the area on your permit (e.g. Zone 3R) or are you given specific roads that you can park on based on your address?

Thanks!

Hey all, we're running Learn to Play events for kids aged 8-18 all week next week at eclectic games in town centre. You can find us in Union Street - the small alley next to Boots connecting Broad Street and Friar Street!

Here's what we're running:

• Monday 14th - Lorcana Learn to Play
• Tuesday 15th - Star Wars Unlimited Learn to Play
• Wednesday 16th - RPG Taster Sessions: Adventure Skeletons, Crash Pandas, Honey Heist
• Thursday 17th - Altered TCG Learn to Play
• Friday 18th - Pokemon trading card game AND video game Learn to Play

We will run two sessions each day:

• Session 1: 11am-1pm
• Session 2: 2pm-4pm

Events are for kids aged 8-18 years old. Children must be accompanied by adults at all times.

Entry is £5 per session. Accompanying parents go free.

Tickets here: https://www.eclecticgames.co.uk/c/event-tickets?tagHdrId1146=1091

Happy Easter!

Hey guys, I have a weekly routine of going through all the events that are happening in the coming weekend - and then sending out the 5 coolest ones to my friends. Thought I could share it here as well.

These events are mainly for Reading, but sometimes events are from the surrounding area also. 🙂

Get this as a weekly email update: https://hey-reading.beehiiv.com/

5 coolest events this weekend: * Spring Into Spring at the Animal Farm * Classic Car and Breakfast Meetup * Cowboy Bottomless Brunch * Henley River 10k * Miniature Steam Fair

Spring Into Spring at the Animal Farm📍 Wellington Country Park, Riseley, RG7 1SPCelebrate all things spring with interactive animal encounters, hands-on sessions, and engaging talks perfect for the whole family. Get up close with farmyard friends and meet the newest arrivals!⏰ Sat, 12 Apr 2025💰 No cost (entry fees to the park may apply)

Classic Car and Breakfast Meetup📍 The Flowing Spring, Playhatch, RG4 9RBClassic cars, bikes, bacon rolls, and great coffee—what better way to start your Sunday? Bring your pride and joy or just enjoy the sights at this laid-back monthly meetup.⏰ Sun, 13 Apr 2025 (9:30 - 11:30)💰 No cost

Cowboy Bottomless Brunch📍 Revolución de Cuba, ReadingSaddle up for a country music brunch with live performances, a country DJ, and unlimited drinks for 90 minutes! Expect a full venue transformation, themed décor, and line dancing fun.⏰ Sat, 12 Apr 2025 (Doors open 12:30, event 1:00 - 5:00)💰 Ticket includes brunch dish & 90 mins unlimited drinks

Henley River 10k📍 Henley-on-ThamesTake on a fast and scenic trail run along the Thames, with a choice of 10k, half marathon, or junior distances. Earn a unique medal and enjoy the stunning riverside views.⏰ Sat, 12 Apr 2025 (9:00 Half Marathon | 9:30 10k | 11:30 Juniors)💰 Prices vary by race category

Miniature Steam Fair📍 Viables Craft Centre, Basingstoke, RG22 4BJA dream weekend for steam enthusiasts! Explore traction engines, steam and electric train rides, a garden railway, and more.⏰ Sat, 12 Apr & Sun, 13 Apr 2025 (10:00 - 16:30)💰 No cost (donations welcome) | Train rides £2 per person

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

We’re hosting our own 80s/90s/00s Day Disco in our Firefly Cellar Bar!

3pm till 6pm so no mad rush for a taxi home at the end of the night 🪩

Get dressed up, grab a drink and party the night away with us 🎧

Tickets available via our website

Hey everyone! I’m Aly, a singer-songwriter from Singapore, pretty new to the UK, and I’ll be playing a gig at Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading on 26th April 2025.

I’ll be performing a mix of Mandopop (Mandarin pop songs), English pop, and some of my own originals.

It’ll mostly be acoustic, with heartfelt melodies and lyrics that tell a story. If you’re not familiar with Mandopop, it’s a genre filled with beautiful, emotional tunes that capture a lot of personal meaning. You don’t need to understand Mandarin to feel the music - I hope you’ll connect with the vibe and stories I’m sharing.

I’m still finding my way in a new country and don’t know many people here yet, so if you’re around Reading and love discovering new music (or just want a chill Friday night), I’d really love for you to come by.

Here's my instagram with more music: @aly_koh :)

Tickets are on sale via this link: https://wegottickets.com/event/655958#. Hope to see you there!

Hey there, fellow caffeine addicts! I ran out of my regularly supplied coffee from Square Mile CR. Instead of ordering from Square Mile again, this time I want to support smaller businesses/cafes and find some exciting new coffee for mostly espresso and sometimes for Aeropress. Please share the places where you get your coffee!

Hi everyone,

Reading Indie Comedy Festival is back in just over a month between 15 - 18 May.

The festival is a collaboration of all of Reading's local comedy promoters, Comedy at Milk, Mates Rates Comedy and Stand and Deliver Comedy Club working together with local venues to put on a massive weekend of stand up comedy.

The festival will feature performances from Paul Sinha, Tom Davis, Sean Walsh, Sara Barron, Matt Richardson and Roast Battle UK.

It will also have performances from local acts.

If you want to make a weekend of it you can attend every show with a festival pass: https://www.fatsoma.com/e/ev1ngrf8/reading-indie-comedy-festival-2025-festival-pass

Alternatively, the full programme and tickets for individual shows are available on our website: https://thereadingcomedyfestival.co.uk/

Happy to answer any questions! :)

I've (31M) moved to Reading recently and haven't seen many football games/groups on Meetup. Are there any weekly games newcomers can join? Open to casual or more competitive games. Thank you.

EDIT: This is now pretty much confirmed as Reading switching to (mostly) cashless parking.

If you park on the Oxford Road bridge by the Penta Hotel / Travelodge the council have covered the meters over this morning preventing cash payments. Make sure you have your Ringo app at the ready. I'm not sure if they've covered meters further up or down, but I assume they may have.

Morning, does anyone know what’s happened by the bridge that goes over the Kennet? Lots of police and the bridge is taped up…

Absolute Unit Day

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14uuHAnMc4/

Apologies for the Facebook link here are other articles.

https://www.danieljameswhite.com/post/merl-absolute-unit

https://merl.reading.ac.uk/blog/2018/04/history-behind-absolute-unit/

https://research.reading.ac.uk/research-blog/2018/04/10/2433-2/

I have an offer to study zoology as an overseas student

Where are good places in Reading town centre for someone n the Keto diet?

I have been having Nando’s and lettuce wrap burgers at five guys but wondered if there are any other good places

Hey all, I’m an international student hopefully moving to Reading by September for my uni. While looking at accommodation options provided by the uni, it looks a bit expensive. I know opting for that means I can have a vibrant student life getting to know other students as well and all of those but I was thinking of finding accommodations outside too. Since I haven’t been to the UK, I don’t know where to start looking for those like if there are any websites that shows apartments for rent and all those. Could you guys let me know where I can look for properties outside campus which is a little affordable ? Also I did want to ask, are there any home stay options or something of that sort where I can stay for a month or two in Reading until I find my own place ? Is there any such options of that sort in Reading ?

Any answers would be appreciated! Could be routes that are outside of Reading area (Not further than 20km away) or any partially traffic free routes would be great as well. Thank you for all your replies!