Articles

The Swing Riots: Participants

23 September 2020

Thatcham farmland. Photograph by Nick Young.

A guest post from Ray Hopgood. The intention of this article is not to narrate the causes or events of late 1830 in South West Berkshire which subsequently became known as the “Swing Riots”. These disturbances which had swept across Southern England are more than amply covered by articles on the internet, but especially in …

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The Bluecoat School: Other users of the building

20 August 2020

The Old Bluecoat School. Photograph by Nick Young.

A guest post from Mark Thomas. The Bluecoat School building is often thought of as only a school but newspaper articles show other users of the building, particularly during the latter half of the 19th Century.  Thanks to the power of online search I have discovered the following:- Thatcham Agricultural Society The Thatcham Agricultural Society …

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“Dads Army” and Others Came to West Berkshire

25 June 2020

A guest post from Ray Hopgood. On the evening May 14th 1940, a little over 80 years ago immediately after the nine-o clock radio news, Anthony Eden, the Secretary of State for War, made a broadcast directed at the countless ordinary citizens, especially those not eligible to enrol in armed forces, who wished an opportunity …

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