News

Thatcham Pub History

23 November 2020

The king's Head, Thatcham

We had a talk, online, on the history of the pubs of Thatcham which resulted in a few enquiries and memories. The history of the pubs, as was seen from the talk, a long and sometimes complicated one. The speaker has more detail on his website and we have, with permission, a copy of some …

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Society makes history!

3 October 2020

Thatcham Pub History by Dr Nick Young

On Monday 28th September 2020 Thatcham Historical Society made history of its own by holding their first online speaker meeting.  With recent additional restrictions the society decided to suspend all face-to-face meetings until 2021 and as such have gone online.  The chair, Dr Nick Young, gave a talk on the history of the Thatcham pubs.  …

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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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