Reading

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 6:16:32 GMT bjornhattan said:

Feb 26, 2020 3:48:23 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Yeah and they can't really try to build back up now with their newly enlarged membership because the Revoke policy will have not gone down well in Brexity Caversham Park Village. Thames hasn't had LD councillors for as long as I can remember but you are right about Peppard being a recent decline. As they lost Peppard, I reckon they had no reason to keep organisation and resources North of the River and they refocused on Wokingham wards and both Reading/West Berks wards in Reading West.

To be fair, going off that you'd be very surprised to find a lot of Lib Dems in Tilehurst. There you have a ward which is almost all hard territory for a Revoke Party - going off Bjorn's book of demographic cliches, it seems like classic white van man territory.

That's more like Norcot or Kentwood. It's a very Remainy place with lots of Cameronite Tories who detest Boris and those like him. Being from Oxford, you may not have really visited Tilehurst ward. For your information-places like Tilehurst Triangle are in Tilehurst ward and they are not very WWC at all.

[bjornhattan]

Feb 26, 2020 22:24:58 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Feb 26, 2020 6:16:32 GMT bjornhattan said:

To be fair, going off that you'd be very surprised to find a lot of Lib Dems in Tilehurst. There you have a ward which is almost all hard territory for a Revoke Party - going off Bjorn's book of demographic cliches, it seems like classic white van man territory.

That's more like Norcot or Kentwood. It's a very Remainy place with lots of Cameronite Tories who detest Boris and those like him. Being from Oxford, you may not have really visited Tilehurst ward. For your information-places like Tilehurst Triangle are in Tilehurst ward and they are not very WWC at all.

Which ward is the water tower in?

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 7:10:28 GMT yellowperil said:

Feb 26, 2020 6:16:32 GMT bjornhattan said:

To be fair, going off that you'd be very surprised to find a lot of Lib Dems in Tilehurst. There you have a ward which is almost all hard territory for a Revoke Party - going off Bjorn's book of demographic cliches, it seems like classic white van man territory.

You must know a different Tilehurst to me (and I think both the part within Reading Borough and that in West Berks are quite varied) but my younger son lives in Tilehust , just inside the Reading boundary, having relatively recently moved out there from just off the Oxford Road in Norcot) and might be quite surprised to hear it described as WVM territory. And given that the LDs were winning on 47% in Tilehurst in May2019 that is a pretty strange post. I think I could find you "quite a lot of Lib Dems" in Tilehurst, or at very least prepared to vote that way, at the height of revokemania. I have a feeling that you might be describing some bits of Tilehurst over the border into WB.

Even the WB end of Tilehurst (Birch Copse/Kentwood) is generally quite Remainy. The big council estates are in Norcot and Kentwood. If he's looking for privately-owned WVM territory,Calcot and Beansheaf fit the bill much better. Where does you son live near, just out of interest Yellow Peril? I know some people who went to Denefield and Little Heath (the local secondaries) very well at college.

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 22:26:10 GMT bjornhattan said:

Feb 26, 2020 22:24:58 GMT unrepentantfool said:

That's more like Norcot or Kentwood. It's a very Remainy place with lots of Cameronite Tories who detest Boris and those like him. Being from Oxford, you may not have really visited Tilehurst ward. For your information-places like Tilehurst Triangle are in Tilehurst ward and they are not very WWC at all.

Which ward is the water tower in?

Split between Tilehurst and Tilehurst Birch Copse in West Berks.

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 22:26:10 GMT bjornhattan said:

Feb 26, 2020 22:24:58 GMT unrepentantfool said:

That's more like Norcot or Kentwood. It's a very Remainy place with lots of Cameronite Tories who detest Boris and those like him. Being from Oxford, you may not have really visited Tilehurst ward. For your information-places like Tilehurst Triangle are in Tilehurst ward and they are not very WWC at all.

Which ward is the water tower in?

That's also very near the West Berks border as well so most of that area isn't in Reading Borough. The bulk of the ward is made up by places like Westwood Rd which are posh leafy avenues.

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 13:35:17 GMT jacoblamsden said:

You are probably right about Tilehurst - I don't know it at all, but I am always struck on this forum about how many areas are allegedly 'changing', a process usually taken to mean the influx of a younger population. But with the constant national debate about an 'aging population', there must be more places in the country where the average age is going up rather than going down and at least some of these must be in the south-east.

Yes-a lot of South Oxon is basically a retirement community now. Younger people are moving out to the suburbs in Reading because of the sky-high rents closer to town. A lot of ethnic minorities(Calcot now has a large South Asian population) have mover out to there for the same reasons and work in Central Reading.

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 7:34:13 GMT bjornhattan said:

Feb 26, 2020 7:10:28 GMT yellowperil said:

You must know a different Tilehurst to me (and I think both the part within Reading Borough and that in West Berks are quite varied) but my younger son lives in Tilehust , just inside the Reading boundary, having relatively recently moved out there from just off the Oxford Road in Norcot) and might be quite surprised to hear it described as WVM territory. And given that the LDs were winning on 47% in Tilehurst in May2019 that is a pretty strange post. I think I could find you "quite a lot of Lib Dems" in Tilehurst, or at very least prepared to vote that way, at the height of revokemania. I have a feeling that you might be describing some bits of Tilehurst over the border into WB.

The bit of Tilehurst in Reading lies mainly east of School Lane. It's the ward's demographics which point to a fairly big Brexit vote - relatively high numbers of people without qualifications (but still often with decent jobs), a fairly old population, rather ethnically homogenous, and mainly identifying as English not British. All of those are relative to the borough (on a national level those indicators are basically average in Tilehurst but not compared to Reading). I still reckon the Remain vote would have been north of 40%, so it's not as if there are no Revokers, but fewer than the rest of town.

In contrast, Tilehurst ward goes all the way down Armour Rd to Westwood Glen. There's lots of stables just across the border in West Berks (Hall Place is a notable equestrian centre very close to the Reading border). I'm fairly sure there are some gated communities round there too I'm fairly sure.The WWC bit round Hildens Drive is in West Berks.

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 8:22:22 GMT bjornhattan said:

Feb 26, 2020 7:59:08 GMT yellowperil said:

I am always sceptical of alleged demographic statistics. Given your characterisation, do you not find it odd that 

(a)Tilehurst ward is , and has nearly always been, by some margin the strongest Lib Dem ward in the Borough (not that that is saying all that much in a Borough they have never been that strong)
(b) having twice lost the ward to the Tories in recent years,2016 and 2018, and the ward having become pretty much a Tory/ LibDem marginal, the May 2019 result was such a thumping Lib Dem win in the context of an election at the height of europhobia/ revokemania.

It's definitely possible that there's been change there in the last few years, especially since Reading is a relatively transient borough with lots of people moving in and out. But I think the census is a more reliable guide to knowing how an area actually thinks about the issues than local election results. Those variables I mentioned above explain about 90% of the variance in EU referendum support between areas. On the other hand, a strong Lib Dem presence can mean anything - you know yourself that your party know how to run a solid ground game. In Sunderland, for example, there was a time when the three Lib Dem wards were the two most pro-Leave and the most pro-Remain in the city.

I'd want to know about the sorts of literature being delivered locally before making that call. If the leaflets are all focusing on Brexit, I might buy your theory, but I strongly suspect the local party rarely bring it up in that particular area.

That area is where people move to have kids and live the rest of their lives if they move there. There aren't many places for rent in that part of Tilehurst.

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 7:39:37 GMT yellowperil said:

Feb 25, 2020 15:40:20 GMT Chris from Brum said:

From what I can tell, the borough boundary passes between the hot and cold food counters in the canteen and bisects the main admin block.

My son had a room in St Pat's on Northcourt Avenue.  That was definitely in Reading borough.

My son had a room in Pats  back in the late 8o's, As indeed did I myself in the early 60's. And my granddaughter much more recently, not in Pats but more or less next door. 

You'll be interested to know the Uni are having a massive argument with local residents and the council about redeveloping that hall.Here's a link to explain: www.google.com/amp/s/www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-university-suffers-fresh-blow-16266472.amp

[yellowperil]

Feb 26, 2020 22:41:07 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Feb 26, 2020 7:39:37 GMT yellowperil said:

My son had a room in Pats  back in the late 8o's, As indeed did I myself in the early 60's. And my granddaughter much more recently, not in Pats but more or less next door. 

You'll be interested to know the Uni are having a massive argument with local residents and the council about redeveloping that hall.Here's a link to explain: www.google.com/amp/s/www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-university-suffers-fresh-blow-16266472.amp

Yes I was aware of the ongoing debate about the redevelopment of Pats, and was interested to see the article- I hadn't seen that particular one. I am inclined to the side of the residents- the "new Pats" looks grossly disproportionate for the site and very damaging to Pearson Court, Reading's attempt at a pseudo-Oxford College, but worthy of preservation.
Not that I was ever in Pearson Court- I did spend a couple of terms in what was then the almost brand new building next door which was already starting to fall apart (1960-61)

[yellowperil]

Feb 26, 2020 22:28:17 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Feb 26, 2020 7:10:28 GMT yellowperil said:

You must know a different Tilehurst to me (and I think both the part within Reading Borough and that in West Berks are quite varied) but my younger son lives in Tilehust , just inside the Reading boundary, having relatively recently moved out there from just off the Oxford Road in Norcot) and might be quite surprised to hear it described as WVM territory. And given that the LDs were winning on 47% in Tilehurst in May2019 that is a pretty strange post. I think I could find you "quite a lot of Lib Dems" in Tilehurst, or at very least prepared to vote that way, at the height of revokemania. I have a feeling that you might be describing some bits of Tilehurst over the border into WB.

Even the WB end of Tilehurst (Birch Copse/Kentwood) is generally quite Remainy. The big council estates are in Norcot and Kentwood. If he's looking for privately-owned WVM territory,Calcot and Beansheaf fit the bill much better. Where does you son live near, just out of interest Yellow Peril? I know some people who went to Denefield and Little Heath (the local secondaries) very well at college.

That was exactly my point- I was thinking that Birch Copse, Kentwood and Calcot, etc would be a much better fit for his description than the Tilehust ward of Reading.though maybe Tilehurst was more like that a few years ago. My son now lives on The Meadway, in answer to your question. You may not be appreciating the age difference, from your question- he is well into his 50's and it's his youngest daughter who is now the third generation of my family  to be a student at the university. No member of my family has ever been in Reading while of school age , though I did myself briefly teach in a Reading school (EPCollier)

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 26, 2020 23:44:24 GMT yellowperil said:

Feb 26, 2020 22:28:17 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Even the WB end of Tilehurst (Birch Copse/Kentwood) is generally quite Remainy. The big council estates are in Norcot and Kentwood. If he's looking for privately-owned WVM territory,Calcot and Beansheaf fit the bill much better. Where does you son live near, just out of interest Yellow Peril? I know some people who went to Denefield and Little Heath (the local secondaries) very well at college.

That was exactly my point- I was thinking that Birch Copse, Kentwood and Calcot, etc would be a much better fit for his description than the Tilehust ward of Reading.though maybe Tilehurst was more like that a few years ago. My son now lives on The Meadway, in answer to your question. You may not be appreciating the age difference, from your question- he is well into his 50's and it's his youngest daughter who is now the third generation of my family  to be a student at the university. No member of my family has ever been in Reading while of school age , though I did myself briefly teach in a Reading school (EPCollier)

Yeah, the Meadway is in I believe Norcot and it's not really the Tilehurst that most people think of. I'd describe it more as West Reading. Tilehurst ward has never really been WWC, but Norcot and Southcote generally always have been and are changing demographically as well. I was going to ask you why you only briefly taught in Reading, though I suspect EP Collier is the answer! I went to Thameside myself and I had a friend there who left EP Collier because she had experienced several nasty racist attacks for being Latvian.

[yellowperil]

Feb 28, 2020 17:22:51 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Feb 26, 2020 23:44:24 GMT yellowperil said:

That was exactly my point- I was thinking that Birch Copse, Kentwood and Calcot, etc would be a much better fit for his description than the Tilehust ward of Reading.though maybe Tilehurst was more like that a few years ago. My son now lives on The Meadway, in answer to your question. You may not be appreciating the age difference, from your question- he is well into his 50's and it's his youngest daughter who is now the third generation of my family  to be a student at the university. No member of my family has ever been in Reading while of school age , though I did myself briefly teach in a Reading school (EPCollier)

Yeah, the Meadway is in I believe Norcot and it's not really the Tilehurst that most people think of. I'd describe it more as West Reading. Tilehurst ward has never really been WWC, but Norcot and Southcote generally always have been and are changing demographically as well. I was going to ask you why you only briefly taught in Reading, though I suspect EP Collier is the answer! I went to Thameside myself and I had a friend there who left EP Collier because she had experienced several nasty racist attacks for being Latvian.

The Meadway is mostly in Norcot but the western end is in Tilehurst. My son definitely considers himself to live in Tilehurst but looking at the ward boundaries its very close! I suspect a lot of people in that area think of themselves as in Tilehurst even if they are on the Norcot side of the ward boundary.

I probably over-simplified about the teaching at  EP Collier- it was 60 years ago! What I actually meant was that I taught there for a few weeks as a student teacher on teaching practice while doing my PGCE at Reading. And it wasn't my target age group, but everybody had to experience different sorts of education, so a short spell there before moving on to Battersea Grammar School, somewhat more salubrious than EP Collier, even then.

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 28, 2020 20:44:05 GMT yellowperil said:

Feb 28, 2020 17:22:51 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Yeah, the Meadway is in I believe Norcot and it's not really the Tilehurst that most people think of. I'd describe it more as West Reading. Tilehurst ward has never really been WWC, but Norcot and Southcote generally always have been and are changing demographically as well. I was going to ask you why you only briefly taught in Reading, though I suspect EP Collier is the answer! I went to Thameside myself and I had a friend there who left EP Collier because she had experienced several nasty racist attacks for being Latvian.

The Meadway is mostly in Norcot but the western end is in Tilehurst. My son definitely considers himself to live in Tilehurst but looking at the ward boundaries its very close! I suspect a lot of people in that area think of themselves as in Tilehurst even if they are on the Norcot side of the ward boundary.

I probably over-simplified about the teaching at  EP Collier- it was 60 years ago! What I actually meant was that I taught there for a few weeks as a student teacher on teaching practice while doing my PGCE at Reading. And it wasn't my target age group, but everybody had to experience different sorts of education, so a short spell there before moving on to Battersea Grammar School, somewhat more salubrious than EP Collier, even then.

On your first point,Yes,indeed,many people would like consider themselves to live in Tilehurst because Tilehurst has made a lot better name for itself than Norcot! I don't personally consider Tilehurst to be anything north of Armour Rd/east of Park Ln-School Rd/south of Twizzler Woods to be Tilehurst.On your second point, that makes sense. It would make sense to have experience of every age group because it's important to have the transferable skills gained by teaching different age groups in education. Not surprised to see EP Collier has always been the same. I come from a long line of teachers on my mother's side anyway,she was the black sheep in the family but both her parents were teachers, her sister was a teacher and on her mother's side, the teaching history goes back 3 generations where my great-great-greatgrandparents(I think!) met and my great-great-greatgrandmother was a schoolteacher in Dunsden Village School, if you know where that is.

[yellowperil]

Feb 28, 2020 21:43:58 GMT unrepentantfool said:

Feb 28, 2020 20:44:05 GMT yellowperil said:

The Meadway is mostly in Norcot but the western end is in Tilehurst. My son definitely considers himself to live in Tilehurst but looking at the ward boundaries its very close! I suspect a lot of people in that area think of themselves as in Tilehurst even if they are on the Norcot side of the ward boundary.

I probably over-simplified about the teaching at  EP Collier- it was 60 years ago! What I actually meant was that I taught there for a few weeks as a student teacher on teaching practice while doing my PGCE at Reading. And it wasn't my target age group, but everybody had to experience different sorts of education, so a short spell there before moving on to Battersea Grammar School, somewhat more salubrious than EP Collier, even then.

On your first point,Yes,indeed,many people would like consider themselves to live in Tilehurst because Tilehurst has made a lot better name for itself than Norcot! I don't personally consider Tilehurst to be anything north of Armour Rd/east of Park Ln-School Rd/south of Twizzler Woods to be Tilehurst.On your second point, that makes sense. It would make sense to have experience of every age group because it's important to have the transferable skills gained by teaching different age groups in education. Not surprised to see EP Collier has always been the same. I come from a long line of teachers on my mother's side anyway,she was the black sheep in the family but both her parents were teachers, her sister was a teacher and on her mother's side, the teaching history goes back 3 generations where my great-great-greatgrandparents(I think!) met and my great-great-greatgrandmother was a schoolteacher in Dunsden Village School, if you know where that is.

Is that the one that's now the village hall?

[unrepentantfool]

Feb 28, 2020 22:09:25 GMT yellowperil said:

Feb 28, 2020 21:43:58 GMT unrepentantfool said:

On your first point,Yes,indeed,many people would like consider themselves to live in Tilehurst because Tilehurst has made a lot better name for itself than Norcot! I don't personally consider Tilehurst to be anything north of Armour Rd/east of Park Ln-School Rd/south of Twizzler Woods to be Tilehurst.On your second point, that makes sense. It would make sense to have experience of every age group because it's important to have the transferable skills gained by teaching different age groups in education. Not surprised to see EP Collier has always been the same. I come from a long line of teachers on my mother's side anyway,she was the black sheep in the family but both her parents were teachers, her sister was a teacher and on her mother's side, the teaching history goes back 3 generations where my great-great-greatgrandparents(I think!) met and my great-great-greatgrandmother was a schoolteacher in Dunsden Village School, if you know where that is.

Is that the one that's now the village hall?

Yes, correct.

[loderingo]

Quick question - is the Reading election on the old boundaries still happening in 2021? Sees a bit pointless if the council is then all out in 2022.

[The Bishop]

Next May will be for a third of the council as usual, so don't see how it more "pointless" than any other year?

[neilm]

Nov 27, 2020 10:43:29 GMT The Bishop said:

Next May will be for a third of the council as usual, so don't see how it more "pointless" than any other year?

2021 would have been the fallow year so it seems a bit pointless.

[The Bishop]

Yes, but these are the seats that *should* have been fought this year.....