Over The Hill: Recent Episodes
Richard Gibbs
In this podcast I include extracts from my book A Very English Pilgrimage. The Way, like the other walks I have covered, abounds with history, geography and wildlife. For me, walking these ancient tracks and ways is enhanced by getting a deeper understanding of the stories to be found along the miles and hours of … Continue reading The Pilgrims’ Way: A Very English Pilgrimage →
In the last of this short series of podcasts I look at The Rose. There have been three inns or pubs of that name in the town since probably the Elizabethan period. And they have been intricately involved in the town’s development, serving as stagecoach depots as well as offering up excellent food and sauces … Continue reading A History of a Pub through Time: The Rose →
In this podcast (third of four) I will look at the fascinating history of the Roebuck pub in Market Place.
In this podcast (second of two) I follow in the footsteps of ‘bad’ King John from #Odiham to #Winchester.
In this podcast (first of two) I follow in the footsteps of ‘bad’ King John from Windsor to Odiham
In this podcast (second of two) I look at the ancient history associated with the Ridgeway as well as the wildlife and geology along this fascinating track.
In this podcast (first of two) I look at the ancient history associated with the Ridgeway as well as the wildlife and geology along this fascinating track.
In this podcast I explore the history of the Red Lion, Wokingham, from its start as an 18th century malt house to its role in the development of the Wellington Brewery and its links to bull baiting!
In the podcast (second of two) I follow the Saints Way down from Llanivet, past Helman Tor along the estuary towards Fowey. Along the way I look into the history, geography and natural world to be found along side this ancient trackway.
In this podcast (first of two) I explore the history, geography and natural world of the long-distance walk known as the Saints Way. Starting in Padstow, I follow the path up, past the monolith at St Breock Downs to Lanivet.
In this podcast, I tell the strange story of a flying machine built in Wokingham in 1909 by local inventor Jesse Farbrother. The machine was made of wood and canvas and was designed to take off vertically! Its sudden disappearance and the disappearance of Jesse have been shrouded in mystery. Was there an explosion or was it taken by the War Office? And what happened to Jesse?
This photograph is a copy from J & R Lea’s Wokingham, A Pictorial Guide. If anyone has an actual photograph I would be delighted to see it!
What are the local events that have made the biggest impression or impact on you? How has the town changed in the last 50 or so years? In this episode, I explore the history of Wokingham in the recent past, from 1969 onwards. Traffic jams, the Royal Princes, and the demise of the Ritz cinema are a few of the highlights I look at in this short podcast. This photograph of Market Place in the 1960s is from the extensive and excellent NetXposure.net collection.
https://media.blubrry.com/overthehill/content.blubrry.com/overthehill/Wokingham_A_Potted_History_In_Living_Memory-01_04_2020_19_28.mp3
Have you ever wondered when Wokingham was founded, or indeed why it was established where it is? Wokingham’s early history starts in the Anglo Saxon period. The town developed during the medieval period with a market and annual fairs. In this episode of Wokingham A Potted History I explore the foundation of the town, try and explain why it was located here in the first place, and describe how a priest called Alerud should be considered one of Wokingham’s founding fathers.
https://media.blubrry.com/overthehill/content.blubrry.com/overthehill/Wokingham_A_Potted_History_The_Founding_of_Wokingham-29_03_2020_14_04.mp3
Wokingham’s past, in terms of leisure activities, is not completely wholesome. The local historian Arthur Heelas writing in 1928 said:
‘The sporting instincts of the inhabitants of the district have always been well developed, although not necessarily applied in the right direction.’
The wrong direction included bull baiting and bare-knuckle fighting.It wasn’t until the Victorian and Edwardian period that Wokingham’s pastimes became more politically correct with numerous football and cricket clubs. And then in the 20th century, we saw Martin’s Pool and the opening of the Electric Theatre and Ritz Cinema in the 1930s.
The painting, probably dating from the late 18thcentury, shows bull baiting taking place in Market Place. The Old Guildhall is on the right and the artist is probably standing in front of The Red Lion looking across the square to The Roebuck. The scene is chaotic; the bull, the dogs and the people all in frantic flight. The actual painting is in the Town Hall and this image is taken from the Wokingham Virtual Museum and is available online at https://www.wokingham-tc.gov.uk/museum/document/WTH0233 and was accessed on 28th January 2019.
https://media.blubrry.com/overthehill/content.blubrry.com/overthehill/Wokingham_A_Potted_History_Wokingham_at_Play.mp3
The Queen’s Head taken about 1906 and sourced from the Francis Frith Collection. At one point in time, Wokingham could boast 45 public houses, as well as three major breweries and a couple of inns. Our oldest pubs, such as the Queen’s Head, The Duke’s Head as well as The Roebuck and the Red Lion, can take us back to the 18th century. Others came with the railway in the Victorian era.
In this short podcast, I look at the history of the pubs and breweries in Wokingham and the town’s ongoing enthusiasm for beer and wine.
https://media.blubrry.com/overthehill/content.blubrry.com/overthehill/Wokingham_A_Potted_History_Pubs_and_Breweries.mp3
Wokingham was the epitome of the Home Front in WW1 and WW2. A small market town trying to maintain life as normal while everything was in turmoil. As the young men and women went off to war, the town was inundated with new arrivals: Belgium refugees, Canadian soldiers and the build-up of troops for D Day. And all the time the townsfolk did their bit to support the war effort in their inimitable way including ‘fag days’, caring for the wounded and looking after evacuees.
In this podcast, I look at the events in Wokingham during the two major wars of the 20th century.
The photograph, taken from the excellent WokinghamRemembers web site, shows crowds celebrating the end of WW1 in Broad Street. It is available online at http://www.wokinghamremembers.com/1919-victory-wokingham-celebrates/ and was accessed on January 21, 2019.
https://media.blubrry.com/overthehill/content.blubrry.com/overthehill/Wokingham_A_Potted_History_Wokingham_At_War.mp3
Wokingham is a market town on the edge of Windsor Forest in England. It is where I have lived most of my life; it is where my family has grown up.
And until recently, it is a place that I knew very little about. Like many, perhaps, I worked five days a week; weekends were busy with children, family and routine commitments. There was little time to wander around Wokingham.
This series of podcasts tries to correct my own lack of appreciation for the town as I explore various aspects of the town’s history.
But first, I am going to take a short walk around the town to see what I can see.
The picture of All Saints church is available from Wokingham’s Virtual Museum. It was painted in 1832 by W.A. Delamott who worked at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. (“All Saints Parish Church, Wokingham,” Wokingham’s Virtual Museum, accessed January 9, 2019, https://www.wokingham-tc.gov.uk/museum/document/481.)
It is easy to recognise the church from Delamott’s drawing, but I find the characters most interesting as they do not come across as Wokingham’s finest. One has climbed over the wall into the graveyard, the others seem to be lounging against the church wall. I like to think that the passenger in the cart is looking at the boys disapprovingly and muttering to the driver something to the effect that things were never like this when they were young!
https://media.blubrry.com/overthehill/content.blubrry.com/overthehill/A_short_walk_around_Wokingham.mp3