Reading; Saturday, 12 September, 2020

After a slightly weird breakfast in the hotel I headed out for the short walk down the road to the impressive Victorian Town Hall and Reading Museum. The museum has an impressive collection of artefacts on the town and it’s development from the pre-historic through to the modern day, as well as having a replica of the Bayeux Tapestry and a large gallery on the nearby Roman settlement at Silchester.

As I was leaving the museum I picked up a leaflet about the Reading Town Trail, which is a guided walk that starts at the museum and takes in the major sights in the town centre. I followed the trail round most of it’s route – stopping at the Forbury Gardens before making my way into the ruins of Reading Abbey, which I spent quite some time looking round. The route of the walk heads back through the centre of town, so I quickly detoured off the route into the shopping centre for a quick comfort break and to have a quick lunch, before finishing off the train at the Minster and then heading back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel I picked up the spare camera battery that I’d forgotten to take out with me earlier, which was desperately needed as the one in my camera was flashing empty. I then headed over to the railway station to pick up the train out to Bramley to go and explore Silchester. Unfortunately, the ticket machines were being very slow and, because I was cutting it a bit fine, it turned out to be difference between making and missing the hourly train.

As I had an hour to wait for the next train I headed back out of the station and over to a nearby café for an afternoon coffee, before heading back to the station to catch the train out to Bramley. Thankfully I was able to make the train with lots of time to spare so I had a seat, which was fortunate as the train ended up being quite busy with several people standing.

I got off at Bramley and from there I followed the Silchester Trail, an 8 mile loop walk that takes you over to the modern day village of Silchester, via the Roman ruins. With a warm sun, a light breeze and pretty much flat walking – apart for the final quarter mile – it was a pleasant stroll through the countryside.

I arrived at the Eastern Gate of the old city of Calleva Atrebatum and was amazed at the size of the site. Most of the city walls are stills standing – though everything else of the city remains under the soil for preservation at present – and they were clearly visible a very long way off in the distance on the far side of the city, the 2000 year old lime mortar still glinting in the sun. Next to the Eastern Gate, and just outside the city walls, are the remains of the Amphitheatre, and it was to there that I headed first to have a look around. The size of the Amphitheatre really gives you an idea of how large this city was in Roman times, and this is a relatively substantial amphitheatre.

After looking round the Amphitheatre I headed back over to the walls and followed them round from the Eastern Gate to the Northern Gate, and then on further to the Western Gate. I had a quick look at the time and realised that from where I was the earliest train I would be able to get from Bramley, now a four mile walk away, wouldn’t be until after sunset. However, I was just a short walk from the English Heritage car park, so I headed over there and called for a taxi to get me back to the station.

The Taxi arrived within about 10 minutes, but it was still going to be tight to make the train, especially as Bramley has a level crossing at the end of the station, which could mean we ended up getting stuck in traffic and miss the train. Thankfully, the taxi driver was clearly used to this as he suggested heading North to Mortimer instead, giving me an extra five minutes before the train would be due, and avoiding any level crossings. It also had the advantage, according to the Taxi drive of being slightly cheaper than Bramley as it’s a few hundred yards less far to travel.

Taking the advice of the taxi driver we headed up to Mortimer, and he was able to drop me off at the station with a good 10 minutes to spare before the train. I caught the train back into Reading and then walked the short distance to the hotel to freshen up before heading back out into town to grab some dinner, before heading back to the hotel for a well-deserved sleep.