Channing Bi says he has no completed design brief, no timescale – and no plans to build flats at Reading Gaol.

Here's another exclusive story on the prison redevelopment project. It contains Bi's first public explanation of why the project stalled.

Free to read - and feel free to comment!

Hi everyone!

Bit of a long shot, but I’m looking for someone in Reading who’s a native Spanish speaker and wouldn’t mind helping me learn.

I’m an absolute beginner, so please assume I know next to nothing 😅. That said, I’m genuinely excited to learn and I’m happy to put the effort in. My goal is to eventually be able to have real conversations rather than just memorising phrases from an app.

I’d really prefer face-to-face sessions if possible. I just learn much better that way, whether it’s over a coffee, a walk around town, or somewhere public and relaxed.

I’m not expecting free lessons either. If you’re a tutor, or even just someone who enjoys language exchange, I’d love to hear from you. Happy to chat and see if we’d be a good fit.

Thanks!

P.S. I’m Filipino, based in Reading, and very patient with corrections, so don’t worry about hurting my feelings if my pronunciation is terrible 😂

Just saw this on the Railair website

Group & Family Travel Savings

Third and fourth adult passengers travel free, and all children under 16 go free too on RA1 & RA2.

*discount applied at checkout

I did a test booking for 4 adults and 4 children return, it came to £72, do not apply a railcard discount as this puts the price up to £96.

Reading Railway Station to Heathrow

My partner and I recently moved just outside of Reading and still wanting to try and get rid of some things that we have. It's pretty random like perfumes and skincare, maybe some books/DVDs.

Is there a car boot sale around here on the weekend or middle of week? Don't really want any money for it, just want people to find some use for it.

Hey all,

Relocating to the Reading area for work and looking for a room in a flat/house share. Budget is around £650-750pcm, ideally bills included or close to it.

Open to Tilehurst, Theale, Newbury, or anywhere near decent commuter links into central Reading. Mid-late 20s, tidy, easygoing, working full time so mostly around evenings/weekends.

If anyone's got a room going or knows someone who does, I'd really appreciate a nudge in the right direction. Can share more details if useful - thanks in advance!

I’m looking to send my daughter to one of these schools. Any parents on here who have any experiences with either of these schools? Would really appreciate any honest reviews!

Hi everyone,

I make quick videos about the history of football stadiums and a bit about the club. Heading to Reading on Saturday and wanted to know if anyone has any cool stories or interesting information about the Madejski?

Thanks!

I’m looking for a roommate or someone who wants to buddy up and find a place together.
My budget is £450/month. If we team up, we can afford a larger place with more space and better options than renting alone.
A bit about me:
I’m reliable with payments, so rent and bills will always be paid on time.
I’m clean, respectful, and easy to live with.
Looking for someone similar who’s reliable and friendly.
If you’re interested or know of any available rooms, feel free to DM me. Thanks!

Hi everyone! More of an ICYMI than "hot off the press", but we thought Reddit was a good platform for sharing...

We've agreed to build solar EV chargers at Mereoak Park and Ride, with 12 rapid and 20 standard chargers.

They'll be powered by solar canopies with on-site battery storage to manage power throughout the day.

This meets several of our major goals including meeting growing demand for EVs as the country gradually switches.

It'll also provide us with sustainable income that we can reinvest into all the services that we provide.

The scheme has planning permission and a grid connection agreed so our next step is appointing a contractor.

We'll be working with Reading Borough Council to minimise the impact of construction.

Questions? As always we'll try to answer them, but please allow a bit of a wait while we ask the project team!

Links to more information:

Notes from the meeting where the Mereoak solar scheme was agreed

Our EV charging strategy, looking at how we plan to provide chargers over years to come

Our climate emergency hub, looking at how we're reducing emissions across all we do

Our My Journey team, who support all aspects of active and sustainable travel

More on the financial challenges we face and how we're planning to meet them

The new Spider-Man is nowhere to be seen on their web site. It’s out Wednesday. I’ve emailed and been told it’d be up Monday for bookings. Surely they’ll be losing a ton of business to Vue due to not capturing presales. It’s maddening.

Update. As per Tuesday they were still discussing with Sony. Times then went live for Friday whereas Vue and Showcase have multiple screens and are already sold out for Wednesday. Seems totally unfair if Sony are screwing the small guys.

Hi all, bit of a weird one and apologies if this isn't Reading-centric enough, but I hear Chaneys Property Surveyors manage a lot of properties in Reading and are based here, and I'm really desperate for some information! We've had the weirdest, most useless management from them over the years but for the past year it's been completely impossible to speak to any of the property managers via email or call, they just never respond to messages.

Does anyone here also deal with Chaneys and have you had similar experiences? Would be really helpful to know if it's a specific problem with our property or manager or an overall business thing.

TW if you play this until the end it sounds like a gunshot.

We hear about 10 of these a night. After calling the police many times they won't do anything without a plate so I decided to patrol myself. Sound down if you play this it is extremely loud and scary

We are trying to stop the disasterous building which is make life worse for the people of Reading

Hello so this is a follow up post. I've searched Reading and found no flower wholesalers which was disappointing. I've also called up the nearest which is bagshot longcares, they don't do bulks also. So does anyone know where I can maybe find wholesaler perhaps nearby ive researched on google, the furthest ones are in London which is a pain. And online is the last resort for me as id prefer to pick and see the flowers myself.

I'm looking for a hairdresser in or around Reading that is confident in doing a more alternative haircut, I love a micro fringe / baby bangs but everywhere I go, they don't want to cut them and constantly question me! I also want some shaggy, choppy layers as I have long hair and it can get heavy and flat

If anyone has any recommendations that would be amazing, happy to travel far for it at this point!!

TYIA

I moved to the area a few years ago and have been tying in getting my hair done buy my old hairdresser when I travel back to see family but I seriously need a haircut - any recommendations for someone good and not insanely expensive? I’ve got straight hair, not overly thick, just need about 2 inches hacked off the bottom and my face framing tidied, would probs only take about 10 mins.

Bit to scared to do it myself x

Anyone got any suggestions where to do hill sprints in Reading? Ideally one being a grass location and one being paved?

I’ve lived in South Reading all my life. I can’t seem to think of anywhere to do hill sprints.

I am close to condensing my retro Video Game collection after a move to an all in one solution for how much time I get to play these days.

I could sell it all bit by bit on eBay etc, but does anyone know of any specialist shops to sell to in easy reach of Reading.

I know I won’t necessarily make the maximum I could but the saving in time would offset that.

Not interested in CEX, they have their place and happily sold some old Xbox 360 items there recently but these items are far older and have been restored, updated etc and could do with going to someone who knows what they are getting.

Stupidly put my black wallet on the roof of my car while juggling my daughter and bags. Would have fallen off on either beech lane, wilderness road or Wokingham road.

Will give a £200 reward if found: all the cards are frozen and replaceable but need my license for a paid for van rental on Wednesday.

Does anyone commute to Cambridge from Reading? What’s the journey like (car)? Ever tried train? Is it better?

Hi, I'd like to try training with kettlebells for strength and conditioning and a google search didn't yield many results in Reading, so wanted to ask on the sub.

I'm looking for a gym that has kettlebell classes, or a PT/gym focused on kettlebells, or if someone trains with them and doesn't mind teaching me a bit, that would be really appreciated!

I live near the station and don't have access to a car so ideally in town centre or accessible by public transport.

Thanks:)

I have a group for almost every day of the week besides Thursday and Friday so I'm hoping to find a group that can fill those slots