Recent Events

Planting more snowdrops in the Triangle

Lots of volunteers, including welcome help from the guides, came to help us plant out thousands of snowdrops in the Triangle. We thought it would take ages to do, but the circumstances were ideal. The ground was moist so the digging was easy. Everyone got into the spirit of things and soon we were planting the snowdrops at quite a pace. And we had fun! Best of all we could see the snowdrops that we had planted on previous occasions and they seem to have settled in very well - and are looking cheerful. Next spring, when the new ones have settled too, it should look pretty good.

Some pictures for you to enjoy...

Very many thanks to all the volunteers, especially the guides, for their very worthwhile effort.

On the down side, it was a shame to see that at the side of the Co-op where we planted daffodils last year, deep lorry tracks are all over the grassy area, and it is doubtful whether we will get the display that we had hoped for. Even though the thoughtless and inconsiderate lorry driver has done his best to ruin the display, a few valient daffodils are battling their way though the grass. We can but hope.

Planting aconites in Corwen Road gardens

We planted two big areas round the trees at the Corwen Road garden with aconites. And while we were there we did a bit of tidying up too. Many thanks to all the people that helped.

Planting the water trough by the water tower 2012

Pat Ager and Jane Blake planted the water trough with flowers and bulbs so that we can enjoy a continuous display of flowers at the entrance to Tilehurst. Throughout the summer there was the display of red, white and blue flowers to add to the celebrations for the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee. And now it was time to replenish the trough with spring flowers and bulbs.

Thank you Pat and Jane for your time and enthusiasm. And thank you Graham for volunteering to look after the trough over the next months.

Planting daffodils at the Triangle 2012

On 13th October, volunteers, including scouts and guides, came to help us plant more daffodils at the Triangle.We were incredibly lucky with the weather.

The event was planned to go from 10am to 12am.We started in bright sunshine and had packed up most of the tools by 12am. The rain started at 12.01pm so most of the volunteers beat a retreat, leaving a few of us to get really wet.

However, we got two big new areas planted out with daffodils, which should bring some additional sunshine to spring at the Triangle.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

Our stall at the Hospital Fete 2012

This year we had two main themes.

The first was about local woodlands. We wanted to enlighten people about the plans for repairing the damage to the path at Blundells Copse. This will be a lengthy process and will involve Reading Borough Council in various schemes in order to get a better path - which at the moment is quite worn and waterlogged in places.

We also handed out copies of the new leaflet we have produced about Lousehill Copse. We were not surprised to find that many local people are unaware of the lovely woodlands we have in Tilehurst. The new leaflet will hopefully encourage people to use the woods for local walks. If you missed getting one at the fete the local library has a stack of them by the entrance; help yourself to them - they are free. You can also see what they are like on this site. Click here.

We also ran our free quiz. This year the quiz was about traffic. We were lucky enough to have Simon Beasley, of Reading Highways, on the stall with us to answer people's concerns regarding traffic, in particular local traffic. We had previously invited Simon to speak at one of our monthly meetings to inform us of the possibilies for improvement. For some weeks, we then surveyed people's views about local traffic and parking and these views were forwarded to Simon. Simon Beasley lives in Tilehurst so can relate to our views. The quiz emphasized some of the problems that we have in Tilehurst and was a bit of fun for everyone.

RESCUE 2012

Many thanks to all the people who came and helped us tidy Tilehurst! And a big thank you also to the many sponsors who supported us for the 2012 event.

The weather was good and an excellent number of people came out to help tidy up. We will produce a report about the event in time, but briefly we cleared the central Tilehurst area on Saturday morning, Blundells Copse on Saturday afternoon (many thanks to all the children from Teviot Road who came and helped and also to the guides for their stirling efforts). On Sunday morning we were in McIlroys and Sunday afternoon we cleared Gypsy Lane.

In short, we thought there was less litter and dumping that in previous years, but we still managed to fill a large number of big bags of general litter. We also found lots and lots of cans and plastic bottles (which will have been sent to be recycled) and quite a lot of heavy litter.

Again this year Reading Council did not provide us with skips and the dustcarts worked for shorter hours in an effort to cut down on the expense of the Rescue event, which is laudible, and despite our fears about how it would work, on the whole we managed ok.

See the pictures .


Planting snowdrops at the Triangle and a visit from the Mayor

On 18th February, lots of volunteers, including scouts and guides, came to help us plant more snowdrops at the Triangle.

The rain threatened, but as usual our luck held out and it only rained once we had packed up and gone home - so the snowdrops were nicely watered in!


The Mayor of Reading, Cllr Debbie Edwards, came to dedicate the new Wellingtonia which was planted to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee; this she did with great gusto!.

Not only that, she helped us plant some of the 2500 snowdrops.

And she launched the Tilehurst Globe appeal for funds to enable Christmas lights to be installed at the Triangle.

A busy day, but a job well done. Thanks to everyone who came and helped and especially the Mayor for her good humoured presence.

Planting trees at the Triangle

On Friday 10th February 2012, as part of the makeover at the Triangle it was planned that globe volunteers would help Reading Council Tree Warden Scheme to plant three trees - a Wellingtonia, and Olympic Flame Sorbus and a Sweet Chestnut.

Our main concern was that the ground was so frozen that we would not be able to dig the earth! However, it transpired that the ice was only a few inches (5cms) deep and that we easily lifted to top soil and dug holes deep enough to allow the trees to be planted.

The Wellingtonia went in first:

In the meantime Kevin and the lads were back to the delight of many - they carved a wonderful chair out of the remaining bit of trunk of the felled Horse Chestnut tree. What chain saw skill! What an artist! What entertainment!

It sort of made up for the fact that the horse chestnut had to be felled.

A job well done lads!

We dug the holes for the other two trees, while Kevin and his lads gave the existing Sorbus a haircut!

Then, with a fanfare and great ceremony we were delighted that Zac Purchase, Olympic Gold Medal rower, came along to plant the appropriately named Olympic Flame Sorbus. The children and Mums and Dads turned out to see him and he delighted us.

Not only that he got the tree well dug in!

Thank you for coming to Tilehurst Triangle, Zac. We hope next time you come you have got another Gold Medal!

Phase one of the makeover at the Triangle

On Saturday 19th November a group of Tilehurst Globe volunteers helped remove the bamboo from the central flower border at the Triangle. This is part of a longer term plan to plant out the Triangle with three new trees and more bulbs.

We are working with Reading Borough Council, who, in the Spring, will plant two commemorative trees: a Wellingtonia to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee of her accession to the throne and an Olympic Flame Sorbus to celebrate the London Olympics - two occasions that should be memorable.

In addition they will plant a Sweet Chestnut to overcome our sad loss that the Horse Chestnut had to be removed.

So our efforts were to make room in the border ready for the Wellingtonia.

Yes, it was hard work

Planting daffodils along the verge by Upcroft School

On Saturday 15th October some eager volunteers planted about 13 bags of assorted daffodils. We hope that in the spring you will see a large swathe of daffodils nodding and dancing in the breeze, giving a welcome to Tilehurst Village.

Our Stall at the Traca Fete 2011

This year the main themes we had on display at the stall were

Such was the rage of most people about the last item, the other matters were somewhat overlooked. But we were overwhelmed by the strength of feeling about the loss of free parking. Many were upset for the shopkeepers and how it would affect them at this difficult time. So a large number people added their signatures to the petition asking for the council to reconsider their new charging structure and for them to reinstate the one hour free parking policy in our local car parks.

And it didn't rain.

Our walk round Arthur Newbery Park

Well, we said "Come rain or shine" and it rained! But we still went on the walk and considering the weather most people had the sense to bring an umbrella.

We met at the Butcher's Arms in Lower Armour Road and then followed a route round Arthur Newbury Park. This walk is well documented in our sister website www.walkontheweb.org.uk

Although we were a bit damp at the end, we nevertheless had a good time and learnt more about our local surroundings, admired the grasses and meadow flowers, just about made out the distant views of the Mapledurham hills, and walked along both the avenues in the park. However, perhaps justifiably, we declined to go as far as the special postbox and opted for a squelchy return to the Butcher's Arms.

When we got back there, of course the rain stopped! But we were welcomed with a super sunset.

Our stall at the Hospital Fete 2011

Despite the rain during the week, on Saturday it held off until 4.30pm - luckily for everyone involved in the show.

We had two main themes to our stand.

Queen's Diamond Jubilee - Celebration Tree in the Triangle

We have been thinking that we would like to plant a specimen tree in the Triangle to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Those who take note of our activities will already be aware that a few years ago we planted two new trees in the Triangle - one on each side. These are doing very nicely and are being cared for by staff from Village Butchers and Village Florists. We have liaised with the council about the Jubilee tree and we hope to make an application for a grant to cover the cost of planting a large tree (almost certainly a Wellingtonia) in the centre.

At the stand, we sounded out people's views on this idea. We received overwhelming enthusiasm for this project and many of the views were substantiated by people filling out forms with their views. This should help support the application for the funding. In addition, many, many people told us that they would also like to see lights on the tree over the Christmas period.

We will now have to see what we can do to make this possible. And if we can - won't it be nice.

The Quiz

We also had a quiz. This year it was "A pub crawl through Tilehurst". We had lots of entries. Many got the answers right (unaccountably some people didn't - and it was a really easy quiz!) so we had to resort to the tie breaker to select the winners. We hope you had some fun doing the quiz even if you didn't win.

Rescue 2011

Over the last few years the Tilehurst Globe Group has organised an annual Tilehurst Rescue event. A concentrated effort involving group members, volunteers and local businesses is directed towards cleaning up one or more local eyesores over a single Rescue weekend.

In 2011 the event took place on March 12th and 13th.

Each Rescue weekend is preceded by a poster campaign during which local businesses are asked to display posters in their windows, and also asked to sponsor the activities by providing prizes for the volunteers.

Many thanks to all the people who came and helped us tidy Tilehurst! And a big thank you also to the many sponsors who supported us for the 2011 event.

The weather was good and an excellent number of people came out to help tidy up. We will produce a report about the event in time, but briefly we cleared the central Tilehurst area on Saturday morning, Blundells Copse on Saturday afternoon (many thanks to all the children from Teviot Road who came and helped). On Sunday morning we were in McIlroys and Sunday afternoon we cleared Gypsy Lane.

In short, we thought there was less litter and dumping that in previous years, but we still managed to clear 75 big bags of litter and more in the way of heavy litter and dumped electrical items.

This year Reading Council did not provide us with skips and the dustcarts worked for shorter hours in an effort to cut down on the expense of the Rescue event, which is laudible, and despite our fears about how it would work, on the whole we managed ok.

See the pictures

If anyone is interested in organizing small local clearup events thoughout the year, please get in touch with us - we have just got a grant to help us get the scheme up and running.


Planting snowdrops and aconites in front of the Library 2011

We had a real drama!

Tilehurst Globe has been planting bulbs in and around Tilehurst for some years now. The Triangle, for example, is now looking radiant with snowdrops that were planted last year by volunteers and helped by the Tilehurst Brownies and Guides.

This year we had planned to plant snowdrops and aconites outside Tilehurst Library. All the arrangements seemed to be going well….

Tilehurst Globe does not usually go in for dramatics but their plans seemed to be falling into total disarray on the day before the event. We were promised lots of help by volunteers, but the bulbs had not arrived.

Orchard Nurseries, in Wisbech, were contacted late in the day before the planting was to be done. Mike at the nursery couldn't understand why they hadn't arrived. He contacted Fedex the courier and they remembered collecting the bulbs from Orchard Nurseries, but - disaster – they didn't know what they had done with them! They seemed to have couriered them into a black hole.

Mike, of Orchard Nurseries, was distraught. He managed to persuade his staff to work late and dig up some more, and as we all know aconites are a bit tricky, so that was all amazing in itself. Fedex were now not trusted to get the bulbs to us in time for the planting session. So Mike put his children to bed and read them a story, then jumped in his car – with the bulbs – and drove from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire all the way to Tilehurst to make sure that our planting program was successful.

This is such a heart warming story. Mike deserves special praise for such a generous gesture.

Let's hope that when local people walk past the library in years to come they remember the heroic action taken by Mike and his staff at Orchard Nurseries to help us and all the volunteers brighten our community.

And here we are all planting them.

Very many thanks to everyone who helped, especially Mike and his staff and the Tilehurst Guides and Brownies.

Planting daffodils at Corwen Road 2010

We had bags and bags of daffodils to plant at the corner of Corwen Road and School Road. And along came the volunteers to get the job done. We were particularly pleased to be joined by the local Guides and Brownies who set to and helped enormously.

We are all looking forward to the spring to see how we did.

But very many thanks to everyone who helped.

Our Stall at the Traca Fete 2010

Downpours and a bit of sunshine... but never mind. We had a good, interesting stall at the recreation ground and lots of people interested in the quiz. It was simple enough - all you had to do was say what the building in the photos were and when they were built. We even gave you the dates to pick from!

So here are the actual results that you have all been waiting for!

A       The Plough       1861
B       Tilehurst Station       1882
C       Kentwood House/Farm       1723
D       Water Tower 1       1902
E       Water Tower 2       1932
F       St Michaels Church Tower       1737
G       Park Lane School       1890
H       Roebuck Bridge       1897
I         Lyon Square       1962
J       Blenheim Cottage, 26 Armour Hill       1650

Walk round Tilehurst

An unbelievably sunny evening greeted us (after days of rain) for a walk round Tilehurst. The walk was organized by Ray Clayton; Ray has produced a wonderful map of the footpaths in and around Tilehurst and Purley and he led us on a circular walk around some of these. On the way he explained how the map came about and told us about special places on the route. The main purpose behind the map is to encourage people to walk and to demonstrate that many local journeys can be made on foot and it is often quicker to walk than to go by car.

Thank you Ray for leading an inspiring walk.

Look out for copies of the map in the library.

Our Stall at the Hospital Fete 2010

We had our usual stall at the fete in Victoria Rec. It was a lovely day even though it got a bit heavy by the end of the afteroon! After the successful planting program that we ran last year we again wanted to know where people would like more snowdrops and daffodils to be planted.

We were lucky to have on the stand Mr James Freeman, Head of Reading Buses, who was there to explain the proposed bus routes that will serve the new Station in Reading.

Planting more Spring bulbs at the Triangle 2010

Last year volunteers (see below) came to the Triangle to plant snowdrops in the grass verges at the Triangle. This year the snowdrops look lovely.

Also, thoughout the winter, volunteers have been planting bulbs in and around Tilehurst (also see below) and now some of these are beginning to brighten our village.

On February 27th more bulbs were planted at the Triangle along with crocus, daffoldils, aconites and more snowdrops. Loads of volunteers turned up on a decidedly damp Saturday to plant two big clumps of bulbs under the newly planted trees. Many of the volunteers were brownies and guides; thank you very much all of you for giving your time to this activity. A job well done.

The sun did eventually come out, barely enough to warm us. but many passers by and local shoppers did stay long enough to express their delight at the way the Tilehurst Globe group were improving these local verges.

Planting bulbs in Tilehurst 2009

As well as the planting program in the Triangle we have also planted spring bulbs in verges around Tilehurst.

Very many thanks to the volunteers who helped with the planning and planting. The weather was not always as kind as we would have liked. However, we are all looking forward to the difference it will make to Tilehurst. And don't forget - if you have any ideas about how you think Tilehurst could be made brighter,do let us know.

Our Stall at the Traca Fete

We had a stall at the Traca fete in Victoria Rec held on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend.

We ran another Quiz - this time we showed pictures of Urban Trees in and around central Tilehurst. People had to say what they were - that's all. It seemed to be thought provoking.

The winners of the quiz were:
First :Richard Connisbrough
Second : Ray Clayton

Prizes were boxes of chocolates (Celebrations and Roses), kindly donated by School Road Co-op - for which many thanks indeed.

Our Stall at the Hospital Fete 2009

We had our usual stall at the fete in Victoria Rec. We wanted to know about where people would like more snowdrops and daffodils to be planted (see also next item). As usual many people showed interest in our activities.

We ran the Tilehurst Globe Quiz - which is becoming a bit of an annual do. This year the subject of the quiz was "What do you know about Tilehurst". There were 10 questions to be answered.

Village Butchers and Tilehurst Co-op gave splendid prizes for the winner (Phil Allen) and runner up (Margaret Davies).

Many of you asked for the correct answers to be put on the web site - so here they are - and don't forget that the judges decision was final! (and if you want to know what the questions were you will have to ask!)

  1. No 17 bus
  2. Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association
  3. St Michael's Church
  4. Prince of Wales Pub
  5. The Triangle
  6. Comparts Plantation
  7. The Water Tower
  8. Queen Victoria's Diamond Wedding Anniversary
  9. Mr McIlroy
  10. Mr Blagrave

Planting Snowdrops in the Triangle 2009

We have a planting program for the Triangle. The first stage of the programme took place on the 14th February when volunteers, including a pack of guides, planted dozens of snowdrops and daffodils in the Triangle at the centre of Tilehurst Village. The weather was kind and the planting effort was much appreciated by passersby and local traders.

If you have any ideas about what you would like to see in the Triangle why not send use you views. Maybe they can be included in the next planting session later in the year.

Hedging Event in Blundells Copse 27th February 2009

This event was arranged quickly following discussions between a member ( William Macphee) and RBC officer ( Dave Booth)- advertising was largely electronic. A group of 8 people cleared weeds and planted hedging plants so strengthening the Calder Close hedge. People worked 9.30-12 noon so that all the plans were met. It was a beautiful day and great fun. A further event to do some maintenance /laying is proposed for the autumn.

Corwen Road Gardens project

This is going really well. The residents are delighted. Volunteers are now urgently needed to a) donate surplus plants – please pot up or pack for rapid transplanting, label as well as you can (eg name or height/colour shade loving/ground cover) but don’t worry if you can’t, b) do some weeding and planting at your own convenience re time etc. We have soil improver, compost bins, you will need to bring some tools (but loans can be arranged). At the moment we do not have secure on-site storage for a wheelbarrow, but are working on this. In the mean time a bucket might come in handy. You can do as much or as little as you want.

If you want to know more about the projects we are involved in contact us.

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