This week, we take a look back at stories from 2002.
In the month of July, the Chronicle reported the grand old buildings of Friar Street were under threat of being demolished.
The Boar’s Head pub and the art deco ABC Cinema were set to be bulldozed by a developer who claimed the buildings were “culturally and architecturally worthless.
But heritage lovers claimed that behind the scruffy hoardings and boarded up windows lay 500 years of Reading’s history.
The pub had already previously fought off several threats from the wrecking ball and its supporters said at the time they were hopeful it would survive the latest attempt – but sadly it was demolished in 2003.
And the cinema was designed by architect George Gardiner and introduced generations to the magic of film, from its first feature, The Call of the Road, to its final performance of Shakespeare in Love in March 1999.
It too was demolished in 2003. The Ibis hotel now stands in its place.
The same month saw the annual St Barnabas Church garden party in Emmer Green raise £900 for the Amajuba Education Fund in South Africa.
Youngsters also got together at the garden party to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
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