Last week we gave you a list of 21 signs when you know you’re definitely from Reading, suggested by readers of the Reading Chronicle.
From your feet sticking to the floor of RG1 nightclub to the baffled looks you get when you use the word cheeselog out of town, you helped remind us of what makes Reading Reading (including how you read the first syllable in your head).
But 21 was not enough. There are another 11 signs you’re from this wonderful town that only the born and bred would understand.
This is the pro-level checklist for Reading residents.
1. You describe pubs with one word, Monks (Retreat), Nag’s (Head), (Purple) Turtle and know instinctively where they are
2. You know what the ‘Three Bs’ are: Beer, Bulbs and Biscuits. This refers to three companies which were set up in the town in the late 18th Century and continued until the late 20th Century: H & G Simonds, Huntley & Palmers and Sutton and Sons
3. Talking of Huntley & Palmers, you know Reading FC as The Biscuitmen due to the companies presence in Reading, before their nickname was dropped in favour of Royals in the 1980s
4. You listened to the Read & Wright show on Radio 210. The show, hosted by Mike Read and Steve Right, could initially only be heard in Reading from a transmitter on top of the Butts shopping centre
5. If you listened to 210FM, you’ll know that ‘for beds in Reading, the place to be heading is Reading Bedding’ because the jingle is still ringing in your ears. There are better beds at better prices, after all
6. You clubbed at ‘Washing Your Tights’ (that’s Washington Heights to the rest of you)
7. Or maybe it was After Dark, which is set to reopen in 2023
8. Your heart sinks when you know you’ve got to use the Inner Distribution Road (and god forbid it’s match day)
9. You miss the DJ spinning vinyls at Top Rank disco. The club turned into a bingo hall before the building was demolished in 2015
10. Your toys were taken to Dolls’ Hospital in Bridge Street or bought from there. Once a listed building dedicated to repairing teddy bears and dolls, the ‘hospital’ was rebuilt in the 80s and even went on to lose its Grade II listed status
11. You know the iconic 1970s Hexagon Theatre
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