Churches work together

We have now completed cataloguing of the records of an important ecumenical body in Reading, 1943-2007 (D/EX1150). Reading Christian Council was formed in 1943 at a meeting chaired by W E McIlroy, Mayor of Reading, following a series of informal meetings between leaders of the Christian denominations in the town. Its purpose was to increase mutual understanding and friendliness, 'to awaken and inform the public conscience as to the relevance of the Christian religion to common life' and it organised events including a Christianity in Action Week and Christian Arts Festival. The Council entered a period of abeyance in 1953 due partly to difficulty finding a member of the Roman Catholic clergy to represent the Catholic Church in Reading, and it was formally disbanded in 1956.

However, this was not the end of ecumenical co-operation in the town, and The Reading and District Council of Churches was formed in 1965 by 50 local churches. The Catholic representative was an observer this time. The Council was involved in various areas of community work including providing industrial chaplaincies in workplaces (via their Industry, Trade and Employment Mission, aka ITEM), youth work, housing and the homeless, combatting racism, etc, and the records are particularly rich for social change and issues in the 1970s-80s. In c.1990 it established the Churches in Reading Drop-in Centre (CIRDIC) for the homeless. In 1991 the Council was renamed Churches Together in Reading. It was disbanded in c.1999, and replaced by smaller local groupings, including Churches Together in Central Reading, which inherited most of the responsibilities of the parent body.

Helping the unemployed

We have completed cataloguing the records of Reading Centre for the Unemployed, 1982-1988 (D/EX1307). This was a co-operative venture by Reading Trades Union Council, Berkshire County Council, Reading Borough Council and various voluntary organisations in the borough, and provided counselling, advice, support and educational assistance to the unemployed at a period when there was high unemployment and much public concern. Controversy arose over The Scrounger: Reading's paper for the Unwaged, the first and only issue of which was produced at the Centre in May 1983. This contained articles recommending sending food purchases back to manufacturers 'with a stone/safety-pin in it, and get a whole box of stuff back!', suggesting the Centre should run a course on shoplifting, and encouraging squatting and using university facilities free of charge. The funding bodies were not amused and shut it down.

Union concerns: the poor quality of the tea break

We have catalogued records of several printing trade unions, 1918-1979 (D/EX1975): the Maidenhead, Reading, and Windsor & Slough branches of the Typographical Association (later the National Graphical Association); the ‘chapels’ or branches for workers at the Oxley Press in Windsor and the Kenion Press, Slough; and the Reading branch of the Printing and Kindred Trades Federation. At one meeting in 1920, members of the Windsor TA complained that 'The town of Windsor is practically solely residential, with consequent high prices for commodities, high rents and rates, and the exceptional dearth of houses for working classes have brought about prices for rooms, &c, quite up to London rates' but despite that their wages were lower than those of unskilled labourers. In 1948 there was a complaint at the Oxley Press about 'the poor quality of the tea supplied at the morning break', which was considered to be 'a waste of good rations', due to the tea being boiled too long. A very important matter, obviously. There are also references to the General Strike of 1926 and disputes with other unions.

Box printers go on strike

Unions are also represented by the minutes of the Reading branch of The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen (ASLEF), 1918-1965 (D/EX2998). We have also catalogued records of Huntley, Boorne and Stevens, tin box makers of Reading, 1875-1982 (D/EX3037). They include records relating to a trade union dispute in 1911 over the 48 Hour Movement, a campaign to fix the maximum work week at 48 hours for workers, whereas the employers refused to go below a 52 hour week. Several workers withdrew their protest resignations after their employers called their bluff by accepting them. The firm is best known for its work on Huntley & Palmers’ famed biscuit boxes.

Milk and biscuits at school
Records of Curridge Primary School, 1930-2016, include records of milk supplied for the children, 1965 (SCH50). We have catalogued papers relating to the private White House School, Wokingham, 1993-2012 (D/EX2315), mainly relating to the unsuccessful campaign to save it from closure. We have also received printed term books and a photograph album for Wantage School, 1947-1950 (D/EX3010).

A sweet delight

A recently purchased recipe book compiled in Warfield from the 1730s to 1750s, with connections to the Hunter family of Beech Hill, contains numerous recipes and we were very excited to find that it contains, what we believe to be, the earliest known recipe for a delicious dessert known as jaune mange(r) (D/EZ224). You can discover more about the recipe book in a separate blog. later we plan to share our 'attempt' to follow the janue manger recipe too so keep an eye out for that.

You can find out more about these records by searching our online catalogue. Simply enter the collection references given above in the Catalogue Reference field.