Author Archives: wokinghamremembers

The true story of Berkshire's California

Posted on 24/07/2015 by wokinghamremembers

This week’s contributor is Trevor Ottlewski; researcher, author and Chairman of the Wokingham History Group. Trevor has a wide knowledge of local history and specialises in the area’s historic buildings. (This article originally appeared in the Wokingham Paper 24th July … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Dark Forest – Rosa Rose 1869

Posted on 17/07/2015 by wokinghamremembers

This week local historian ROGER LONG tells of the mysterious story of Rosa Rose, accused of murdering her son and a case investigated by Mr Leveson Gower JP to assess if there was a case to answer. The drama unfolded … Continue reading →

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Journey to the centre of the dark Forest

Posted on 10/07/2015 by wokinghamremembers

In last week’s article we discovered the origins of the Royal Windsor Forest and its influence on the early communities of Wokingham and its surrounding villages. This week and with the help of local historian PETER SHILHAM we take a … Continue reading →

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1860: Wokingham opens the New Town Hall

Posted on 02/07/2015 by wokinghamremembers

Jim Bell is renowned for the 30 short books he has written on Wokingham. In this article Jim tells the story of how the Wokingham Town Hall was built and a fascinating tale of an old silk weaver from the … Continue reading →

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Incredible website to incredible maps!

Posted on 15/06/2015 by wokinghamremembers

Arborfield historian Steve Bacon, sent a link to an incredible website which overlays old maps onto new ones ! The link zooms in on the Keephatch side of Wokingham; the overlay map is pre Great War. However, you can do … Continue reading →

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1915. Wokingham's heroes from The Great War

Posted on 08/05/2015 by wokinghamremembers

In this article we will take you back one hundred years to early 1915, a time when the first cinema had recently arrived in Wokingham, when the unsealed roads were either rutted in the winter or dustbowls in the summer, … Continue reading →

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1857 Wokingham Elections: Tories and Whigs at war

Posted on 04/05/2015 by wokinghamremembers

This article originally published in 1st May Wokingham Paper 2015.  In this week’s edition of ‘Wokingham Remembers’ we turn our attention to Wokingham’s contribution to the national General Election of 1857. Our story is about two political parties vying for … Continue reading →

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The double life of Arthur Hill, 6th Marquess of Downshire

Posted on 27/04/2015 by wokinghamremembers

By Jim Bell. This article first appeared in ‘The Wokingham Paper’, 24th April 2015 A young man sits holding the reins of a horse drawn fire engine. He is the chief of Wokingham’s voluntary fire service and also just happens … Continue reading →

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1830 – Wokingham fights back against arson attacks

Posted on 27/04/2015 by wokinghamremembers

By Jim Bell (this article first appeared in the Wokingham Paper 24th April 2015) When I first started to research the local history of Wokingham I had been puzzled as to why a fire engine had been stored in the … Continue reading →

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2015: Waterloo's bi-centenary

Posted on 27/03/2015 by wokinghamremembers

200 years of Wokingham, Wellington and Waterloo 1815 – 2015 This article appears in the first edition of the Wokingham Paper. If you would like to add to it, comment or criticise it (heaven forbid) please go to the comments … Continue reading →

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