The Students Are Back- Horrah?

Reading's University students are back and they have introduced themselves to East Reading residents with a BANG.

Last night's peace was rent asunder by the sound of the loudest party I have heard for a long time. As is traditional in this part of the University area, the culprits were in "Party Row" in Crescent Road. Local residents, including my wife, were woken up by the din, and I am sure that local parents whose children are not sleeping well appreciated the noise.

I was less disturbed as I had been out in town, however I came home at around 2am to the sound of the word fuck being shouted across the music emanating  from the house concerned. Its obviously a house full of very poor students judging by the numbers of cars parked outside it this morning.

So what can residents and students do about the occasions when student houses disturb the night and rob residents of sleep?

 I happen to know that some residents called the Police, last night however I understand that they are loathe to intervene and may or may not  have attended the house yesterday to ask the students to turn the music down.

In most cases the most powerful weapon is to call the University's Community Relations Manager,  Ann Westgarth  0118 378 4479 or email her on ann.westgarth@reading.ac.uk and advise her of what has happened. The University has, in the past, taken such issues very seriously and has some pretty draconian powers to "encourage" wayward students to be good neighbours and not to bring the University in to disrepute.

Breaking My Balls!

 As a cyclist I am very sensitive to pot holes and cracks in the road.

In Crescent Road, East Reading round the corner from one of our local Ward Councillors there is a huge constellation of pot holes which cause enormous runctions when I cycle along the road.

The pot holes are so deep that my testicles are violently crushed every time my bike lurches in to them. Its not as if they, the pot holes not my testicles, are avoidable, they lie across the centre of the carriageway and give cyclists nowhere to go while avoiding parked cars and nutter drivers who refuse to give way.


It is probable that my local Councillors are happy to see my bollocks  broken, however I wonder why these inch deep craters have not been properly dealt with. As you can see from the pictures there has been an attempt to patch them however the fix is lamentable and  they remain a lethal trap for any under confident  cyclist.


I have reported the pot holes to the Council and hopefully they will be sorted shortly, but I wonder why they have been left in such a sorry state. Its not as if they aren't obvious surely they must be a priority, if not on testicular health grounds on road safety grounds. I hope for the sake of my bruised undercarriage they are sorted soon and will be monitoring the state of the road closely.

Does this look right to you?

A very shaky picture I know, but does this look right to you?

The picture shows a parent driving his children to a private school on Christchurch Road, I think the Abbey juding by the green uniforms of the girls in the back. He is taking an illegal left hand turn in to Crescent Road. Unfortunately he has miss judged the turn and is stuck on the bollards. He had to reverse backwards a couple of times to get by. This time he didn't decide to drive through the bollards or try and knock over a child in the process, but he was lucky I have seen a lot of near misses when drivers do this and on one occassion I saw a Taxi drive through the bollards. I see drivers do this at least once a day. It is incredible when you see it.


This cannot continue I have spoken to the local Police Inspector and have asked that the Police take action to stop this. One day someone will get hurt. I will keep pressing the Police to take action and I hope that this photo and others that I have taken an given them will be acted on soon.

Snow, Snow, Snow

No post yesterday, as I spent the day being distracted by the snow.  The picture shows the snow first thing infront of my house.

First hour or so was spent digging cars out of the snow with residents from Crescent Rd and then knocking on the door of older residents to see if they are ok. Had an impromptu discussion with some of my neighbours about cleaning the pavements.

What has impressed me is how people seem to be talking to each other. I have a big Russian fur hat which I have been wearing in the cold and lots of passers by have been stopping to talk to me about it. I have also been cycling about the streets as it is quicker to get about than by foot and this has caused a few conversations. I was pleased to be able to get up the slope by Newtown School to 2 wheels. Will have to take a break from cycling as I have broken the bike....

The members of the Neighbourhood Watch received the following message from the Police which I share here for you.

Message from TVP


This is a Message from Reading LPA Commander A/Supt Jim Weems please could we encourage you to look out for any of your neighbours who may be elderly or vulnerable, particularly so during these adverse weather conditions. Some people who are elderly or infirm are unable to leave their properties when snow and ice are on the ground and may need help to purchase essentials. We would ask if you could look out for anyone in your Neighbourhood Watch Scheme who may need some help during this time and as a community consider whether you need to call in extra help. Thank you for your help.

Motorists are being urged to be responsible and only travel if it is absolutely essential to do so.

A lot of schools are closed tomorrow Friday, including Alfred Sutton, I attach a link to Heartfmwho have a full list of closures.

Link to HeartFM Website