The author of the berkshirehistory.com website has published a set of two books on the subject of ‘Central Reading Pub Histories 1423-1939’.
Having shared the history of the county online for over 25 years, David Nash Ford has this year published a history of the county town’s drinking holes in two volumes.
Being collaterally descended from both the Reading brewing family of Simonds and the Basingstoke brewing family of May, David has long had an interest in Berkshire brewery and pub history, particularly in Reading where several of his ancestors and ancestral uncles and cousins were also publicans and pub owners.
Specific pub details have been gathered over the past 5 years, including the most comprehensive list of pre-1940 Central Reading publicans, many dating back to the mid-18th century and some of whom held pub licences for only a few weeks. The books explore the development of each pub, examining the architecture, the people and events that have shaped each one.
The volumes explore the Great Coaching Era, the arrival of the Railway, and the beerhouse revolution, looking at the stories of travelling entertainers and healers, swindlers, thieves, accidents, mysteries, love affairs, daring rescues and great entrepreneurs.
Together, the two books cover histories of 282 different pubs with 530 different names,laid out as a pub dictionary, listing pub entries and cross-references alphabetically, and are printed locally in Bracknell.
More information about Central Reading Pub Histories is available via: nashfordpublishing.co.uk/publishing.html
