Things you didn’t know about Reading

Reading is a town in Berkshire and is actually the largest town in the UK not to be called a city. It has an Abbey but no Cathedral. In Elizabethan times, Reading was known for it’s ‘wealth and beauty’, so let’s have a look at some interesting facts that you probably didn’t know about this big town:

• Reading was home to the first ever Little Chef restaurant in 1958.
• During the Second World War, many children from London were evacuated to safety in Reading as they did not believe it would be bombed. Unfortunately it was the victim of an air raid in 1941.
• The first female professor in the UK was appointed as Professor of English at the University of Reading in 1908.
• It is said that Gandhi once stopped off in Reading to enjoy tea and cake.
• Well known for it’s excellent shopping, Reading in fact has the shortest high street in the UK.
• Reading Football Club is known as the unluckiest club. They are the only team ever to finish second in the first tier of English football and not be promoted. The 1994/95 season was when the Premier League decided to reduce it’s size and for this one time only the first place team went up.
• It is said that the junction of Pell Street, Elgar Road, Berkeley Avenue and Katesgrove Lane is the only place in the UK where a street, road, avenue and lane all meet in one place.

Image credit

Reading is ranked in the top 25 European cities for having a highly skilled population and is a very competitive place for a new business start-up. Employment rates are also very good and it’s high rank is fantastic when it is being compared to cities that are much bigger. Out of the 5 European cities it has been compared with, it has the fourth smallest population. If you are a business in Reading wanting to attract more customers then you might be interested in web designers in Reading. For more information, visit http://www.starwebbinnovations.co.uk/

Image credit

In fact, Reading was named the best place to live and week in 2015 in the Good Growth for Cities Index. The Barclays UK Prosperity Map 2015 also shows Reading as the second most prosperous city in the UK with measurements being taken in economic success, wellbeing, health, income and skills.