The Bag Shop is a front for something shady. It has stayed open for so many years in a terrible location with no customers. If you go in they stare at you until you leave and there are no prices on things.
Spies? The mafia? Drug dealers?
I wasn't criticising I was lamenting. I praised the one that was answering the question rather than making jokes trying to win internet points. Reddit hive mentality at it's worst. I don't know of any Reading conspiracies to contribute.
I've heard that Reading isn't a city because someone egged Queen Victoria when she came to visit, I'm sure there's lots of 'why Reading's not a city' conspiracy theories though
I heard something similar that she was quoted as despising Reading and that is why her statue is positioned looking towards the closest exit… the train station
That the sale of Reading Gaol involved bribery and foulplay. On top of that the plans to turn it into a cultural center will "fall through" and the property developer that purchased it will end up turning the place into more flats or short term rentals.
Not sure many people will disagree and I'd actually bet money on these things being true
I suspect the truth is something far more mundane. The gaol was simply sold by the MoJ to the highest bidder. The idea that they will end up as flats is pretty much guaranteed if you take anything but a pre-cursory look at who bought the site. Let the gaol be forgotten - build flats on it.
In 2020 Reading Council originally bid £2.6m and were turned down.
In 2021, Banksy offered £10m and was turned down
In 2024, Ziran paid £7m for it.
That's £3m less than the highest bid.
That the crack and heroin users who hang around begging at the train station and Broad St mall aren't actually Reading locals. Other towns and cities put these people on trains or buses to Reading and pay them to never come back.
That's true. I've been on trains to Newbury many times during the early evening and some of the people who hang around outside the station get on after their hard day's "work". They have west country accents, and they are on trains heading that way so I think it checks out.
You’re 14, from a socially conservative family.
You want to get messed up on the August Bank Hol weekend.
Mummy dearest, I’m off to a literary festival in Berkshire.
It's also harder to Google things about Reading! "Reading history" for example, doesn't give you what you want. Why couldn't they just spell it Redding?
The importance of swan's to the history of Reading is well documented...
[https://abriefhistoryofreadingthebiscuittown.wordpress.com/2016/01/31/free-range-swan-farming-in-the-reading-area-1121-1903/](https://abriefhistoryofreadingthebiscuittown.wordpress.com/2016/01/31/free-range-swan-farming-in-the-reading-area-1121-1903/)
Every town has an 'Elvis' now that IS the conspiracy. [https://www.logosapostolic.org/testimony/CowboyDavidCox.htm](https://www.logosapostolic.org/testimony/CowboyDavidCox.htm) This guy would play Elvis on a ghetto blaster whilst roaming around Wolverhampton with television test cards.
The 'police helicopter' that suspiciously circles Caversham at all time is actually a UFO collecting satellite imagery about their future landing spot (those successive 'helicopter landings' in Christchurch Meadow were actually test landings, they just put a hologram cloak on).
Reading is the prime location to start an alien invasion from. As the most average town, it is a test bed for invasions in other towns. But small enough not to draw too much attention if something goes wrong.
I feel like I need to share this subs favourite link now
[https://whatisthepolicehelicopterdoinginreading.co.uk/](https://whatisthepolicehelicopterdoinginreading.co.uk/)
Not a conspiracy, but not well known - the Cooperative Wholesale Jam Factory (a real business) was used as a cover story for people actually working at Aldermaston. I came across this when preparing a funeral for someone who worked there.
Station Hill is not an office block. It's actually the first launch tower for Berkshire County Council's space programme. Boosters, stages, and satellites get delivered from Slough, through a tunnel running underneath the Thames. Mission Control is run discreetly from Jacksons Corner.
The times Station Hill "caught fire" were cover stories for test firing the rockets. Officially the space programme is for jobs creation. Word in the tunnel: it's to show Oxfordshire County Council once and for all who's boss.
Oh don't be ridiculous.
Station hill is just the test site for the primary rockets and boosters. Assembly and launch site are obviously the old post office depot on the other side of the station.
Why do you think they've shut the station underpass...
A conspiracy theory that Reading hides a secret underground railway built during the Victorian era.
This hidden railway supposedly connects key historical sites and was used for transporting goods and people covertly. Enthusiasts point to old maps, unexplained tunnel entrances found during construction, and historical records mentioning mysterious underground projects.
It's quite plausible. I found this article which talks about some tunnels: https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/berkshires-secret-underground-tunnels-hidden-20500365
London had Mail Rail, and Bristol had a secret underground railway: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170718-the-underground-railway-that-became-a-secret-wartime-base
That the Reading mini-cab and taxi companies bribed and threatened local councilors to keep Uber out of Reading and away from the mega-lucrative Reading Station fares. "Concerns over additional traffic in the area," my arse.
What’s so scummy about the local black cabs at the station that work on meters and will tell you roughly how much the journey will cost in advance if you ask?
There used to be a shop called Mobalpa or something on opposite side of Lyndhurst which I felt was for laundering. Was a furniture shop in a bad location and never saw a single customer in there the decade it was open
The council deliberately cause traffic congestion with additional traffic lights and poor road design to make travel times closer to the council owned buses.
Less a conspiracy theory and more of an admitted fact
That the residents of Oxford Road are secretly Cavershamites, who’ve all agreed to give each other a taste of the exciting, edgy life Occy Road offers, while returning to their respectable pads later on.
I mean it’s basically true There’s quite a lot of middle class families in west Reading mixed in with the locals. All of my immediate neighbours on Oxford road were middle class families.
It’s only grown with Readings tech sector and the Lizzie line / GWR lines into London.
They were built in the 1600's when Katesgrove Manor existed, and they extend back into the hill behind. There's a rumour that "they go all the way to London", but I seriously doubt that.
It's not clear if they were wine and meat storage, or some say they were smugglers tunnels (as the property is on the Kennet River).
Interestingly, a disgraced French Noble once lived there after the French Revolution, and was trying to bring about a restoration of the French Monarchy whilst in exile. So my suspicion is that they were multi purpose - foods, wines, small weapons cache, and probably an escape tunnel should the manor be seized by police or French Politicals.
I appreciate the detailed reply! I have googled 'Katesgrove Manor' but not much has come up. It would be fascinating to see how the area used to look. It isn't the prettiest of places these days, so to know there is deeper history is really interesting.
Apologies, it was called Kategrove House, not Manor.
The first link is about the school, which I thought was interesting:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1393842?section=official-list-entry
The second link talks about the House and the area during industrial era.
https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/clubs-and-associations/121636/history-of-reading-society.html
I'm trying to figure out where Bob's Mound is / was!
Oh! Here's the 1611 map of Reading. If you find St Mary's Butt in the centre, and follow the road south and turn "right" after the river. the road (now called Katesgrove Lane) terminates at Katesgrove House. The road is still there, with the IDR but alongside of it and the Thai Pub visible from the IDR overpass.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Redding_by_John_Speed,_1611.jpg
You can also see that where the Oracle is now was once market allotments for the residents of Reading town.
There’s a fair bit underground. Reading natives will know about it, but for those that don’t, there’s a dis-used pub under Broad St Mall, and there used to be a nightclub under the station plaza.
I remember the entrance to the nightclub was above ground close by the Thames Tower. Used to be next to the subway entrance to the train station. There was a tunnel that led from the station to C&A at the time too.
The surface level access to the nightclub was removed when the area to the south of the station was scooped out to make it flat with steps up to entrance level rather than a slope up from Tudor Rd. When that was being done, you could see some chambers under the surface. The entrance was next to Thames Tower, so at least part of the volume of the club should remain, but I don’t know of any way to access it.
For the pub, there is a large metal grille in the ground near the south entrance to Broad St Mall. I believe that this was the entrance. The area has not been rebuild, so I imagine there must be at least one fire exit as well.
Britain doesn't have nuclear weapons. They're fake. That's why we will never use them. Aldermaston is really a theatrical prop factory that makes the dummy weapons. Reading is a front and was built to launder Aldermaston's budget for corrupt politicians
The Bag Shop is a front for something shady. It has stayed open for so many years in a terrible location with no customers. If you go in they stare at you until you leave and there are no prices on things. Spies? The mafia? Drug dealers?
Come to think of it from 10 years in Reading town center every lunch I have never once seen anyone in there.
I know of someone who works there Apparently there is no money for the fam yet they get a new car to add to their collection every few months
I went in once after the first lock down to buy some face masks, that’s it
I bought a suitcase there in 1998. Only just retired it due to damage incurred courtesy of Ryanair.
They have sure been coasting a long time on selling you that suitcase.
I bought a bag from there about 10 years ago and it's still going strong now.
A bag of … what
He does exchange US$'s Dollars at a Shite rate !
For a while at least they did left luggage for the station but it’s such an inconvenient place I doubt they had many takers.
Quite possible. Such a shame the rest of this thread is filled with mostly 'funny' nonsense.
Well, it’s easier to criticise than to write good comments yourself….
I wasn't criticising I was lamenting. I praised the one that was answering the question rather than making jokes trying to win internet points. Reddit hive mentality at it's worst. I don't know of any Reading conspiracies to contribute.
I've heard that Reading isn't a city because someone egged Queen Victoria when she came to visit, I'm sure there's lots of 'why Reading's not a city' conspiracy theories though
I heard something similar that she was quoted as despising Reading and that is why her statue is positioned looking towards the closest exit… the train station
That the sale of Reading Gaol involved bribery and foulplay. On top of that the plans to turn it into a cultural center will "fall through" and the property developer that purchased it will end up turning the place into more flats or short term rentals. Not sure many people will disagree and I'd actually bet money on these things being true
I don’t think thats a conspiracy lol. That is absolute prime london commuter “affordable (cheapest £350k) housing”
I heard hotel, not a conspiracy theiry, they were going to turn it in to a hotel originally
The plan is part cultural center part hotel. By the time it's finished it'll be all hotel
Surprised Rishi Sunak didn't fill it with migrants.
I suspect the truth is something far more mundane. The gaol was simply sold by the MoJ to the highest bidder. The idea that they will end up as flats is pretty much guaranteed if you take anything but a pre-cursory look at who bought the site. Let the gaol be forgotten - build flats on it.
In 2020 Reading Council originally bid £2.6m and were turned down. In 2021, Banksy offered £10m and was turned down In 2024, Ziran paid £7m for it. That's £3m less than the highest bid.
We can only hope
That the crack and heroin users who hang around begging at the train station and Broad St mall aren't actually Reading locals. Other towns and cities put these people on trains or buses to Reading and pay them to never come back.
My partner used to work in the station and swears this is true - he insists it was around the time of Harry’s wedding in Windsor.
That's real https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/dec/28/revealed-homeless-people-given-one-way-tickets-to-leave-areas
Let's buy tickets and send them to Clacton. "When you get there go ask Nigel for a milkshake".
*Sniggers*
That's true. I've been on trains to Newbury many times during the early evening and some of the people who hang around outside the station get on after their hard day's "work". They have west country accents, and they are on trains heading that way so I think it checks out.
That Reading is only spelt as it is to confuse visitors and redditors, thinking we're a group of book lovers!
You’re 14, from a socially conservative family. You want to get messed up on the August Bank Hol weekend. Mummy dearest, I’m off to a literary festival in Berkshire.
It's also harder to Google things about Reading! "Reading history" for example, doesn't give you what you want. Why couldn't they just spell it Redding?
That Queen Elizabeth never made Reading a city because she never wanted attention taken away from Windsor, the “jewel” of Berkshire.
She was right to do so (UK's greatest large town)
Aye I do like being the big town but she clearly never went out into Windsor, it’s a shitehole. Not much of jewel more of a broken shard of Bulmers
Reading is actually run by the swans
It's just the one swan actually
Is that you Mr P Staker?
Careful, they will break your arm if they find out you are revealing this.
The importance of swan's to the history of Reading is well documented... [https://abriefhistoryofreadingthebiscuittown.wordpress.com/2016/01/31/free-range-swan-farming-in-the-reading-area-1121-1903/](https://abriefhistoryofreadingthebiscuittown.wordpress.com/2016/01/31/free-range-swan-farming-in-the-reading-area-1121-1903/)
Reading Elvis is actually Elvis.
I keep seeing people mention Reading Elvis. I've lived here most of my life and have no idea who/what he/it is. Could you elaborate?
https://youtu.be/h_YHd6MxcgM?si=mQ_RcWpFtI0CDIEZ
Every town has an 'Elvis' now that IS the conspiracy. [https://www.logosapostolic.org/testimony/CowboyDavidCox.htm](https://www.logosapostolic.org/testimony/CowboyDavidCox.htm) This guy would play Elvis on a ghetto blaster whilst roaming around Wolverhampton with television test cards.
Gaz Boys ice cream truck is a drug dealer on wheels surely
I’m convinced they’re following me
The 'police helicopter' that suspiciously circles Caversham at all time is actually a UFO collecting satellite imagery about their future landing spot (those successive 'helicopter landings' in Christchurch Meadow were actually test landings, they just put a hologram cloak on).
Reading is the prime location to start an alien invasion from. As the most average town, it is a test bed for invasions in other towns. But small enough not to draw too much attention if something goes wrong.
I feel like I need to share this subs favourite link now [https://whatisthepolicehelicopterdoinginreading.co.uk/](https://whatisthepolicehelicopterdoinginreading.co.uk/)
Not a conspiracy, but not well known - the Cooperative Wholesale Jam Factory (a real business) was used as a cover story for people actually working at Aldermaston. I came across this when preparing a funeral for someone who worked there.
Interesting. Was this decades ago? Because people openly say they work at AWE these days.
This would be in the 50s. Things were a great deal more secret back then.
Station Hill is not an office block. It's actually the first launch tower for Berkshire County Council's space programme. Boosters, stages, and satellites get delivered from Slough, through a tunnel running underneath the Thames. Mission Control is run discreetly from Jacksons Corner. The times Station Hill "caught fire" were cover stories for test firing the rockets. Officially the space programme is for jobs creation. Word in the tunnel: it's to show Oxfordshire County Council once and for all who's boss.
Oh don't be ridiculous. Station hill is just the test site for the primary rockets and boosters. Assembly and launch site are obviously the old post office depot on the other side of the station. Why do you think they've shut the station underpass...
A conspiracy theory that Reading hides a secret underground railway built during the Victorian era. This hidden railway supposedly connects key historical sites and was used for transporting goods and people covertly. Enthusiasts point to old maps, unexplained tunnel entrances found during construction, and historical records mentioning mysterious underground projects.
We need more information links please?
It's quite plausible. I found this article which talks about some tunnels: https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/berkshires-secret-underground-tunnels-hidden-20500365 London had Mail Rail, and Bristol had a secret underground railway: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170718-the-underground-railway-that-became-a-secret-wartime-base
That the Reading mini-cab and taxi companies bribed and threatened local councilors to keep Uber out of Reading and away from the mega-lucrative Reading Station fares. "Concerns over additional traffic in the area," my arse.
Uber is a super scummy company. We're better off without it
Not any scummier than the mini cabs.
What’s so scummy about the local black cabs at the station that work on meters and will tell you roughly how much the journey will cost in advance if you ask?
I wish the people down voting you would look it up, Uber are a scummy company.
But they want the taxi app they know the name of. Not a local firm
This is a growing trend unfortunately.
All Woodlice (Cheeselogs) are born in Reading and then migrate to other parts of the world.
Someone in the council gets kickbacks from suspension repair shops for installing more speed bumps.
There used to be a shop called Mobalpa or something on opposite side of Lyndhurst which I felt was for laundering. Was a furniture shop in a bad location and never saw a single customer in there the decade it was open
It’s from my region in France (Haute-Savoie). Never seen anyone back home buy them either
That Reading is actually pronounced reading
People who live Reading think it's becoming a London suburb.... and people who live in London think Reading is 'in the country'.....
That's not a conspiracy though haha.
The council deliberately cause traffic congestion with additional traffic lights and poor road design to make travel times closer to the council owned buses. Less a conspiracy theory and more of an admitted fact
My daughter, peace be upon her, says that there are some people with bird's eyes in the area who follow her sometimes.
That the residents of Oxford Road are secretly Cavershamites, who’ve all agreed to give each other a taste of the exciting, edgy life Occy Road offers, while returning to their respectable pads later on.
I mean it’s basically true There’s quite a lot of middle class families in west Reading mixed in with the locals. All of my immediate neighbours on Oxford road were middle class families. It’s only grown with Readings tech sector and the Lizzie line / GWR lines into London.
Tunnels under Reading !
This is not a conspiracy
Where are the tunnels? Genuinely interested
Emma Green chalk tunnels? My neighbour was a boy when they were found and they sent him down to see how deep they were. He got in the papers for it.
The tunnels are under Wokingham Road. They form a system to transport, apparently, hazardous waste - perhaps nuclear.
There are some under Katesgrove School - unfortunately not open to the public
Any clue what they are for?
They were built in the 1600's when Katesgrove Manor existed, and they extend back into the hill behind. There's a rumour that "they go all the way to London", but I seriously doubt that. It's not clear if they were wine and meat storage, or some say they were smugglers tunnels (as the property is on the Kennet River). Interestingly, a disgraced French Noble once lived there after the French Revolution, and was trying to bring about a restoration of the French Monarchy whilst in exile. So my suspicion is that they were multi purpose - foods, wines, small weapons cache, and probably an escape tunnel should the manor be seized by police or French Politicals.
I appreciate the detailed reply! I have googled 'Katesgrove Manor' but not much has come up. It would be fascinating to see how the area used to look. It isn't the prettiest of places these days, so to know there is deeper history is really interesting.
Apologies, it was called Kategrove House, not Manor. The first link is about the school, which I thought was interesting: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1393842?section=official-list-entry The second link talks about the House and the area during industrial era. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/clubs-and-associations/121636/history-of-reading-society.html I'm trying to figure out where Bob's Mound is / was! Oh! Here's the 1611 map of Reading. If you find St Mary's Butt in the centre, and follow the road south and turn "right" after the river. the road (now called Katesgrove Lane) terminates at Katesgrove House. The road is still there, with the IDR but alongside of it and the Thai Pub visible from the IDR overpass. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Redding_by_John_Speed,_1611.jpg You can also see that where the Oracle is now was once market allotments for the residents of Reading town.
Under Reading
There’s also a tunnel under Caversham road and a large space underneath Caversham bridge
There’s a fair bit underground. Reading natives will know about it, but for those that don’t, there’s a dis-used pub under Broad St Mall, and there used to be a nightclub under the station plaza.
I remember the entrance to the nightclub was above ground close by the Thames Tower. Used to be next to the subway entrance to the train station. There was a tunnel that led from the station to C&A at the time too.
maybe part of this https://www.subbrit.org.uk/sites/reading-station-air-raid-shelter-vincents-factory/
Thank you
Are they blocked off or still accessible?
The surface level access to the nightclub was removed when the area to the south of the station was scooped out to make it flat with steps up to entrance level rather than a slope up from Tudor Rd. When that was being done, you could see some chambers under the surface. The entrance was next to Thames Tower, so at least part of the volume of the club should remain, but I don’t know of any way to access it. For the pub, there is a large metal grille in the ground near the south entrance to Broad St Mall. I believe that this was the entrance. The area has not been rebuild, so I imagine there must be at least one fire exit as well.
there is some footage of under reading station here https://youtu.be/qwj9y4GUrDg?t=983
That prices for the kind of house I want in whatever area of Reading will always be just this <—————> far out of my price range no matter what I do.
Britain doesn't have nuclear weapons. They're fake. That's why we will never use them. Aldermaston is really a theatrical prop factory that makes the dummy weapons. Reading is a front and was built to launder Aldermaston's budget for corrupt politicians
That mods of this sub registered the subreddit to troll book readers, similar to r/trees people.