Self-guided audio tour exploring Reading's industrial history, starting at Reading Railway Station and following the Heritage Open Days theme 'Everyday Histories'.
Reading Audio Tour: Biscuit Town is a self-guided walk that starts at Reading Railway Station, and it's available to book on the day. It's part of Heritage Open Days, and this year's theme is 'Everyday Histories', which is a good way to frame what it's actually about: the everyday labour that made Reading the industrial capital of Berkshire.
The tour follows the people whose names rarely made it into the history books. You'll hear about the biscuit tin painters at the great factory on King's Road, the brewery draymen on Bridge Street, and the night-shift seed-packet sorters at the Market Place. It also takes you back to the abbey corn millers, the gaol turnkeys, the canal lock-keepers, and the railway navvies who built the lines we still use.
Along the way, it brings to life the world's largest biscuit factory and the Bridge Street brewery, and tells the story of a navvy named Henry West, who was killed by a gust of wind on a station roof six days before the trains first ran. It also marks the spot where the last abbot of Reading Abbey was hanged at his own gatehouse for high treason.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Reading and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
It's a self-guided walk, so you set your own pace. It runs for about two hours and covers 5.5km of public streets and pavements, starting and ending at Reading railway station, Station Rd, Reading, RG1 1LZ. Prices start from £3.99.
