Tilehurst Treacle Mines
In the late 1920s early 1930s Reading was blessed with
an extremely efficient and cheap tramway service run by
a dynamic Scottish engineer, Jimmy Calder. For a copper
or two (that's 2d or 1p not Carrot and Angua) you could
run from Caversham Bridge in the north to Whitpump (Whitley
Pump) in the South; or from the London Road terminus in
the east to Oxford Road in the west. Not far beyond all
these termini lay fields and open country side within
a short walking distance.
To visit the Tilehurst treacle mines you boarded the
Oxford Road tram by the old Post Office in Broad St, just
opposite the new Vaudeville Cinema. Past the great stores
of A H Bull and Wm. McIlroy - both well known local families
of drapers - and away to the west past the barracks of
the Royal Berkshire Regiment with a quick glimse of the
immaculate sentry at the gate. On the green sward behind
stood one or two fascinating pieces of cannon brought
back from goodness knows what forays, and the Dragon flag
of the regiment fluttering proudly from its tall pole.
The tram would finally creak to a halt just beyond the
Pulsometer Engineering works, where the line ended.
To ride on the open tops of these trams was in itself
an exhilarating experience, especially on those long straight
bits of track where the great bounding monsters would
open out with that unforgettable and characteristic whining
crescendo which is music to our ears; and what with the
noise and the rocking and the speed and the wind battering
your face who could fail to be uplifted.
Once off the tram , the houses thinned out and fields
began, with here and there a glimpse through the hedge
of the river with the beech-clad Chilterns away beyond.
After a short distance you turn left on to a broad climbing
road which ran athwart the hillside up to the village
of Tilehurst, but, about half way up this hill came a
great overhead cable-way running high across the road
and supported as far as the eye could see on mighty pylons;
here an endless chain of huge iron ladles moved continually
back and forth, full ones going down the hill and empty
ones going back to the mine (or quarry) which was just
visible on the skyline away to the left. Presumably the
weight of the full ones on the downward journey provided
the power required to keep the whole affair in motion,
a highly economic and utterly satisfactory process.
Where the great ladles crossed over the road there was
suspended a fine wire mesh safety 'net' for the protection
of the people passing below. It was mystifying as to how
this wire mesh, however fine, was adequate to stop the
treacle seeping through. It worked though as in spite
of seeking diligently no trace of treacle was ever found
on the roadway.
It is not known if this treacle was the magic ingredient
to the famous ginger nuts produced by Huntley and Palmers
Biscuits in Reading.
As time passed and Reading expanded, its conurbation
eventually engulfed Tilehurst. The tramway gave way to
the trolley bus and the route was extended, forking to
have two termini in Tilehurst, one at Armour Hill and
the other at The Triangle. One route run up the hill described
above where the treacle still passed overhead.
The treacle mines have now gone and Readings infamous
short-sighted council eventually stopped the cheap and
efficient trolley buses and replaced them with a boring
and expensive and polluting bus service. It is understood
that they have also ripped out the architectural heart
and heritage of this town to replace it with modern monstrosities.
(This is based on an article by A B Blackmore that appeared in The Lady 4/8/77 with family recollections from this period of Tilehurst's history.)
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