Coley Talking: Realities of life in old Reading

Through memories, photographs, maps and archives, Coley Talking tells the story of 19th and 20th-century life in one of Reading’s poorest communities. Through the microcosm of Coley, we see the transformative improvements brought about by slum clearance, the NHS, state education, and trade unions.

Nineteenth and early twentieth century Reading prospered from the canal, the railway, brewing and biscuit making, but massive population growth in the middle years of the nineteenth century brought with it many problems.

Coley Talking lifts the lid on a dark aspect of Reading’s, and England’s, history. Memories, photographs, maps and archives, tell the story of how life was lived in one of its poorest communities.

All the symptoms of extreme poverty – workhouses, chronic disease, insanitary back-to-back housing – are revealed in shocking, ‘this is what life was like’ detail. But change was on the way: ragged schools, sanitation, the work of socialist councillors Harry and Lorenzo Quelch, and the early days of the local Labour party, together with a strong and resilient community spirit all played their parts.

Through the microcosm of Coley we are shown the transformations brought about by slum clearance, the NHS, state education and the work of trade unions, and can appreciate the initiatives which make life better today.

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