The Friends have devised walking trails around the University campuses. These may be available to local groups. Please contact thefriends (usual at sign) reading.ac.uk for further information.
Our Whiteknights Heritage Leaflets are available at: http://thefriends.org.uk/heritage-leaflets/
An informal series of get-togethers 3pm-430pm (normally on a Sunday) to find out how one of the Friends’ grants worked out. Non-members welcome to come along and find out something about the Friends. No need to book unless otherwise stated but to stay in touch please email: thefriends usual at sign reading.ac.uk
If you have a particular grant whose fate you would like to pursue do let us know via thefriends@reading.ac.uk. A list of grants we’ve given since 1927 can be found at: http://thefriends.org.uk/friendsreport/grants-awarded/
Celebrate a century with sparkle, song, and winter cheer.
The University will be hosting an unforgettable evening of music, entertainment, festive food and drink, family fun and a magical winter market.
Details will be available nearer the time.
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Emeritus Professor of Meteorology at the University of Reading, and Chair of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, was co-awarded the Japan Prize in the fields of Resources, Energy, the Environment, and Social Infrastructure. The Prize was awarded at a Ceremony in Tokyo in the presence of the Emperor and Empress of Japan on 16 April 2024. Sir Brian, together with his wife Jackie, will describe the experience.
The Annual General Meeting will be preceded by a visit at 2.30 pm to the Health and Life Sciences building and the Cole Museum. Tea at 4.00 pm will be followed by the association’s Annual General Meeting at 5.00 pm.
Details will be available nearer the day.
The Friends’ Heritage team will be offering tours of Foxhill House on Saturday 12th September at 11 am and 12:30 pm for the Centenary event, and on Sunday 13th September at 11 am and 12:30 pm for the Heritage Open Days.
Details to follow.
A trip to the Great Barn at Harmondsworth, dubbed the “Cathedral of Middlesex” by Sir John Betjeman, followed by a visit to Osterley Park with Osterley House being one of the finest and most complete Robert Adam interiors still in existence.
The Whiteknights Studio Trail will be open from 11am to 6pm on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June this year. Venues will include the University’s Museum of English Rural Life.
The Studio Trail map will be issued in due course or can be obtained in May at studiotrail.co.uk.
A major Centenary event, with research highlights, creativity, live performances, family fun, and community partnerships in action; featuring the renowned RAG Parade.
Details will follow later.
As part of the annual REDA Walks Festival members of the Friends’ Heritage Team and of the University’s Community Engagement Team will be offering tours of Central Whiteknights at 11 am on Saturday 9 May and of London Road on Sunday 10 May.
Details will be made available later.
This is the third and final trip to the Arcadian Thames and will include visits to Syon House and gardens and to Boston Manor.
Talk about One Hundred Years of Shopping in Reading, by Ann Smith, Secretary of the Berkshire Local History Society, on Wednesday 15 April 2026 at 4.00 pm in the Meadow Suite, Whiteknights
The University Boat Club invites The Friends of the University to join them from 2 to 4 pm on Saturday 7 March 2026 to watch the afternoon division of the RU Head of the River, and enjoy tea and cake provided by the student rowers.
This month we are taking a look at the cloisters funded by the Friends in the 1930s from a grant that was roughly equivalent to £47,000 in today’s money. This is to be followed by a visit to the SCR Acacias for a glass of prosecco and the opportunity to see the exhibition: A lifetime of art: Retrospective and sale of the work of Elizabeth Heydeman.
Talk by Tom Whipple, science editor of the Times, on electromagnetic warfare in WW2:
Wednesday 12 November 2025 at 4.00 pm in the Meadow Suite,
Whiteknights.
At 3pm meet archivist Jackie Bishop and Art Collections curator Dr Hannah Lyons at MERL reception. They will take us through to the new Special Collections exhibition James Joyce: Enigmas & Puzzles and the miniature theatre case we funded in 2024. Tea for purchase in the café. Numbers limited so please book by emailing thefriends@reading.ac.uk “I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that is the only way of insuring one’s immortality.”
The Annual General Meeting will be preceded by a visit at 3.00 pm to the School of Art in its new home next to Pepper Lane. Tea at 4.00 pm will be followed by the association’s Annual General Meeting at 5.00 pm. Details and booking form have been circulated to members.
Meet at Park House at 3pm for a saunter to the Wilderness. We’ll be investigating a grant we gave in 2021 and why it didn’t fully work out. Tea (please bring £1 per cup) upstairs in SCR afterwards.
Our Heritage Events Team has arranged with the University that we will again take part in the National Trust’s Heritage Open Days. There will be tours of the Great Hall and of Foxhill House. Booking essential. Stop Press: As of late August all tours are full.
Details have been sent to members. Booking was essential.
Visit to Kelmscott Manor and Society of Antiquaries, Wednesday 16 July
2025A coach trip to Kelmscott Manor, on the river Thames at Lechlade in Gloucestershire, which was the retreat of William Morris and is now owned by the Society of Antiquaries. It contains an outstanding collection of his possessions and works of Morris, as well as of his family and associates. This includes furniture, original textiles, pictures and paintings, carpets, ceramics and metalwork. The estate also boasts a beautiful garden with easy access to the Thames Pathway, as well as a licensed tearoom and shop. Booking details will be sent ...
We’ll be looking at (and using!) the garden furniture requested by the SCR a couple of years ago. Bring a picnic. Lots of inside space if it rains. No need to book this time.
The Whiteknights Studio Trail, co-founded 25 years ago by our fellow member Jenny Halstead, will be open from 11am to 6pm on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June in June this year. Venues will include the University’s Museum of English Rural Life.
The Studio Trail map will be issued in due course or can be obtained in May
at studiotrail.co.uk
In 1969 we gave a grant to Dr Margaret Fuller, warden of Bridges Hall, to help restore the walled garden. After a couple of transmogrifications, the garden is now run by RUSU with the help of University staff. Come along at 3pm to visit this intriguing space – bring picnic tea. Entrance off Whiteknights Rd, Bridges Hall. Parking just to the right of the entrance. Gate to the walled garden – go around the wall anti-clockwise from the carpark. No need to book but you may like to let thefriends@reading.ac.uk know you intend to be there so we can update ...
This Festival, hosted by the University and the Students’ Union, will take place between 12noon to 17.00. The Festival is designed to give the people of Reading a free, local day out and to bring some vibrancy to the heart of Whiteknights Campus. The day will be action-packed with live performances, workshops, competitions and much more. The Friends of the University will provide a stall at the event. No booking required. More info.
Meet Dr Glyn Barrett, Lecturer in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, to whom we gave a grant for the replanting of the ‘historic’ area by the wall next to Park House. This is used to grow herbs while the other side (another’s project) has been seeded with a medley of wildflowers. No need to book. Non-members welcome. Tea afterwards in Park House.
Tea 3pm; Talk 4pm by Dr Margaret Simmons who will outline the progress of the demand for women’s suffrage in Reading from 1866, when a national petition was signed by just one supporter in the town. Please use the form that was enclosed with information already sent to members to say if you will be coming to the talk, and whether you would like tea.
We have been contacted about a bench between Blandford Lodge and the Miller Building which is in a very poor state, having been lifted by tree roots.
Meet outside the Library at 3pm for a short stroll to the bench (or meet us at the bench if you can find it!). Together with representatives of the Women’s Club, we’ll discuss what options there may be for the bench, which the Estates Department understandably will need to remove in the near future. Afterwards we’ll repair to Park House where tea (or something stronger) can be purchased in the Bar. The bench was ...
Visit to Typography Department to learn about some of their ephemera collection on the subject of Entertainment. Numbers limited so booking essential. Contact Peter Must at mustpeter (at sign) yahoo.co.uk.: tel 0118 9781671. Please say if you need a parking permit
The first of two trips with FIne Art alumnus Martin Kaufman along the Arcadian Thames. Numbers limited and booking essential. Please contact Brenda Morris by email or telephone at.: Brenda@morrisandfamily.co.uk tel. 01635 869594 before 27 February.
