I was born in Dover St. in 1947 and lived there until 1961 when we were reallocated to Tilehurst. There was a woman who lived in Wolseley St, can’t remember her name, she used to take in the trouser legs to 14 inches for the Teddy boys. The big house next to St Saviours belonged to a family called Harpers, they had more than 10 children. The biggest family in Reading were the Strudley’s who had 22 children and lived in Pell Street.
Reply from John Cummings
I actually lived at 106 Wolseley Street – the big house next door to the church. We had the upstairs flat and the Patterson’s had the downstairs flat. We moved out late 1954 when we were allocated a council house in Southcote and the Pattersons followed soon after. Then it was returned back to a single dwelling and the Harpers moved in.
Reply from Bob
Thanks for your reply my name is Robert Neale and I was born at 27 Dover Street in 1947. I had 4 sisters and 3 brothers. In your article you mentioned Roy Merryweather, He used to run a mobile greengrocer and I would help him. In the Merryweather’s house lodged several Reading footballers.
Roy used to be a goalie and played for Peppard FC and later went on to manage Wokingham Town FC.