For years I have wanted to be able to read some of my old, non-PC, floppy disks. A few years back I decided it was time I made a start (see posts here). The initial idea was to use an Arduino, with a PIC32MX as a fallback, connecting it to an external Amiga floppy drive […]
Amiga Floppy Reader Read More »
This is a quick potted history of building/structure of Thatcham Parish Church, I will do another more detailed post of the history in a later post. I have noted in previous posts some of the history of the church (here) and the name (St Luke’s or St Mary’s). It is believed a church, originally a
A short history of St Mary’s Church Read More »
The Plough Inn went to auction, again, recently and I have had a number of enquiries, mostly around the suspicious discovery of a body, since this last happened (see previous post) so thought I would give a short update. The north part of the building itself is beleived to date to the 17th century with other parts added
The Skeleton at the Plough Inn Read More »
Ten years ago four local historians together with the local district archaeology officer started to create a book “Thatcham: An historic town in a changing world.” Sadly the leader of the project, Peter Allen, passed away before completion. I took over and we launched the book, in memory of Peter, at the Thatcham Festival of
Talks at Thatcham Festival Read More »
I have uncovered and documented a number of Thatcham (including Cold Ash, Ashmore Green, Colthrop and Crookham) pubs, a few though still remain elusive. This post will name some of those that I have little for. This is a very brief summary of some of the pubs, I make a few assumptions and I have
Long lost Thatcham pubs Read More »
Most know that modern Thatcham stems from the Saxons, many know there were people in the area before this so where were they if not in the modern town centre? In the 20th century the theory that the Roman road of Ermin Way crossed the Kennet to the east of Colthrop and cut across Henwick
I am always being asked the question “What is the oldest building in Thatcham?” So first a clarification, typically the person asking is referring to standing building and not those already destroyed. Thus in this article I am ignoring buildings that are no longer standing such as Chamberhouse Castle but will revisit them in a future post. People
What is the oldest building in Thatcham? Read More »
Chapel Street in Thatcham has gone by a few different names including East Street and Duck Street. There are a number of places of historic interest along this stretch. Starting from the foreground there is the old cycle shop, which in the 1930’s was owned by Mr Gilbert. A few doors down is the Wesleyan Methodist
The Great War, or the First World War, now being 100 years old lasting from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 has been celebrated by many and so I thought I would share some of the work I have undertaken with regards to the war. As a side note is we have celebrated 100 years ago
Thatcham Remembers Read More »
The population of Thatcham is a common topic at many local history talks. So in this post we will take a brief look at the population statistics. The first chart below shows the population of Thatcham with information taken from a number of sources. Where possible census records have been used, newspaper reports and estimates from
Population of Thatcham Read More »
