Schedule:

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Friday 4th April

• 3:00–4:30pm Free guided visit to Civil War siege and Glorious Revolution conflict sites in Reading led by Simon Marsh and Gregg Archer - meet in the square outside St Laurence’s church next to the Town Hall RG1 3EJ.
  
• 2:45-3:45pm Anne Curry will answer questions at the Bayeux Tapestry facsimile in Reading Museum, Blagrave Street, RG1 1QH.  No need to book, just turn up if interested.
  
• 6:30pm- Evening meet and greet - welcome from Anne Curry at 7:45pm.  Venue: Firefly Bar, Three Guineas public house at the front of the station. A cash bar will be in operation.
  

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Saturday 5th April

Venue: Thames Suite, Greyfriars, Friar Street, Reading, RG1 1EH

• 9:30-10:00 Tea, coffee and registration
• 10:00-11:00 AGM (for members only)
• 11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
• 11:30am-4:30pm Annual Conference - £45 including lunch
  
  • Dr. Matthew Bennett "A Norman Art of War"
    
  • Dr. David Grummitt "In Alabaster, in Text and in the Landscape: Remembering the Battles of the Wars of the Roses"
  • Dr. Ismini Pells "The First Battle of Newbury: a draw?"
  • Bob Shaw "The History of Greenham Common-Roman encampment to Peace Women encamped"

Venue: Malmaison, 18-20 Station Road, Reading, RG1 1JX

• 6:30pm- Evening Trust Drinks Reception and Dinner - £49

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Sunday 6th April

• 9:00am-4:30pm Coach trip to the Air Control Tower at Greenham Common and Shaw House, Newbury - £39 including lunch - meet at the North entrance of the station.  This includes a short walking tour of the second battle of Newbury.
  
• 10:00am-12:00pm Guided visit to the Abbey quarter led by Anne Curry with the option of visiting the Museum of English Rural Life Life at the London Road campus of the University (RG1 5EX) - meet at the Abbey gateway in the Forbury
  

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Click on "Select Tickets" to book places for the above activities.  Apart from Anne Curry's Q&A session at the Bayeux Tapestry facsimile (where you can just turn up), please book tickets for all other activities that you wish to attend.  There are some limitations on numbers, and once we reach a limit on an activity, we will have to stop further bookings.  If this happens, that activity will not show on the "Select Tickets" listing, but you can add yourself to the waiting list for cancellations.

Where there is a meal provided in an activity, we will have to provide numbers to the venues prior to the weekend of the event, so we will be closing bookings for some activities early as follows: Annual Conference 28-Mar-2025, Drinks Reception and Dinner 18-Mar-2025, Sunday's Coach Trip 21-Mar-2025. 

Please note that the two activities on Sunday coincide, so only book one of them per person.

If you cancel any tickets prior to bookings being closed for that ticket, we will be able to provide a refund.  Once bookings are closed, we will only be able to refund in exceptional circumstances, or if we have people in the waiting list who will take those tickets.

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Getting to Reading:

Reading is particularly well served by rail, with direct trains from many places. There is a regular fast service from London Paddington as well as the twice hourly Elizabeth line. Reading station is in the town centre, close to shops and the AGM venue, as well as the museum and abbey ruins.

For those coming by car, there is ample town centre parking at the usual sorts of rates. The closest car park to the AGM venue is Q Park Chatham Place, RG1 7JF. There is no parking at the venue itself.

There are two park and ride facilities with regular buses to the town centre:

• Mereoak, close to junction 11 of the M4, with buses (number 600) every 15 mins Monday-Saturday, and hourly on Sundays. It costs £1 to park plus a £3.50 all day ticket for the bus (concessionary passes can be used).
• Winnersh Triangle, close to junction 10 of M4, with buses (500) every 20 mins Saturdays only. It costs £1 to park plus the £2 bus ticket plus £4 return ticket for the bus (concessionary passes can be used).

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Staying in Reading:

Reading is well supplied with hotels of all the major chains. In the town centre close to the AGM venue you can find two Ibis, a Novotel, Mercure, Premier Inn, Travel Lodge, Malmaison, Roseate, Crown Plaza (this is a slightly longer walk but is on the Thames riverside). There are also hotels slightly further out, but on bus routes, including Premier Inn Winnersh and Premier Inn Reading South, Hilton on A 33 south of the town, Holiday Inn Reading South close to Junction 11 of M4, Holiday Inn West Hotel on A4 to the west of the town.

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