Coley Park & Beyond - New Coley Estate

New Coley Estate

In the early days of the new Coley Park estate from around 1958, the new Reading Corporation 'council' houses along Wensley and Lesford Roads were all very similar, having been built to a then tried and tested design (many having been erected earlier in Tilehurst and other areas). The standard was a small, but reasonably proportioned semi-detached three bedroom house. The bedrooms were all on the upper level along with a bathroom and separate toilet. The main bedroom had an airing cupboard which was fitted with a large electric hot water tank (also known as the 'immersion' heater). A handy built-in wardrobe was also provided.

On the ground floor was a lounge/sitting/dining room that extended from the front to the back, with windows at each end. A fireplace was positioned centrally along the main wall. A generous kitchen for its time was provided which included a built-in larder (pantry). A small cupboard under the stairs was accessible from the kitchen and usually housed the electricity/gas meter.

A side entrance porch gave access the three doors; the kitchen, the coal store and a utility room. The utility room was a useful storage space and ideally was used as a laundry.

Over the years many of these houses were converted where the utility room and coal store was removed and the area opened up to provide an extended kitchen area with a dining room.

The following are early images of Coley Park estate photographed during the construction of the 15 storey flats during 1959/1960. Most of the images were taken from the top of partly completed flats. As you can see from the images it was winter and there is the obligatory flooding of the surrounding fields. Most of the houses have barren backyards with no gardens or sheds.

	Looking east over Wensley and Lesford Roads. The old Mansion and the Lesford Road allotments are clearly visible.
A view from the back of the houses in Lesford Road looking towards the flats clearly show the bare backyards.
	Facing west over into the private homes of Southcote. A new 'Western' class diesel train heads towards Reading.
In the foreground, the old North Lodge can be clearly seen and in the distance are the eight-storey flats at Southcote.

During winter it was common for the Kennet River and the Holy Brook to overflow. The surrounding Kennet Meadows are subject to seasonal flooding and are commonly known as 'water meadows'.

After heavy rains or due to melting snow the surrounding fields would be completely flooded. Sometimes the water froze as the temperature dropped and created huge lakes of ice which attracted kids (and adults) from around the area.

	The fields are completely flooded over at Southcote Junction, but the railway lines are high and dry.
A view of the floods looking over Heron Way.
	The Holy Brook is clearly visible looking towards Heron Way.
Looking over the back of Wensley Road. The Coley branch railway line embankment is clearly visible.

The winter of 1962/63 was particularly bad, with heavy snow falls in January followed by freezing weather that lasted for many weeks. The snow froze so hard that I remember walking along the top of a six-foot deep snow drift without falling through. Ahh! those were the days !