Oracle

Some will know that Reading's Oracle shopping centre is built on the site of the former workhouse of the same name. You can read more about the Oracle workhouse here. Famously pioneer of photography William Henry Fox Talbot (who had a shop in Baker Street, Reading) captured an image of the Gunn Street-Minster Street gateway in around 1845.

I found the below version recently online, showing the workhouse imposed (by Mark Porridge) on the modern street scene and new Oracle. The white building to the right is I believe one of the few surviving remenants of the original Oracle.

I also found a lovely picture of the gates themselves, when they were reused at 48 Tilehurst Road. This picture appeared on a postcard by Walton Adams in around 1910. Those gates have since been relocated to the town museum where they remain on display.

Six Pence

Many will be aware of the tradition of putting a "lucky" silver six pence in the Christmas pudding. Somehow the person serving always made sure the youngest at the table was the recipient of the portion containing the coin. A very popular and fondly remembered part of British- and I suspect Commonwealth- festive traditions.

With the advent of decimal coinage, people were encouraged to exchange their old predecimal coins for "new pence" and no new 6p coins have been minted in the UK for a long time. Until this year. Feast your eyes on this legal tender silvery loveliness. You can bet this shiny thing isn't going anywhere near a pudding!

Linear

An awesome morning for a fine walk around the Holy Brook area.

How So?

We have a new priority status at work, see below. I don't mean to be picky but you can't actually have degrees of urgency, can you? A thing is either urgent or not.

Likewise a woman can't be "very pregnant," a person being described as "extremely gay" or an animal referred to as "very dangerous." You get the idea. Why do we add unnecessary words to our conversations?

Breakfast Is Served!

Healthy LOL..?

Is It Easter Yet?

Apparently it is perfectly acceptable to stock these nearly three whole months before Christmas.

What is the world coming to? Don't we have actual festive seasons anymore, or have we all thrown in the towel and surrendered to greedy consumerism?

Harvest Moon

Awesome moon this evening...