Twyford, Berkshire
| Twyford | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU794752 |
| Location: | 51°28’37"N, -0°52’1"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 6,216 (2001) |
| Post town: | Reading |
| Postcode: | RG10 |
| Dialling code: | 0118 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wokingham |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wokingham |
| Website: | Twyford Parish Council |
Twyford is a village in Berkshire; a modest place of some 7,000 souls, sitting beside the River Loddon as it enters the meadows running down to the River Thames between Reading and Maidenhead. It is found on the old Bath Road, though the A4 now heads north of Twyford, at the crossroads with the south to north road from Wokingham to Henley-on-Thames.
The town's name is Old English and means two fords. Twyford once did indeed have two fords, on the Old Bath Road to the west of the centre. Both are now bridged.
History
William Penn, the famous seventeenth century Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania, spent the final years of his life in Ruscombe Fields, a property close to Twyford, and is remembered by a residential street named 'Pennfields'.
Twyford was primarily an agricultural settlement until the coming of the railway in 1838 put it on the main line to the west and subsequently made it a junction for the Henley Branch Line. However, its position on the Bath Road had always brought activity which was centred on the King's Arms, an important coaching inn. The opening of a by-pass in 1929 finally ended the east-west flow of main road traffic through the centre, but Twyford is still on a busy north-south route from Wokingham in the south to Henley in the north. The greatest expansion, however, has taken place since the Second World War, particularly in the last 50 years, with the construction of several estates north and south of the village.
Historically Twyford is part of the Broad Hinton detached part of Wiltshire, locally situate in Berkshire.
Today
Twyford today is largely a commuter settlement for workers travelling to Reading, Maidenhead, Wokingham and, further afield, London. Local commerce and hence employment is limited by its closeness to the major conurbations of Reading and Maidenhead, where major shopping facilities are.
It does, however, have two supermarkets and other shops, which makes it the local centre for the surrounding countryside. The village is considered an affluent area where property prices are significantly higher than the national average (probably due to the fact that Twyford provides an easy route to London). Twyford also has one of the lowest levels of unemployment in the country.
Twyford is also the unlikely global headquarters of the international construction and services company, Interserve, which employs 75,000 people worldwide.
Transport links
Standing in the Thames Valley, Twyford is 10 miles from the M4, M40 and M3 motorways and 25 miles from the M25. Twyford railway station is on the Great Western Main Line and served by trains between Reading and London Paddington, and the roads and rail allow Twyford to serve as a popular commuter town. The town of Reading is 6 miles to the west, with Maidenhead 7½ miles to the east and Henley-on-Thames 5 miles to the north. London is 35 miles east.
Amenities
Twyford has two recreation grounds. King George's Field (also called The Rec), between London Road and Wargrave Road has football pitches, three tennis courts, children's playgrounds, a youth shelter and is where the yearly fireworks are held by Twyford Round Table, and is a King George V Playing Field, in memory of King George V. A project to build a skate park and ball court in the field was completed in July 2008. Stanlake Meadow, off Waltham Road, has football pitches, a cricket square used by Twyford & Ruscombe Cricket Club and a pavilion which is also used as a nursery school.
Twyford also has a youth football club called Twyford Comets which plays on both recreation grounds.
Indoor sports clubs use the parish hall, Loddon Hall, a joint facility with the neighbouring parish of Ruscombe.
Twyford has a tennis club, a bowls club with its own green and claims to have the oldest Badminton club in the country.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Twyford, Berkshire) |
References
- Ditchfield, P.H.; Page, W.H., eds (1923). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3. Victoria County History. pp. 247–260. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43213.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 243.