I love Wokingham

I love Wokingham. Ever since I first visited for work 20-years ago I’ve loved it. I loved it so much I moved here, met my husband here and now we’re raising our children here.

When I walk into town I’m bombarded by all the good memories of my growing years as a resident.

The Raglan, the location for my first date with my now husband.

Stitchery-Do, the shop that never humours me when I go in and ask, “what do I need to darn something?”.

Waving through the window to Mark Rath who remembered me from selling my first house nearly a decade ago.

Kaanaanmaa, the shop who helped me to rebel in style when, approaching 30, I finally went against my father’s wishes and had my ears pierced; my sparkly studs came from them.

The seemingly endless and entertaining conversations had with John Bell over sample books.

The quick Peroni enjoyed outside the Courtyard on a summer’s day after work.

Ordering our wedding invites at Jays Printers and oh, the so many off-the-

wall conversations had with that guy in Country Drycleaners, you know the one!

This trip down memory lane continues past Café Rouge, a place of much morning coffee and cake while on maternity leave and a place which in turn ‘trained’ my children in how to sit nicely in a restaurant.

M&Co reminds me of an emergency purchase made when as a toddler my eldest imagined she was Peppa Pig and jumped in a massive muddy puddle outside of the Courtyard.

A hop and a skip down to the lovely TG Art Gallery (have you seen their dcuks?) and last but not least, the treasure trove that’s Wokingham Décor.

There are many more businesses that make up Wokingham and play a massive part in my love for the town.

They are all still here and they are still making memories.

So, it bemuses me when I hear “I don’t go into Wokingham anymore”, that” it offers nothing for me”, that “it’s full of charity shops and nail bars”.

As my ramblings above will testify, it really is so much more. It’s true, it’s not Henley, Guildford or now Bracknell but that’s fine, if it were I wouldn’t appreciate making the occasional visits to them as much as I do.

I’m disheartened that there are people in this town who are not resilient to recent changes at its heart and not more forgiving of the Market Place works, who don’t see that this is a moment in time and won’t give it the benefit of doubt.

Remember back to the redesign of Station Road and how much loathing that created? Well in my opinion it’s pretty good now, so just maybe….

I can appreciate that there are some groups in the community who really do struggle with the ever-changing layout, and, I’m not going to kid myself, the already delicate road network around the town has been crippled at periods in recent weeks.

What I have noticed of late however is an increase in the number of push bikes chained to the town’s street furniture, residents choosing to continue coming to town and avoiding them being the traffic jam, hooray.

Wokingham is a wonderful place with a big heart; so, come on people, lets show a little more positivity and support towards our town, appreciate your old memories and continue making new ones. ‘I Love Wokingham’, via email