Our Great West Way: Joy, Reading Museum Volunteer Tour Guide

Hello. Please introduce yourself...
Hello, I’m Joy Pibworth and I’ve been one of a team of volunteer tour guides with Reading Museum since the time of the Reading Abbey Revealed Project. As a very keen Janeite and a long-standing member of the Jane Austen Society I am eager to make the Jane Austen connections to the Reading area more widely known.

Jane Austen 250

2025 is a very important anniversary for all lovers of Jane Austen as it is the 250^th anniversary of her birth. Naturally, Jane’s beloved Hampshire, where she spent the majority of her 41 years, will take the lead in the celebrations but there are other locations, such as the Reading area, which also have a story to tell.

Jane Austen in the Reading Area
Jane had links to this area through her mother Cassandra Leigh who was born and brought up in the village of Harpsden, between Reading and Henley. Cassandra’s sister married and her family lived in Henley, Southcote and Sonning over the years, whilst their brother purchased an extensive property in Wargrave, alongside the Bath Rd, the Great West Way itself.

Jane’s own connection to Reading dates to 1785 when she accompanied her older sister and their cousin to Mrs Latournelle’s School, a well-established boarding school, based in Reading’s Abbey Gateway and an adjoining building (now demolished). The school is   thought by many to be the model for Mrs Goddard’s School in her 1816 novel, Emma. Here the girls spent 18 months, close to the centre of a bustling town and inland port, able to smell the sweet and nutty malt from breweries and the less attractive fumes from the leather industry, yet also surrounded by the history and the romantic ruins of the ancient abbey.

How will JA250 be celebrated in Reading?
A programme of events to commemorate this anniversary has been created, to cater for a variety of interests.
As well as talks with a Regency flavour, there will be guided walks showing the town as Jane would have seen it, exclusive visits to Jane’s former schoolroom, open days, displays, theatre and a special tea at The Roseate Hotel in the Forbury, coincidentally only a matter of yards away from The Abbey Gateway where Jane boarded more than 200 years ago.

What is the Abbey Gateway like?
The Abbey Gateway, (built in the 13^th century) has miraculously survived and can be visited (bookable via Reading Museum website). As a tour guide it is a huge pleasure for me to lead a group into the interior of the building, climb the 30 steep steps (whilst reflecting on the nimble monks in their robes and sandals or Jane Austen and her schoolfriends in 18^th century dresses doing the same) before arriving on the second floor, which is arranged as a Victorian Schoolroom for Reading’s primary school pupils to experience the spirit of the place. After admiring the recent conservation work, we finally ascend the tiny, twisting spiral staircase, avoiding the dual risks of the low doorway at the top and the ‘step’ just outside the door, onto the roof.

Is it worth it? Of course, there is a unique view of Reading – over the historic Forbury Gardens where so much of Reading’s history has taken place, towards the town and towards the Abbey Ruins, and the knowledge that Jane could have seen a broadly similar sight.

What else is there to love on our (part of) Great West Way?
Reading, situated on the Great West Way (aka A4), has much to offer: entertainment at the Hexagon Theatre or The Biscuit Factory (named for Reading’s Huntley and Palmer biscuit business), 8 museums (mostly free entry) including Reading Museum and Art Gallery, The Museum of Berkshire Aviation, The Museum of English Rural Life, The Abbey Ruins and more. Dining possibilities abound, reflecting cuisine from around the world, as well as independent coffee shops such as Picnic, CUP, and Yaylo and the chains. A short walk away is Caversham, whose beautiful Caversham Court Gardens offer quiet repose before visiting the bustling shops and eateries.

Reading is the gateway to some of the beauties of this part of the Thames Valley. Only a short distance away from central Reading, by train, bus, car, towpath or steamer is Henley, with its Regatta and Festival in July, its coffee shops and restaurants. The pretty riverside villages of Wargrave and Sonning are welcoming and historic, and attractive places to wander around and take a break in the pubs and coffee shops afterwards. Both Henley and Sonning have small theatres, the Kenton in Henley (founded in 1805) and the Mill at Sonning (1982), which has a Jane Austen-themed show in May and June 2025 as part of the celebrations.

But beware, towns and villages in this area often double as the dangerous Midsomer, the eponymous murder hotspot, so do take great care if you are following one of the location trails.