red rag 23rd november - 7th december 1985 Reading's Only Newspaper Red Rag, Box 79, Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham Street, Reading Next Issue Co-ordinator Jackie - 595605 Events Guide Paul - 461081 News & Ads James - 595605 Distribution Pogle - 599995 Going Out Guide Mark - 868488 Folding/Sunday Cliff - 665332 Copy Deadline 6pm, Thurs 5th dec. Typed copy to 12cm column width please for black & white and reds all over - - - ANARCHIST YOUTH Have you ever felt like you're too young for revolutionary anarchism? like all the anarchists you know are over 22? like anarchists spend all their time talking about things that happened before you were born: May '68, Grunwicks, Punk,... Now there's an alternative: Anarchist Youth, the youth wing of anarchism, open to 5-22 year-olds, with the emphasis on action and excitement. Don't delay, fill in the form and send it of today! Join now! Just complete this form and send it to: Anarchist Youth, Box 666, Red Rag. Name: Address: Age: Number of times you've been arrested: Please indicate which AY activities you are interested in: Coach trips Under-age drinking Sleeping with senior comrades Discotheques Paper sales Rioting Fashion Putting superglue in cash dispensers Graffiti Flyposting Pool / darts / dominoes Spitting off balconies in shopping centres - - - The SINGLE PARENT GROUP has set up this benefit gig in order to generate cash for Christmas presents for our children. We are hoping to raise enough money so that we can have a collective fund for future outings and activities. Tickets are available in advance from Acorn Bookshop and the Reading Centre for the Unemployed. Looking forward to seeing you on the 30th November... - - - (paid ad) Cheaper than the pubs - beer available Cheap and good food Good and live music at The Benefit Of The Year KIDS AID Kick off 8pm Disco beat down East Street, at Reading Centre for Unemployed 1st band 9.30pm John Lyne Acacpela Band Beat and the Devil Sat 30th Nov £1:50 / £2:00 - - - BENEFITS... Dance! (well, only if you want to was the general idea at the Paradise Club on the 12th, when Funktion at the Junction and Beat & the Devil entertained the assembled throng under the collective banner of Red Rag. And dance is what lots of people did, meself included. F at the J opened up with some smooth soul and funk, before hotting thingsup in the latter part of their set. A bit of a shame that they had to start relatively early, to accommodate other people, 'cos they're the ideal band to dance your way past midnight with. After a brief break, kept going by the sounds of Unity HiPower, we got Beat and the Devil - a fairly new band fronted by John Delahunty - one of Reading's best known and best dressed singing computer programmers. 1234 and straight into their stylish serving of (capital F) Funnk Rock solid rhythms which make you shake along with the floor, fine tunes and ... yeah, well, by this stage I was reasonably oblivious to anything apart from movement. A state we all might have a go at from time to time... A dashed shame, then, when 'twas time to leave; for anyone wanting more pleasure brought to Reading by ye collective, there's a scratch disco, on Tuesday 10th December...(see elsewhere for details). Meanwhile, people had a good time: and the fact that the Rag was a few quid better off as well is icing on the cake. Thanks to everyone who came and / or helped - it shows what a bit of collective organisation can do. And remember that anyone can get involved with all kinds of Rag activities - all help / suggestions very very welcome... Mark R. PS... saw Funktion at the Junktion a week later and were they hot!!Simmering from virtually the first bar and getting better all the time. If they continue to play like this, you could ask why they don't play in London... - - - With only *!!@** consuming days to Christmas, sod all yo' gift and card problems by ordering immense quantities of exclusive Red Rag t-shirts, posters, cards, wrapping paper, postcards, duvet covers, floor tiles, place mats, jigsaws, stamps, not to mention monogrammed pegs for hanging up those hardly-used tea bags. Mark 868488, Clive 595605. All products guaranteed ideologically sound, by the way: we'll send you a postcard from our South American Holiday on the proceeds... - - - (paid ad) Spring 1985: South St, Reading DOLE OFFICE OCCUPATION (a video presentation) Use Empty Buildings Creatively Real Time video approx 30mins Are you occupied? video approx 40mins plus discussion... 8pm, Wed 4th December 1985 Backroom, the Crown, Crown St, Reading. - - - READING COLLEGES CRISIS Whilst the chaos throughout Reading's schools continues, Sir Keith Joseph's slash and burn policy is biting into the local institutions of higher education - Bulmershe College and Reading University. Nine higher education unions (including NUS, AUT, TGWU, NATFHE, ASTMS) have declared this week - 25 to 29 November - as 'Higher Education Week'. Local actions include a public meeting on Reading's response to the crisis in higher education. The meeting has been arranged by Reading AUT, and will happen in the University, but is open to everyone. Speakers include Reading's Vice-chancellor Ewan Page, Bulmershe Principal Harold Silver, Reading student union president John Newell, and a captain of industry. If you want to hear what they have to say, or to ask them questions, go along to the meeting at 1pm on Thursday 28 November, in the university's Faculty of Letters building Theatre (1st floor). The meeting follows publication of the National Audit Office's report criticizing the government for. cutting higher education without any overall plan: 47% more lecturers have left the universities than the government had bargained for. Reading lecturer Dr Wynford Bellin quotes figures showing university places falling by 4%, and then by a further 2%, while the numbers of young people in sixth forms have increased by over four times that much. "The known figures are for just the first two bites of what will continue until the 1990s", said Dr Bellin, "so we are well on the way to the old standards where you passed exams and could go no further, or picked up technology from mates in welfare institutes without any chance of college. And instead of the government promising to undo the damage and disorder it presents them as a popular backlash." - - - FOR SALE Godin stove. Burns smokeless fuel, not much good for wood. Creates a lot of heat. Has some stove pipe on it, so can be inserted into existing fire place. We can deliver. £80 Tel: 61330. 71 De Beauvoir Rd. - - - (paid ad) Kick Over Apartheid Tour THE REDSKINS & The Boothill Foot-tappers & films, stalls, speaker & disco. Tues 3rd Dec Reading University S.U. 8.30 - 1.00 (last entry 11.00) Tickets £3:00 From: Listen Records Music Market RUSU - - - ABEIZER COPPE'S SOLSTICE CELEBRATIONS Abeizer Coppe became prominent amongst the Ranters in 1649: he wrote two books which were burned as being blasphemous. Mainly, however, he did rants against church, nobles, feudal economy, profit, the rich and priveleged. One of the earliest identifiable English anarchists, he was also known as the Drinking, Dancing, Roaring Ranter - excellent credentials... Please support Abiezer Coppe's Solstice Celebration by making donations of the following: Paint Chicken wire Wood Glue Paste Nails Hammers Paper Curtains Sheets Cloth Saws Paint Brushes Brush Cleaner Doors Egg Boxes Old Teevess String/Rope Calor Gas/Paraffin Heaters Old Carpet Cooking Utensils Gaz cookers Rugs/Blankets Pick up truck Scaffold Write to Acorn Box 19. - - - APARTHEID - NOVEMBER 2ND - ANTI-NOTHING-MUCH-AT-ALL... Saturday 2nd November saw a very large number of people converge on various points in London to demonstrate against the despicable apartheid regime in South Africa. A good 95 percent of the assembled multitude were just out to march peacefully from, say, Hyde Park, to Trafalgar Square, where a range of ideologically-sound speakers, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, were to address those present. As one of those who went along I found the whole event exceedingly well organised - from the "Le Mans 24-hour-lookalike" starting grid in Hyde Park, through the march marshals pandering to TV cameras, to the soporific yet smoothly dovetailed parade of speaking celebs in the Square. Typical of the march were 2 specific things: 1 - the communist party of great britain brackets a marxist leninist close brackets mouthing "down with the british governnient's support fot the fascist apartheid regime" (breath)... 2 - thousand upon thousand of "concerned individuals" filing down Park Lane without even thinking of trashing hotels, rolls royces, etc - the outward signs of an economic system which keeps millions upon millions of black and white-people in slavery. A system which will follow on from apartheid as SA businessmen support the removal of the current system to "open up the labour market" and so bring down the cost of white labour. Although I would, respect the right of everyone who turned up to demonstrate as they felt appropriate, personally I feel that, to a great degree, Saturday constituted a mass of diverted energy - anti-racist feeling sidetracked and neutralised in the cul de sac of Letting The Powers That Be Know How We Feel. The naivety that they'll respond as desired. The impenetrable swamp-ridden forest of Parliamentary Democracy. Some people were not conned by this though: a group had formed near the Trafalgar Square tube subway by 3pm. The police had built barriers there to prevent access to the South African embassy on the opposite side of the Square. Within a short while these had been removed. The police responded typically to this - selective charges and indiscriminate arrests (..."let's nick a couple" said a copper, pulling the first 2 likely characters he could find out of the crowd...). Missiles. With a message and a motive. More push and crush tactics. Charges... but the look of sheer terror on the faces of those police, confronted with the fact that lots of people hated them for what the they were and what they actively propped up. The tube subway was a collecting point for those nicked in the immediate area. I saw people dragged down the steps by 4 or 5 coppers, screaming with pain. Come quietly... Once inside they were in many cases beaten up before appearing on the other side of the subway, escorted by smiling community copper lookalikes. 2 hours plus of continual skirmishes, trying to get to the embassy from our end, or else playing pig in the middle. Them saying "we'll let you do whatever you like within the best tradition of British fair play-so long as you don't challenge anything. The moment you go further than the officially-sanctioned and anaesthetized "protest" Bang... you're fucked. No more of the softly softly but instead broken heads and indiscriminate arrests. How much longer before people realise that the police are not the "upholders of law and order", but a semi-renegade, unaccountable bunch of thugs who support a particular class structure in society, which basically means that they'd beat the shit out of me, or lock me up for hours on end, rather than allow their scabby position to be challenged? How much longer? Quite a long time, to judge from the proportion of pacifist lonely hearts to more active demonstrators on the 2nd; not that I especially malign the former, or glorify the latter - it would be wonderful if peaceful protest were enough to change society as you'd wish. Meanwhile, to totally reject violence is to remove yourself from any effective form of opposition. Although that doesn't make trashing police people either "right" or "justified by the revolution". I'd never claim that. However, the change of heart of a number of pacifist friends as a result of what they saw and how they were treated is (unfortunately) some encouragement. PS... Most instructive to see how the "legitimate" media treated the demo: The Observer turned it into a day of peace love and reconciliation. The Sunday Times had a front page headline of "Tory Law & Order Boost", (law and order being the new Falklands Factor, according to a MORI poll). Underneath was a story to this effect... along with a photo of some poor sod being dragged off by the filth in Trafalgar Square. Implying it's just another "law and order" problem, and that demonstrators are Criminals. Well, are you??? Meanwhile, inside the Sunday Times was a story on how TV crews in SA cannot film "riots" any more. The paper criticise this state censorship, and scorn the line that TV coverage provides a further catalyst to violence. Whilst they are well and truly part of the state apparatus - as their attitude to this demo shows all too well. On Friday 21st it was Henley Waitrose's turn to receive anti-apartheid attention. Twelve people filled trolleys with South African goods. These were then deposited in the centre of the store with leaflets denouncing the sale of South African produce and appealing for a boycott. Unfortunately the manager refused to discuss the matter with us and we were escorted in a fairly unceremonious exit. The action was intended to highlight the sale of South African goods and thereby the apartheid regime. Hopefully the campaign will gather momentum in the pre-Cristmas rush. Anti-apartheid information: Box 101 Acorn - - - GOING OUT Monday 25 November: Abiezer Copp... Albion Hotel, Oxford Rd - Pete James Jazz Band, 8ish free. Thatchers, Fairwater Drive, woodley - soul & funk, 8-11, free. The Bull, High St, Nettlebed - folk club, 8ish free. Silks, Thatcham - local rock band, tickets from Listen Records. Tel 932 65562. Probably sexist bilge. Univ Student Union - jazz, free, 9ish. Busy. SHP - "Passage to India" (PG) 7.45pm £2:50. Two British women determined to see the "real India", very photogenic scenery. Cultural Imperialism?? Tuesday 26 November: Out of Town Club, Bath Rd, Padworth - love local band. Tudor Arms, Greyfriars Rd - reputedly a "gay" pub but: dominated by men - often women haters; go in alone & you're assumed to be cruising; totally out of order sexist landlord, whose choice of beermats led to various people being banned (for protesting) or boycotting the place. Anyway, Tuesdays & Fridays there are alleged gay discos there. It's up to you... SHP - cinema - photogenic guilt trip as yesterday. SHP - Wilde Theatre: George Melly (trombone) (& winner of Tuesday's Suit Stylist Award) & Keith Smith (trumpet) + Heffy Jazz - "100 Years of Dixieland". 8pm £4:50!! Univ, Palmer Building G10 - Campus Concert - popular & classical music for wind ensemble, 1.10, 25p. Hex - free kids entertainment, 12.30 - 1.30. Magic this week (eg putting on something worthwhile in the evening??) Hex - Here we go, here we go. Syd Lawrence Orchestra & The Beverley Sisters. 8pm. Radio 2 territory... Wednesday 27 November: Sloppy Joe's, Station Hill - gay disco, 9-2am. £1:50 with Switchboard membership card. Paradise Club - The Works Unit (pop, modern style) & the Teenagers from Outer Space (v. enjoyable garage r'n'b / rockabilly). Recommended, unlike... Hex - Magnum. Heavy metal. Words fail me. RFT - "Repo Man" (18) 8pm. Car repossessors chase car with lethal cargo. Punky comedy thriller. SHP - "A Passage to India" again. Thursday 28 November: Hex - Mayor's Market 10.30 - 4.00. 15p. Lots of stalls "manned" by charities selling things. Hint: wait for the official Red Rag merchandise, or else steal / make your own... RFT - "Repo Man" (18) as last night - cheap night for UB40s. Crappy country music: Sportsman (Shinfield) & Cross Keys (Butts). Boar's Head, Friar St - Namoze - rhythm based band. Better than the pub deserves. Bit of a cattle market. Univ Students Union - more of that jazz, 9ish, free. 5 Horseshoes, Henley - The Following (local band). SHP - Undercover Club closed due to Drongo trouble. SHP - Molly Farkin - 8pm, £3:50: ex fashion writer / novellist turned comedienne / raconteuse. Supposedly outrageous. Paradise - reggae sound systems. Friday 29 November: Veggie Dining - Reading Unemployment Centre, 8pm - £2 UB40 / £2:50 waged. 3 course veggie blowout, bring booze & friends. I enjoyed last one immensely & plan to be back with a vengeance... Paradise - Lion Roots Sound System vs Young Lion, 8-2am. Cap & Gown, Kings Rd - live music, worth checking. SHP - Friday live temporarily closed. Tudor Arms - a repeat of last Tuesday. The Lamb at Eversley - folk club, 8ish, free. No details. RFT - "Bayan Ko" (My Own Country) (15) - union drama in Phillippino printing works. 8pm & UB40 discount. SHP - cinema - "Amadeus" (PG) 7.45pm £2:50. Salieri (court composer) & the precocious but ascending Mozart. It won Oscars. SHP - recital - Horatia Raphael - 8pm £2:50: Ravel, Mozart (again!!), Poulenc & Chopin. Cultcha!! Saturday 30 November: Reading Centre for Unemployed, East St - Kids Aid - Beat & The Devil (acclaimed local funksters) & Alapella soul group (perhaps) & disco & food - all for single parents group. £1:50 / £2. 1st band 9.30 so don't be late. Central Club - London St - Killamanjaro - top Jamaican sound system, probably finish about 4am. SHP folk - Dave Webber, £1:80, 8pm. Fairview Youth & Community Centre, George St - Bazaar, 2pm. English Martyrs School, Dee Rd, Tilehurst - Xmas Fayre with Santa, raffle, handicrafts etc. 2pm-5pm. Hex - Prime Time, 12.15, free. Won "Battle of the Bands" this year... SHP - Christmas Craft Fayre 12-5pm. "Quality goods at reasonable prices," it says - i.e. buy, buy, buy. Like the Rag... SHP - "Amadeus" (PG) 7.45 & 10.30. £2:50. St Giles Church, Southampton St - University Choral / Orchestral Societies, concert of Advent music, 7.30. Free. Hex - Reading Phoenix Choir 7.30. Loddon Hall, Twyford - Barn Dance - John Turner & Pendragon 8pm £3. Tickets - Wargrave 2930. Sunday 1 December: Red Rag Collective meeting - Flat 6, 107 Kendrick Rd, 6pm. Everyone welcome - raise issues / find out more! Caversham Bridge Hotel - Readifolk, 8.15, free. The Butler, Chatham St - Clem Adelman's Modern Jazz, 8ish, free. Paradise - Lion Roots (much improved Reading sound system). Hex - Children's Christmas Moods in music 3.30. Eh? And at 7.30. SHP - "Amadeus" at 7.45 only. Crimble craft fayre as yesterday. But what else is there to do in Bracknell on a Sunday, apart from buying overpriced tat? Monday 2 December: Abiezer Copp... Same as last Monday: Students Union jazz, Thatchers, Albion Hotel jazz, Silks, Bull Nettlebed folk. Paradise - Urban Dogs (ex UK Subs members) & Maniac & Foreign Legion & Bad Influence. Hard cord pink. 8-2am. £3. Tickets available from Acorn. Hex - Children's Christmas Moods in music, 7.30. SHP - "Amadeus" (PG) 7.45pm £2:50. Tuesday 3 December: Out of Town Club - local bands. Tudor Arms - another "gay" disco. University - Redskins (Socialist Worker version of the Jam) & Boothill Foot Tappers (Socialist Hoe Down, y'all). £3, no union card needed if you have a ticket. Stalls & that too. Right on!! SHP - film as yesterday. SHP - jazz - Gail Thompson's Lump Sum - "Britain's 1st black female jazz leader," enthuses the programme. 8pm, £2:50. Hex - free kids entertainment 12.30-1.30. Hex - Reading Youth Orchestra Christmas Concert, 7.30. Part of Woodley Festival of Music & Arts. Wednesday 4 December: Paradise - S. African Trades Union benefit: the Works Unit (modern pop) / Teenagers from Outer Space (youthful garage rockabilly &blues) & John the Hoover (never met him). 8pm-2am, £1/£2. RFT - "La Guerre d'un Seul Homme." (One Man's War) - newsreel / fictional account of occupied Paris in World War 2. 8pm kickoff. Hex - Civic Charity Carol Concert, 7.30pm. SHP - "Amadeus" 7.45pm. Crown, Crown St - (A) video show. Thursday 5 December: King's College London - Stonehenge '86 benefit - Poison Girls (to be confirmed). Red Rag editorial - see cover for phone number. Boars Head, Friar St - The Following. SHP Undercover Club still shut. Jazz at Students Union. Dire country as last week. RFT - "Le Bal" (PG) 8pm. No words at all. The life of a 50 year old French Dance Hall. Wacky. UB40 cheapo. Stag & Hounds, Pinkneys Green, Maidenhead - folk, 8.15, free. SHP cinema - The Brittonioni Brothers - famous Italian film makers - selection & Personal appearance. 7.45 & free. Friday 6 December: Greenham Women's Support Group benefit disco - watch out for posters saying where etc. The last one (the "30 bob disco") was very good indeed! Oxford Roots Club - Stereophonic Sound (soul & reggae) & Master Jammers (soul) & Oxford Sound. Lamb at Eversley - folk, 8ish, free. Tudor Arms, Greyfriars Rd - "gay" disco - see 26/11/85 entry. Macrobiotics meeting & meal - 100 Northumberland Ave., 7pm. Phone Wendy 860813 in advance please. Cap & Gown, Kings Rd (nr Tech) - live music night. SHP "Birdy" (15) - relationship between two Vietnam veterans in US army mental hospital. 7.45pm. SHP - recital - Nina Vinogradova - -Biek plays Chopin at 8pm. Costs £3:30. Saturday 7 December: SHP - folk, 8pm, £1:80: got to phone for details (see key). Red Rag pasteup - phone co-ordinator for when & where. Hex - Eduardo & Antonio: jazz & flamenco guitar, 12.15, free. Hex - Brendan Shine Christmas Concert - 8pm. Who?? Central Club - Carnival Committee benefit dance - Friends Steel Band (London), breakdancing, Raiders Hipower sound (Reading), Stereophonic (Wycombe) & Soul Sound & PAs by local reggae artists. 8-2, £3. SHP - "Birdy" (15) 7.45 & 10.30, £2:50. (Nice) Sunday 8 December: Red Rag collating / folding at Acorn - help needed - see cover for hoe to volunteer!! Readifolk & jazz @ Butler - as last Sunday. Paradise - Lion Roots Sound. Not late? SHP - "Birdy" (15) 7.45pm £2:50. SHP - His Majesties Sagbuts & Coronets, 7.30. Baroque recital. Monday 9 December: Paradise - The Thin Line (pop / rock) & World Service. All the usual Monday stuff. SHP - The Albion Band, 8pm, £3:00. SHP - "Birdy" (15) 7.45pm. Tuesday 10 December: Paradise - Red Rag Scratch Disco: live improvised dance music scratched & mixed onto records through sound system. Live stuff by Tim Hill (sax), Mike Cooper (guitar) & Pat Thomas (piano)... Trystero System meets the Surgery Sound in some kind of style. Also some video installation by the Real Time Video Collective. 8pm-2am, come early - £2/£1. University - The Pogues: London Irish (partly) collection of punk / folk mutants. Not for teetotallers. Tuesday - "gay disco" - see 26th Nov entry. SHP - Tommy Chase quartet - 8pm £2:70. Recommended by SHP - jazz combo. Key: Paradise - Paradise Club, 112 London St - tel SHP - South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell: Br. 484123 Hex - Hexagon Theatre, Queens Walk - tel 591591 RFT - Reading Film Theatre, Palmer Building, University (open to all) Theatre: (briefly...) Bulmershe College, Woodlands Ave, Woodley (Bridges Hall), 27-30 Nov, "The Suicide" by Nikolai Erdman. College '85 production. £3/£2. Shinfield Players, Whitley Wood Lane, 29/30 Nov, "Oliver" (Lionel Bart) at 7.45. £2:25. (tel: 883315). Progress Theatre, off Christchurch Rd, 30 Nov, "The Galaxy's Guide to Survival" - Berks Anti Nuclear show. 8pm, £1/50p UB40. Civic Offices, Reading, any weekday. Tragedy, illusion & folk drama. All free unless you're a ratepayer. Coming soon: (1) Christmas... (2) the last Rag of 1985, (3) Abeizer Copp... Plea: send me information!!! phone 868488. Love and hugs, Mark. - - - EVENTS Hello Paul... Apologies if events are not quite up to scratch but it's my first attempt, so here goes... Mon 25th: Women's Vocal Workshop. 8pm at Women's Centre, Abbey St. (Same next week). The first general meeting of the Well Women Assoc., 10 Gun St., 8pm. (Women only.) Debate on N. Ireland at the Palmer Building, Rm 109, Rdg. University. Guest speaker Gerry McLoughlin from Sinn Fein. All welcome. Calling all friends of Doris... you are invited to come and meet Abeizer Coppe, to discuss plans for the future... (8pm, after Coronation St.) Contact Box 19 for venue... now! Tues 26th: Women's Centre: Meet to discuss further plans at 6.30pm. 7.00 - meet to discuss & plan women's conference. All women welcome. Greenham Support Group. Meet 8.00pm. All women welcome. Weds 27th: Co-ordination mtg at 15, Stanley Grove, Rdg, for the Dec 2nd food run to Greenham. Contact Mike on 585459. All welcome, especially cooks in W. Reading area... Fabric crafts: 10-3.00. Making gifts, batik, quilting etc. RCU. All women welcome. Labour Party Young Socialists, meet Fairview Community Centre, 8pm. Tel 885760. Thurs 28th: "South Africa - on the road to revolution". An eye witness account. Oxford Rd School. All welcome. SWP Wellington Arms, Whitley St. 8pm. Tel 596724. Talk on Medieval churches and their contents. Meadway Sch. 7.30-9.30. Wildlife Garden Group. 1.00-3.00. RCU, East St. Fri 29th: Veggie Dining. Tickets from Acorn Bookshop. Venue: RCU. There must be something else? Sat 30th: Bash the Rich in Bristol: Meet at Watch Tower, Durdham Downs, 2pm. (? more mindless violence?) Women's Centre Performance Group 10-12pm. 12-2pm centre open. Women's Confidence Building day: 10-3pm. Bring a rug and lunch. Contact Helen Reader or Cath Lacey for details. RCABC Jumbler Sale. 12.30 at St. Mary Magdelen Church Hall. Progress Theatre present the Fall Out Theatre group: "The Galaxy's Guide to Survival." It's International Co-operation Day. Sun 1st: RR Collective meeting at 117, Kendrick Rd, 6pm. All welcome. The start of "Benefits Week", organised by the TUC and Social Security (Mon-Fri.) Luker School, Andover Rd, Newbury: meeting for anyone into doing a community play "Speargrass" in Newbury. July 8-16 1986. Do come! 2.30pm. Mon 2nd: RCU: Bike Maintenance 10-12pm, Sign Language 2-4pm. Wilson Rd: Carpentry 1.30-3.00pm. May Day '86 meeting, 8pm RCU. Ecology Party meet. 8, college Rd, 8pm. Pensioners and the Elderly... "Benefits Week" Tues 2rd: Central Club: Women's dance group. 10-12pm. Unemployed "Benefits Week" RCU Fitness Course 10-12pm Women's Centre campaign at Women's Centre, Abbey St. Meeting starts 6.30pm. Women's Centre Collective at 7.00. Shelter meet 8pm at RCU. ROAR meet 7.30pm at St Mary's Centre, Chain St. Weds 4th: RCU How to run an allotment 10-12. Central Club: Judo: 9.45-11.45. Women's day courses: Fabric Crafts 9.30-2.30pm, Confidence Building 10-12. Women's Rights workshops. 1-2.30. "Peru - Land of the Incas" illus. talk at Ashmead Sch. 7.30-9.30. £1:60 waged, £0:60 unwaged. Public meeting of Community Health Council & West Berkshire Health Authority. Battle Hospital - 7.30. Make your views known! Discussion on Steiner (Waldorf) education. 8-10pm. St Mary's Church Hall. Video Screenings of South St. Squat, 8pm. Crown pub, Crown St. Thurs 5th: Creative Writing Workshop. 13pm. Talk and "Colourful Background" to Malaysia & Singapore. 7.30-9.30pm. Meadway Sch. £1:60 waged, £0:60 unwaged. Wildlife Garden, as last wk, Homeless... RR editorial, See cover for co-ordinator and contact no. Fri 6th: RCU Black & white photography, 2-4pm. ?? What else? Women / Mothers / Families "Benefits Week" Sat 7th: RR Paste up. See cover for details. Send a Christmas card with a message to your MP. Sun 8th RCABC meeting 6.30 at RCU. Fold & distribute Reading's only. See cover for details. Cycle ride to Warfield (25 miles). Meet at Caversham Bridge, 10.30. Further details - John Rogby. Tel 64667. Looking ahead: Tues 10th: Martin Buchan MP Shadow Spokesperson for the Arts, talking on Labour's policy on the Arts. 8pm Shire Hall. Further details: Martin Crozy - tel 477922. Sat 14th & Sun 15th: Widening the Web: weekend of bridge building and idea sharing at Greenham Common. Various workshops taking place at the gates. Please send details of events to Box 79, Acorn Bookshop, or call me on 481081, before 11.30pm please. It's your Rag, and it's free publicity! So use it. Paul -x- - - - (paid ad) Activities for Women at RCU Fabric Crafts As part of "Wednesday is Women's Day", Fabric Crafts will be continuing every week until Dec 11th, Wednesdays 10-3pm. Tutor Julie Williams will be helping woman make Christmas presents, or articles for sale using batik, tie-dyeing, quilting, embroidery etc. Confidence Building A one-day course on Saturday November 30th, 10am-3pm at RCU. If you've ever found it difficult to speak out, or wished you'd reacted more assertively, Cath Lacey & Helen Reader will be using discussion, role-play & other techniques to help build your confidence. Bring a ruh (to sit on) & food (to share). For more details contact Karen, RCU, 4-6 East St, Reading. Tel 596639. Not in paid work? Both courses free to unwaged. All women welcome! (funded by Reading Adult College VPP) - - - DEAR RAG... Dear Chums, On page seven of the current Rag is a paid ad, which includes the Co-op and CRS logo's, and the slogan "people who care". Unfortunately the Co-op doesn't care enough to topple itself from the position of the U.K.'s largest importer of South African fruit. Is there some contradiction here with the front page exhortation to "trash Waitrose"? How about "Trash the Co-op"? At least Waitrose doesn't burden us with its socialist pretensions. Larry. Box 19, 17 Chatham St. Reading Dear Rag, Steve Powell and Worker's Power don't know what they are talking about in their letter on the recent uprisings. They are helping the propaganda and division tactics of the press and police, by categorising the events as simply race riots and nothing else. If the riots were simply demonstrating against white racism, how come so many black and asian businesses have been attacked? How come there have been just as many whites involved in the rioting as black? The riots are a far more fundamental rebellion against the whole racist, capitalist and hierarchical system. They are the response of marginalised and alienated youth, both black and white, who are quite capable of organising in their own way amongst themselves, without the manipulations of party vanguards and political leaders. And just where are the likes of Worker's Power when there is civil war in the streets anyway? While some of us are participating in the battles, they are probably too busy wasting their time passing pointless resolutions on useless committees and selling the party paper. What do they know about rioting - the majority of these lefty "cadres" have probably never even smashed a window in their lives, and would run away if a beat bobby on a bicycle came around the corner. I suggest we start organising resistance groups and hit squads rather than wasting time with boring campaigns, placards and resolutions. Erik the Vandal Thames Valley Anarchists Steven Powell was right when he said in the last Rag that we should "smash racism wherever it exists". Yet he said we should also "declare total support for the black youths of Birmingham, Brixton etc" and that the demonstrations were public demonstations of anger against racism. What proof is there that the demos were against racism? Steven Powell merely demonstrated his ability to lay down opinion as fact with no proof. I don't know what caused the riots, I'm not going to make any rash statements expressing my opinions. All I know about the riots is that people died and were injured. When Steven Powell asks us to give support to the black youths of Birmingham, Brixton etc is he asking us to support the people who set fire to the post office in Birmingham that left the bodies of two local residents? Racism is wrong be it from white to black or black to white but murder and riot are not the answer. They only alienate and divide a much tattered society. If a new non racist/sexist society is to be built surely we must build on what foundations we have now rather than on the foundations that would be left after riot and murder. Yes racism is rife, but violence against it will only bring more racism and will divide further. Education is needed not violence, people should be shown that all people on this world should be equal, will they learn this seeing rioting ? Let's have people coming together to bring about a non racist non sexist peaceful society. PH - - - (paid ad) International Co-operative Day Fall-Out Theatre presents: THE GALAXY'S GUIDE TO SURVIVAL The Facts and Folly of the Nuclear Arms Race Where? The Progress Theatre Tickets £1 The Mount (50p unwaged) Christchurch Road Reading obtainable from: When? Saturday Acorn Bookshop 30th November Co-op Living BANC contacts Time? 8.00pm Co-op People who care CRS - - - SMALL ADS Wanted - typist for Reading based theatre company MSC / Community programme - 16 hours a week. Phone 66556, Room To Let in Wokingham - centrally heated, in veggie household. Food provided. For more details phone Sue on 782176 Wanted Urgently: drivers, men and women, to take and pick up Women from Greenham on Thursdays, who are doing Nightwatch. Leaving Reading at 10.30pm and 2.30am. Journey will take 20 mins each way. If you can help, please contact Lynne 65955. Could someone please give, sell or loan me for the winter, one childproof fireguard, ditto 2 stair gates. Please contact Sandy 872396. - - - CAMPAIGN AGAINST POLICE REPRESSION The Campaign Against Police Repression was set up 4 months ago, by a group of individuals who had experienced continuous police harassment and violence, up and down the country. During our conference on September 14th, attended by a hundred people from various political and community groups, 2 major decisions were made. The first, in response to the Public Order Law Reform Proposals - which will place drastic limitations on marches, pickets and meetings - is to hold a major demonstration in East London on Saturday January 25th. The march will begin at Condon Fields in Hackney and go past Dalston Lane and Stoke Newington police stations. The object is to show that we will not allow the routes of our demonstrations to be dictated to us by the authorities, and we will not be harassed on our own streets by uniformed thugs who should not be there in the first place; the streets belong to us, the people, and we intend to keep them. This will be preceded by a week of action against the police, ranging from leafletting and picketting police stations, to any actions individual groups may wish to take. The second decision was to publish a newsletter with the purpose of collating information about individual cases of police harassment and brutality, as well as examples of direct action taken against the police, and details of groups and campaigns that have been formed with the purpose of resisting. This is to help create an information network which will form links between people from different areas, and also various active political groups. C.A.P.R. is totally independent and receives no funding from any political groups at all. If you would like more details about the Campaign and the proposed actions, or if you have any information which you think may be of use, or feel more people should know, then write to... Box C.A.P.R., 83 Blackstock Road, London N4 or phone Pete 01-341 5340 - - - READING NCCL GROUP Please note that we are no longer meeting on the second Monday of the month at St. Mary's Centre; for details of meetings contact us via Acorn Bookshop Box 34, Chatham Street, Reading. We are however being kept busy on speaking engagements and our next one will be at the Berkshire Anti-Nuclear Campaign (BANC) monthly meeting on Tuesday 10th December - see listings for details of venue. Our current concern is with the Government's proposals on Public Order and we would like to supply information and a speaker to groups who want to publicise the impact of the proposals on their organisation. The proposals cover the following topics: - a new police power to impose conditions on the duration, location and number of demonstrators if the police expect serious pubic disorder, serious disruption to the community or coercion of individuals; - a possible power for a police authority to claim the costs of policing a demonstration from organisers who have breached conditions imposed by the police; - the proposals lump together peace protestors, political marches, football crowds, striking pickets, and say, families marching in protest after a child being knocked down on a dangerous stretch of road. Your rights to march, to hold open-air meetings and vigils, and to picket are part of the freedom to assemble peacefully, which has been won from often unwilling governments and unsympathetic courts oyer the centuries. NCCL has published three pamphlets to cover this issue: a general guide, a guide for trade unions and a more technical legal guide. Again contact the local group, as above, for details. Paul. - - - Rule one: There are no rules. Rule two: It is against the rules to question Rule One. Rule three: It is against the rules to acknowledge the existence of Rules One and Two. - - - THE MISERIES OF THE NATIONAL FRONT Zero: A History Of Miseries The National Front is a grotesque mutation with two heads, a two-track strategy. The superficial veneer of the first is the opportunistic policy of self-promotion, as a credible political party appealing by argument and peaceful persuasion for the support of the British electorate. "Our purpose is simple and direct: to annihilate the enemy - to smash them, beat them down and exterminate them, for the sake of racial purity" Colin Jordan - British National Socialist movement. The second secret face of the National Front, is a leadership riddled with the miseries of Nazi ideas, who currently maintain intimate connections with small neo-Nazi cells in Britain and abroard, because of their beliefs and motives this is not only tactically expedient but instinctive. "The Negro immigrants are biologically inferior and easily manipulated by Jews). But the Jews can't be as easily manipulated white men, so they are doing everything possible to destroy the idea that there is any such thing as "race". The continued existence of white civilisation and the white race depends on whether enough British are concerned about imminent catastrophe to do something professional and revolutionary about it." Martin Webster - National Front Nazi Tendency. The National Front sees the new immigrant communities as the major enemy of the British race and way of life and calls for compulsory repatriation of all immigrants. They are now back, in Reading and make no mistake, they will not reason or be reasoned with - this presence is a total malaise wherever it erupts and it will intensify racial hatred to fever-pitch in certain areas in Reading, with the inevitable attacks, fire-bombings, assaults on what they see as the "anarcho-leftist rabble" - they are total bastards and there can be no opting out, because they go in search of enemies. The Front was formed in 1967 out of a merger of the League of Empire Loyalists, the majority of the Racial Preservation Society, the British National Party and John Tyndalls Greater Britain Movement, which Tyndall formed in 1964 as a splinter from the British National Party. Until now personal squabbles and splits among the potential "Fathers" of the NF hierarchy have plagued the movement; but they are now on the rise again. Beyond Zero: The Sword, The Covenant And The Arm Of The Lord. The National Front is part of a nihilistic death culture- "For the masses, virility, blood, vital space and death took the place of a socialism that had much too much respect for the dominant meanings... all fascist meanings stem out of a composite representation of love and death, of Eros and Thatanos now made into one. Hitler and the Nazis were fighting for death right up to and including the death of Germany. The masses agreed to follow along and meet their own destruction." In Nazi and current National Front literature, the masses are represented as fluid and feminine. Hence the vangardist cadre of the National Front is the personified will of the British electorate, who will drum the masses into shape for the last great racial struggle to the death before the purist millennium. The masses (of individuals) are seen as a dough like substance or maliable clay to be moulded into shapes determined by the artistic transcendent will of the leader (Tyndall? Webster?) who is steeled by his conviction - a putrescent messianic/diabolical mythic figure rising gigantic above the masses, bouyed up by the racial will and personifying the racial destiny. The National Front would eliminate women from public life because they see politics as solely a male sphere. Women would be desexualized and restrained within the smaller unit of the family, the micro unit of the fascist state. All subversive ideologies and those linked to the propagation of such ideologies would be exterminated, which means all the leading anarchists in Reading, along with the Trotskyists would be immediately dealt with. A new racially pure group would emerge, and all the heterogenous elements in National Front British society would be purged... intellectuals, lesbians, politicos, homosexuals, ethnic minorities... according to expediency. "Humanity has grown up in eternal combat, in eternal paece humanity would waste away... Nature annihilates the weak and gives their place to the strong." A.Hitler; The Speeches 1933-1939. This logic if taken to the ultimate conclusion would lead to the total extinction of humankind. This cancer is now growing in Reading and if we adopt the usual "do nothing" attitude, tomorrow really will belong to them... they have got to be stopped at all costs; but be warned, things could get ugly. 2001: Pharoah, Blade, Beserker, Cumulus and Fury Box 2001 - - - SUNSHINE AND GLEE CLUB SAT 16TH NOVEMBER If you missed all of it you must have been occupied for a long time. Arriving just after 6 de Wombat settled in and watched listened and experienced Earthlore truly the saving grace of Baisingstoke powerful and plenty of bitz for the head loved it caught up on the rest of the day from the various bods lying/sitting/squatting/dazed about The Escapists Charas and maybe somebody else well ed and not a complaint to be heard. With all of us looking forward to the rest of the night the Ozrik Tentacles take off getting a name for themselves all around the country with their fusion of old and new using sounds that will bring back past memories of stroboscopic joss smoke and freestyle space Love It Top up time and to the gathering to bar the Gathering see the mighty utterance for more in depth on their music as by now i was getting distracted at every turn u took remained well dazzled into the next band with head music (yes more) and the Magic mushroom band next a an unscheduled stop at Plan 9 with 3 women who maybe should have known better and mega heads declaring themselves the worst fucking band on all night something wally would go along with a medley of old time music that had not a few people heading for the bar or home thank the glee factor it was short. Next my fave after having seen them at doris's Webcore just getting into their set when the lights go on the house lights that is nobody moves the band play on in a weird mixture of stage and neon lights not forgetting their distinctive musical space Webcore have a lot to say/play .*.*.*. 2.40 the music brings us home to the stark realityish of gear to be put away and a floor to be swept for the next one. Thanku all for the time u were there. ThankU to the few who managed all day and night i understand that Doris's friends contributed to a right smasher of an evening. ranting review from Wally de Wombat - - - WITH PUMPKIN SPIRIT the Women's Review was a tremendous success. Many thanks to many men who helped behind the scenes - George, Paul, Cliff, Alan, Clive, Tim, Martin, Steve, Bill and Haptali. - - - WOMEN'S REVIEW Being an over-the top splurge on the Woman's Review which I thought was absolutely marvellous! The Review comprised an extraordinary variety of items, using the music movement writing & drama skills of many women. I had no sense of individuals taking their own, since the different forms of self-expression seemed woven together to present a wonderful whole. The strength of women working together to present their common & individual womanly experiences was reflected not only in the dynamic content of the review, but in the performing itself. A whole web of emotions were evoked by the brave, angry, strong, gentle and funny presentations, leaving me feeling quite extraordinary and intensely grateful to have been shown so much by so many women. Thank you everyone for such an empowering evening! NB For others who want more of this, the regular Women's Centre parties are starting to feature "cabaret" spots from the performance group. - - - Any women interested in forming a WOMEN'S GROUP in the Reading area, please phone Sue on Reading 587906 (evenings). - - - "WHAT RAPED OR ASSAULTED WOMEN NEED is to be able to talk to someone...." So run the programme notes for a Women's Review, a benefit for Reading Rape Crisis Line, staged recently at the Reading Centre for the Unemployed. 25 women of a wide range of ages recited, danced, rapped, sang, and acted their way through about as many sketches. It started lively, seldom rambled and maintained its momentum to the end, a tribute to the stage management of Cath Lacey, Tami Peirson and Sophie Mattias. With sketch titles like, "Men in a woman's life" and "Women getting stronger" I anticipated, as a male member of the audience a two hour castigation for all that for which my sex has been responsible. It didn't occur. We were made welcome. I felt this was not sex-polarising staunch feminist material. Rather it was a pooling of some highly entertaining talents to provoke thought in our minds, men and women, about traditional roles and norms of behavior. Apparently not every women is flattered by innuendos and not every girl wants to follow her mother in the family business. One performer used poetry and wit to celebrate rather than defend her right to choose and enjoy her lesbian lifestyle. Another sang unaccompanied in a haunting style a song which posed the question "Did Jesus have a baby sister?" There were calls in other sketches for women, to "Reclaim the Night" and to "Stay Free". And there was plenty of stuff which departed from sex-wars and demonstrated concern in the fields of policing, peace and conservation. It was as pithy as a South African navel. The idea ideas came across because the quality and vitality of the entertainment were powerful enough vehicles to deliver the more weighty goods. The final round of singing involved some quite complex audience participation which, despite too few of us being issued with word-sheets, worked extremely well. I thought I could hear almost as many baritones as sopranos. Timothy Gibson - - - WOMEN'S CONFERENCE On November 14th we had the first meeting to discuss organising a women's conference for Reading. There are lots of active women in Reading, (the Women's Centre mailing list stands at nearly 400 names), and the group decided that the main purpose of the conference would be to bring local women together, to get to know each other through discussion, learning, and having a good time. We now need lots of women to get involved, either to help with the organisation and planning, or to suggest or offer workshop & activity ideas. We will be meeting fortnightly on Tuesdays, 7pm, at the Women's Centre. All women are very welcome to come along, or to send ideas to the Women's Centre, The Basement, Old Shire Hall, Abbey St, Reading. Next meeting- Tuesday 26th November at 7pm Karen. - - - RECLAIM THE NIGHT On Friday 8th November about 70 women, along with the "necessary" police escort, marched through Reading to demonstrate against:- * rape * male violence against women * police attitudes to rape victims * the power men exert over women, preventing us from: walking the streets safely; staying in our homes or driving in our cars; denying us the freedom to chose where we go and what we do. Initially the march angered me as I felt patronised by the police presence; we should not have to ask anyone before we can walk the streets at night. However, once the police had disappeared, after our return to the women's centre, we decided that another march was in order. We set off again down Broad Street going towards the Oxford Rd. and evaded the police for quite a long time. I felt that the "second" march was more successful as we stopped more traffic, made more noise, and generally drew more attention to ourselves and our demands. As much as I enjoyed the March, I was aware that marching on its own would not change anything. A.M. - - - AROUND THE PARISH... Followers of Radio 4's "You the Jury" programme may remember Shirley Porter's defense of Government Policies during last month's debate on local government. Lady Porter, Leader of Westminster City Council and Mrs Thatcher's favourite Councillor, alleged that Labour-controlled London Boroughs were denying lories their fair share of representation on subcommittees and the like. She saw this as blatantly undemocratic, and said that the Government was stepping in to put things right. The majority party on Reading Borough Council - it holds one seat more than the Opposition (23 out of 45), last week decided to allocate itself 150 out of 204 seats for the Opposition parties and all other nominees. So it seems as though our Shirley was right. One small point though - the majority party in Reading is Conservative. The carve-up is even worse when you take into account that the Tory group has the support of only a minority of voters and rules Reading Borough Council by virtue of Britain's ridiculously non-proportional electoral system. All this, as Liberal leader Jim Day has pointed out, at a time when the Government is trying to reduce political control of the schools. And to add insult to injury the Tories voted to have the decision taken in secret. What's that you were saying about politically motivated extremists, Shirley Porter? Reading Green Party (formerly the Ecology Party) has announced that it will field at least one candidate in Reading at the next election, despite the increase in the Parliamentary deposit. Following their recent successes in the Belgian and Swedish elections, the Greens are determined to ensure that Green issues stay on the political agenda in Britain. The Old Coley Residents' Association has compiled a horrific report on the Field Road lorry depot, located among the packed terraces of the steep Coley streets. The depot offers temporary parking for anything up to a dozen lorries which have been heard to come and go from 3am until after midnight. Houses shake and subside, road surfaces are ploughed into deep ruts and house and garden walls are frequently damaged when vehicles run into them. OCRA believes that the depot was granted a certificate of use while operating far fewer lorries, since when numbers have got out of control. For some time the depot has used a piece of land without planning permission. The Borough Council was informed over a year ago but has still to take action. Yet another petition has been presented to the council calling for action to be taken before there are any more accidents. Meanwhile, among the lorries sighted in the are was one trailing a mobile recording studio in the steep, 15-foot wide traffic lane in Field Road! Don Pedro - - - RED RAG SCRATCH DISCO Trystero System meets surgery sound ... in some kind of stylee... Tim Hill: sax Mike Cooper: guitar Pat Thomas: piano Video installation by the Real Time Video Collective. Improvised dance music, scratched onto funk, electric, African & reggae. Plus music from the new Red Rag funk tape. Paradise Club, London St. Tues 10th December 8pm-2am - - - PPU / INTERESTED PARTIES Afternoon of leafletting and sticking - War toys and Anti-Apartheid. Hexagon 2pm every Saturday until Xmas. Leaflets and stickers will be available. More details - Box 10 Acorn. - - - CATS Inspired by a wonderful calendar in Acorn called "Cat Lovers against the bomb", I thought about setting up a "Reading Cat Lovers Against The Bomb". If you love cats and believe in peace then join me. Paul 869157 - - - CHRISTMAS TIME BUTTS WAY So the Butts has gone all festive... yipee, a huge Christmas tree, millions of snow flakes about as realistic as a human being impersonating Raygun and yea wait for it Father Christmas and his grotto, electric gnomes and pixies bobbing their little bits backwards and forwards. Not all bad though, the grotto lies in the bit below the main precinct, so gobbers go forth and spit. All this festive stuff is nice so they tell us, but all it does is highlights the capitalist shit-bags commersialised christmas, perhaps next year they'll not bother, just put up a sign saying: "Come and spend your money on crap to make us rich, oh yer P.S. Merry Christmas or whatever it is..." PH - - - ACORN BITZ Collective greetings to all, hope everybody's OK never mind the weather. Well we have been Readings 2nd Co-op for just over a year now and we're getting into the swing of providing for all your needs and reading requirements. This years best seller by far is Reading between the Wavy Lines also Winnie Mandela's Part of my Soul, the new selection of science fiction from the Womans Press, Steve Bell with another load of If, Mothers by Claire Bretecher. Appeal section! Plastic carriers paper bags and the such like we need more, also if you fancy volunteering some of your time to help us cope with the expected seasonal busy part of the year and work in the shop for a few hours a week come in and speak to us, more appeal while we haven't been raided again Gay's the Word in London still need more support for their trial due some time in 1986, the support fund now stands just over £50000 but they are facing a trial which is going to be long and tiring and will have serious repercussions for all printed material dealing with sensitive matters of any sorts be it personal politics, freedom or the space to read what you want to in your own time and space. So collecting tin in Acorn or go to one of the benefits (mostly in London) unless you feel like putting one together. Anyhow we're all in reasonable shape and hope you are to come and see us soon. Love and sprouts, the Acorn collective - - - VEGGIE BITS Veggie Dining had its second rebirth last Friday (15th). A hearty winter feast of leek & potato soup followed by blackeye bean curry, mushroom onion & bulgur pilaf and salad with apple pie and coconut cream for desert was enjoyed by all. During the evening we were entertained by the unusual sounds of Dave Jerry & Chris (guitar, dulcimer & bongoes) which was also well appreciated. Veggie Dining is run as a loose collective (i.e. you can get involved) who take it in turns to prepare the whole event for one session. All cooks, musicians & helpers get a free meal while everyone else pays £2:50/£2 (waged/unwaged) which pays for the cost of the food, the hire of the hall and a small surplus to buy or replace kitchen equipment. The more people involved in the collective the better it works! The next Veggie Dining is on Friday 29th at Reading Centre for the Unemployed at 8pm. If you want to eat get tickets (available only in advance) from Acorn Bookshop and if you want to help prepare it phone Claire on 662672. If you are interested in working on future occasions then contact Jonathan on 599969 or leave a note in box 495 at Acorn. Keep On Cooking! - - - THE ROOT OF THE MATTER is a little more than a licenced vegetarian cafe, providing vegetarian and vegan meals as well as other food and drink. The food is vegetarian for obvious reasons, but also fills a gap in Reading itself, offering a cheap and wholesome alternative to a lump of half raw gristle in a bun. Located near the U.B.O., inside Mo's Place, we're open from lunch through to evening six days a week, and often have bands busking on Friday and Saturday nights. We'll continue to work on in an inhibited and sometimes staid Reading community. 8 London Street, Reading. - - - $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/user/ndl/readings-only-newspaper/issue/1985/1985-11-24.txt#4 $