Many people who have grown up in Reading feel that over the years the town has lost its character.

The closure of many independents within the town centre to make way for an influx of huge chains has left locals longing for a Reading of the past.

Long-time resident Murray Leese said that especially over the last five years he feels that the town centre has declined.

He said: “It really needs to be brought back to what it once was because it was very vibrant in the 60s right until the year 2000.

“Then suddenly it just dropped. The only way it could be brought back is if the council reduced the business rates. It’s now too expensive for independents. It’s going to be a dying town before very long.”

Mr Leese also said that many of Reading’s iconic streets are nowhere near as vibrant as they used to be.

“Friar Street now is not a patch on what it used to be,” he said.

“They had an amazing pub on there called The Boar’s Head, a cinema known as the ABC, great little shops where people used to buy records. All these places are just lost.”

Mr Leese explained that there is a general feeling amongst long-time residents that the older generation of Reading ‘had it all.’

“I could go back 60 years into my childhood and truly say that I really enjoyed Reading in my youth, it had so much to offer.

“The Thames was always full of pleasure boats that people used to wave at and cheer. It was just wonderful.”

Mr Leese also gave a list of shops on Broad Street that are sadly missed. He mentioned Martin Ford, Hill’s toy shop, Littlewoods, and British Home Stores.

“Broad Street was a hive of activity,” he said. “We also had a beautiful café called the Cadena, the smell from that used to be fantastic. It was really lovely to walk down Broad Street.”

John Finnerty, a retired police officer who has lived in Reading since 1960, said that as a town we do have to move with the times, but there is a balance to be struck.

“I remember the town before pedestrianisation for example, which has both brought with it tremendous positives and negatives.

“I feel as though Reading is pretty deprived now with people sleeping on the streets. We never used to see that before.”

Mr Finnerty said that many people long for a time when the big chains weren’t so prominent in the town centre.

“The issue now is when you go to any major town you seem to see the same shops whereas 50 years ago there were individual shops,” he said.

“My issue with the town is that in the 60s we swept away so much beautiful architecture and replaced it with eyesores. We now all miss the beautiful Victorian buildings.”

Mr Finnerty mentioned Vicars Butchers which had a beautiful façade that dated back to the 20s. The unit is now the disgraced rat-infested butchers Kenya Meats, who covered the façade with a board.

He also reminisced a time when Reading had multiple art deco picture houses, one of which is now the job centre.

“We have to bear in mind though that when these picture houses were built there was no television. If people wanted to watch the daily news they would have to go to the picture houses.”

Having lived in Tilehurst and Calcot his whole life, Mr Finnerty used to patrol the Oxford Road predominantly, which he said is a fantastic place because it’s so vibrant.