Retro: Staravia!

David Cliffe • Published 27 Aug 2009 08:00 2 Comments

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ON July 23, my article on this page asked about a house called Star Avia. I should like to thank the people who contacted me to put me straight. I should have been looking for a company called Staravia.

It turns out that Staravia was one of the enterprises of a colourful and popular Reading character, Duggie Goldstein, who lived in the house in the photograph, which was on the south side of Lower Henley Road in Caversham, and known as The Slopes. A recent housing development, also called The Slopes, now occupies the site.

One call I had was from someone who as a child used to go to the house because his parents were friends of Mr Goldstein. He remembers playing in an orchard by the side of the house. Another caller had worked for W&T Avery, and serviced the scales used by Staravia in its Caversham premises behind the house. The company's headquarters were in King's Ride, Ascot.

In the old telephone books you can see that the firm had two telephone numbers in Ascot - one for the offices, and the other for the social club - which suggests that it must have been a sizeable concern. The Caversham premises did not have a telephone number.

They were dealers in second-hand aircraft, aircraft breakers, and suppliers of spare parts to the aviation industry. A trawl through the internet shows that after the Beeching railway closures, they were buying up lengths of track in Hampshire, and storing aircraft in the tunnels.

Staravia appears in the Reading directories for only five years, and one wonders quite what it was doing in those buildings. The first directory entry comes in 1967, and the last in 1972.

By now, you are probably wondering what the connection might be with the photograph of Castle Street. It was taken in the mid 1960s, just before the Inner Distribution Road was driven through.

The building on the right, 50 Castle Street, was called Star Service - a bookmaker's. This was another of Mr Goldstein's enterprises, and one which was successful for many years. The betting shop was next door to The Truro pub, which is just off the picture, to the right.

- THANKS to all the Chronicle readers who got in touch with memories of Star Avia, including Bernie Hume from New Zealand, Bruce Henderson, Dick Sawdon Smith, Mr Knotts from Lower Henley Road, E Tomkins from Shinfield and others. Contact Retro on 0118 955 3303.

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Ross K
Unregistered User
Sep 21, 08:26
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My Father worked for Staravia in the 1960s, he was based at Blackbushe where Staravia also had premises.

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Steve
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Mar 10, 08:42
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I have been trying to find information on Staravia with referance to an area oppisite one of their premises in Ascot.

My interest is in aviation history and there appears to be an large runway hidden in the trees oppisite to were Staravia had some premises.

Does any one have any information on this, or any other Staravia sites?

Thanks

Stephen Clark

steve.c@homecall.co.uk

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