Retro: College that never was

David Cliffe • Published 7 Jan 2010 09:00 0 Comments

RECENTLY I was looking at the Reading local papers for 1950 in connection with a talk I was about to give, on the history of the motor trade in Reading.

Inevitably, as the microfilm passed under the lens, other things caught my eye.

In September there was the demolition of St John's Vicarage in Victoria Square to make way for the new Technical College, and then, in the last issue of the year, there was an article about the college, with this architect's impression of what it was to look like.

I was amazed by the size of what was planned - about three times the size of the building that was opened by the Queen Mother in 1955.

Here was another of those fascinating pictures which showed Reading as it might have been. The plan was to construct the buildings in stages, in the same style.

In due course more buildings were put up, but in different styles.

The driving force behind the new college was the borough council, and in particular the Chief Education Officer, Mr C. F. Taylor. Amusingly, in the article they are twice referred to as "those in authority".

It was Mr Taylor who insisted on room for future expansion, and until further buildings were needed, lawns

would be created the land to the east, and opened to the public. The foresight, optimism and idealism expressed in the article seem to have evaporated to some extent in the last 60 years.

It begins: "When Marshall Aid ends on Monday, the people of Great Britain will be financially on their own feet for the first time since the war. They will again have to rely entirely on their own skill and efforts to keep the nation solvent by maintaining production.

"In such a testing time it is essential that all of those young people requiring a technical education should be afforded the very best conditions possible, so they can take their place in the drive for increased production with all the craftsmanship that has made British quality famous.

"In Reading, which is the centre of many industries, the need for improved facilities to train young technicians has long been felt.

"It is a need which those in authority have been trying to overcome..."

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