Twyford, Berkshire

For other places of the same name, see Twyford.

Twyford is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated, at grid reference SU794752, in the heart of the Thames Valley on the A4 between Reading and Maidenhead, close to Henley-on-Thames and Wokingham.

History

The town's name is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and means double ford. It is a common name in England. Twyford does, as the name suggests, have two fords, on the Bath Road to the west of the centre. One is bridged, the other is next to the Land's End Public House.

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, spent the final years of his life in Ruscombe Fields, a property close to Twyford, and is remembered by a residential street named 'Pennfields'.

Twyford was primarily an agriculturally based settlement until the coming of the railway in 1838 placed it on the main line to the west and subsequently made it a junction for the Henley Branch Line. However, its position on the Bath Road had always brought activity which was centred on the King's Arms, an important coaching inn. The opening of a by-pass in 1929 finally ended the east-west flow of main road traffic through the centre, but Twyford is still on a busy north-south route from Wokingham in the south to Henley in the north. The greatest expansion, however, has taken place since the Second World War, particularly in the last 50 years, with the construction of several estates to the north and south of the village. The population is now about 9000 people, but is still affectionately known by the residents as a village.

Today

Twyford today is largely a commuter town for workers travelling to Reading, Maidenhead and London. Local commercial activity and hence employment is restricted by its close proximity to the major conurbations of Reading and Maidenhead, where major high street shopping facilities are located. It does, however, possess a substantial supermarket and other retail outlets, which makes it the local centre for the northern part of Wokingham district. The village is considered an affluent area where property prices are significantly higher than the national average. Twyford also has one of the lowest levels of unemployment in the country.

Government

Twyford has its own parish council, and is also in the Borough of Wokingham, and the ceremonial county of Berkshire. Before this it was in Wokingham Rural District and the hundred of Charlton. Before 1895, Twyford was part of the parish of Hurst, within the liberty of Broad Hinton. Between the 13th century and 1844, Broad Hinton was officially a detached part of Wiltshire.

Transport

Situated in the Thames Valley, Twyford is 10 miles from the M4, M40 and M3 motorways and 25 miles from the M25. Twyford railway station is on the Great Western Main Line and served by trains between Reading and London Paddington stations. These transport links make Twyford very popular with commuters. The town of Reading is 10 km (6 miles) to the west, with Maidenhead 12 km (7.5 miles) to the east and Henley-on-Thames 8 km (5 miles) to the north. London is 56 km (35 miles) to the east.

Sport and recreation

There are two recreation grounds in Twyford, both owned and managed by the Parish Council.

1. King George's Field (aka The Rec), lying between London Road and Wargrave Road has football pitches, 3 tennis courts, children's playgrounds and a youth shelter. A project to build a skate park and ball court in the field was completed in July 2008. 2. Stanlake Meadow, off Waltham Road, has football pitches, a cricket square used by Twyford & Ruscombe Cricket Club and a pavilion which is also used as a nursery school.

Indoor sports clubs use the parish hall, Loddon Hall. This is a joint facility with the neighbouring parish of Ruscombe.

Twyford also has a youth football club called Twyford Comets who play on both of the recreation grounds described above.

Twyford also has a tennis club, a bowls club with its own green and claims to have the oldest Badminton club in the country.

External links

• Wokingham Borough Council