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 gbmapping|SU794752, in the heart of the Thames Valley on the A4 between Reading and Maidenhead, close to Henley-on-Thames and Wokingham.

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.

History

The town's name is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and means "double ford". It is a common name in England. Twyford does indeed have two fords, although one is now bridged.

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. However, its position on the Bath Road brought activity which was centred on the King's Arms, an important coaching inn. The opening of a by-pass in 1929 ended this connection, but by then the village had expanded with economic activity associated with the railway station, which is the junction for the Henley Branch Line. The greatest expansion, however, has taken place since the Second World War, particularly in the last 30 years, with the construction of two estates to the south of the village. This has effectively transformed it from a village to a minor town of over 6000 people, although it is still considered a village by many of its older inhabitants. The opening of a Waitrose supermarket in 2000 made Twyford the retail centre for the northern parishes of Wokingham Borough and ensured its continuation as a working community, rather than just a dormitory town.

Communications

Situated in the Thames Valley, it 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.

port 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

* [http://www.twyford-berkshire.co.uk/ Small site with business directory and news]
* [http://www.twyrusdrama.org.uk/ Twyford and Ruscombe Theatre Group]
* [http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/ Regional authority - Wokingham Borough Council]