Twyford, Berkshire

History

The village's toponym is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and means double ford. It is a common name in England. Twyford had two fords over two branches of the River Loddon, on the Old Bath Road to the west of the centre.

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In 871 Alfred the Great, his brother Ethelred, and their army escaped their Viking pursuers by fording the River Loddon at Twyford, following the first Battle of Reading.

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, who was a well known philanthropist who donated his life savings to Loddon Village Hall, 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 agricultural settlement until the coming of the railway in 1838 put 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 north and south of the village. The population at the 2001 census was 6,216, but Twyford is still affectionately known by the residents as a village.

Today

Twyford today is largely a commuter settlement for workers travelling to Reading, Maidenhead, Wokingham and, further afield, London. Local commerce and hence employment is limited by its closeness to the major conurbations of Reading and Maidenhead, where major shopping facilities are.

It does, however, have a large Waitrose supermarket, Tesco Express, Post Office, and other shops, cafes, and restaurants. This 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 (probably due to the fact that Twyford provides an easy route to London). Twyford also has one of the lowest levels of unemployment in the country.

Twyford is also home to the global headquarters of the international construction and services company, Interserve, which employs 75,000 people worldwide.

Twyford is also a place of great community spirit and has many annual events. Popular in recent years have been the annual Twyford Beer Festival, and Twyfest, which is a week long festival of different events from live music, school discos, quiz nights and talent shows.

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. Until 1895 Twyford was part of the parish of Hurst in the liberty of Broad Hinton. From the 13th century until 1844 Broad Hinton was 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 (40 km) from the M25. Twyford railway station is on the Great Western Main Line and served by trains between Reading and London Paddington stations. There is also a branch line to Henley. Crossrail is due to reach Twyford in 2019. The Great Western Main Line is currently being electrified and new trains are due to start entering service from summer 2017. These links make Twyford very popular with commuters. The town of Reading is 6 miles (10 km) to the west, with Maidenhead 7.5 miles (12 km) to the east, Henley-on-Thames 5 miles (8 km) to the north, and Wokingham 5 miles (8 km) to the south. London is 35 miles (56 km) to the east. A direct rail link to Heathrow Airport is currently being planned.

Amenities

Twyford has two recreation grounds, both owned and managed by the Parish Council. King George's Field (also called The Rec), between London Road and Wargrave Road has football pitches, three tennis courts, children's playgrounds, a youth shelter and is where the yearly fireworks are held by Twyford Round Table. A project to build a skate park and ball court in the field was completed in July 2008. 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.

Twyford also has a youth football club called Twyford Comets which plays on both recreation grounds.

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

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

In 2015, the Cycle Chilterns project created a cycling guide to Twyford town and the surrounding area with cycling information and facilities, places to visit and a variety of cycle routes. The Twyford Cycling Guide can be downloaded and printed out from the website.

Twyford has sought-after schools and is also served by grammar schools in Reading.

Nature reserves between Twyford and Charvil provide lakeside and riverside walks.

Notable residents