Published: Thursday, 23rd October, 2008 10:18am

Retro: Coming of age at Eighteen's

by David Cliffe

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ON THE face of it, this is not a very interesting picture, but I was intrigued by the very long building, and what it could have been used for.

The picture comes from a collection of negatives lent to the library which have now been scanned and soon you will be able to see them on the library website.

The pictures were taken in the 1970s and show parts of the Newtown area that were about to be demolished - Albert Road, Arthur Road, Awbrey Terrace, Kennet Side, Kingsgate Street, Leopold Road, Orts Road, Rupert Street and Victoria Road.

Here, we are looking along Orts Road. The inn sign by the side of the long building must be for the Fisherman's Cottage, still in business, reached by a path down to Kennet Side to the left.

And if you peer at the original, you can just about see the Carpenters Arms, further along Orts Road.

I don't know what the long building was being used for when the

picture was taken, but a look through old directories shows that originally this was Eighteen's horse depository. Advertisements state that 100 horses were kept there, awaiting inspection.

In Reading, the surname Eighteen has long been associated with the fish trade, and round the corner in Arthur Road was Eighteen's wholesale fish business. The fish would have arrived by rail. In the yard between Orts Road and Arthur Road was the smoke house, where kippers, bloaters and smoked haddock were produced.

There were three Eighteen brothers in the early 20th century. The business had been started by their father. Jack ran the horse business, Sam ran the fish curing business, and George had a fish shop.

Does anyone have interesting memories of the Eighteen family and their businesses or know the origins of their intriguing surname? Call Adam Hewitt on 0118 963 3152.