Twyford, Berkshire

For other places of the same name, see Twyford.

Twyford
Twyford  Twyford shown within Berkshire
Population	6,216
OS grid reference	SU790755
Civil parish	Ruscombe
Unitary authority	Wokingham
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Reading
Postcode district	RG10
Dialling code	0118
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wokingham
Website	Twyford Parish Council
List of places UK England Berkshire

Twyford is a large village and civil parish in the English Royal county of Berkshire with a population of about 7,000 people. It is in the Thames Valley at grid reference SU794752 on the A4 between Reading and Maidenhead, close to Henley-on-Thames and Wokingham.

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, on the Old Bath Road to the west of the centre. Both are 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 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 Waitrose supermarket, British delicatessen and other shops, which makes it the local centre for the northern part of Wokingham district. A Tesco Express opened in February 2012. 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.

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. Crossrail is due to reach Twyford in 2019. 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 and Henley-on-Thames 5 miles (8 km) to the north. London is 35 miles (56 km) to the east.

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.

Notable residents

The actor Dennis Price was born in Twyford. The Home Secretary and MP for Maidenhead Theresa May lives near Twyford, which is part of her constituency.

External links

• Wokingham Borough Council
• Twyford Village Partnership
• Twyford & District Round Table
• Cycling in Twyford with Cycle Chilterns