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 WHEN I was a boy it was considered a treat to be taken past the Catherine Wheel Hotel to see its coloured lights and eye-catching neon sign.
These have long gone and I imagine that youngsters now would not consider it a treat simply to be shown fancy lights! The pub has been a Berni Inn and is currently part of the Wetherspoon group but it dates back to the 16th century and was named after Henley’s reputedly favourite saint, Catherine. In the 17th century, the inn issued its own bronze and copper money for trading within the town.
The sign shows the legend of the wheel of torture for which St Catherine is best known. Born to the pagan ruler of Alexandria in the 2nd or 3rd century, Catherine is supposed to have converted many key people under his rule to Christianity, resulting in their execution and eventually her own. She was condemned to be killed on a spiked wheel but legend has it that at her martyrdom the wheel broke and the spikes flew off — and it was this that led to the Catherine wheel firework we know today.
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Regular Features
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| WEEKEND SPORT |
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Take a look at this weekend's local sporting action...
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