emmer green sign restored 23 05

A WOODEN sign welcoming people to Emmer Green has been refurbished.

About 20 people gathered in Buckingham Drive to mark the restoration of the oak sign, which is at the top of a large post at the side of the road.

The unveiling was attended by members of organisations represented on the several carved plaques that decorate the post. The former village residents’ association commissioned the sign, which was made by the Berkshire Woodcarvers’ Association in 2003.

It was showing signs of weathering so the Caversham and District Residents’ Association, which now covers Emmer Green too, asked Reading Men’s Shed to restore it. The group was also responsible for refurbishing the wooden noticeboard in the nearby Milestone Way shopping precinct.

Neil Parker, a member of the residents’ association committee, oversaw the restoration work.

He said: “We had the sign and the base all cleaned up and restored and fixed the skirting at the bottom because it was getting rotten.”

Some of the plaques were restored too. These represent local organisations such as Emmer Green Primary School, Highdown School and Sixth Form College and the former BBC Caversham site, which is set to be redeveloped for housing.

Mr Parker said: “We got people from all the schools and organisations that are on the post to come along. Highdown, Emmer Green primary, the CADRA committee, someone who worked for the BBC, someone from the WI and the guys that did the repair work.”

Myles Sibley and Kevin Slade, of the Reading Men’s Shed, carried out the restoration work.

Mr Sibley said: “I made two new plaques from some pieces of oak. I guess I spent a total of about nine hours apiece on those. Kevin did the oak skirting around the bottom.”

The sign also features an engraving of an oak tree which stood in Park Farm, near where the precinct now is.