Reading doesn't want boaters anymore!

[nipper]

Those of you that have "Done the Thames" will be aware that the best place to stop in Reading for shopping is in Tesco's at Kings Meadow!

A free mooring for shopper outside the very doors of Tesco's.

Well, not any more, charges are being levied on moored boats the same as at the Park above Caversham Lock!


All this is done, apparently by Reading Council, who it appearers, really don't want cruising boats, including the Hire boats to moor in there posh town!

 

 

 

 

Nipper

 

 

[Nightwatch]

You can still moor there for 24 hours.

 

Perhaps other, mean minded, boaters have been hogging the spot.

 

I,for one, wouldn't want to be in Tesco for as long as 24 hours.

[magnetman]

Sign of the times really.

 

But errrr

 

Reading...Posh...

 

[Nightwatch]

Sign of the times really.

But errrr

Reading...Posh...

Yes! I agree. Reading is not the poshest nor most pleasant of Towns. IMO.

[magnetman]

Very diplomatic !

[Lmcgrath87]

I mean, you can still moor there...you lust just have to pay...same at other places on the Thames. Or am I missing the point?

[sueb]

Too many boats making a home there, especially in winter. It should be a short stop like Leighton Buzzard

[cereal tiller]

Those of you that have "Done the Thames" will be aware that the best place to stop in Reading for shopping is in Tesco's at Kings Meadow!

 

A free mooring for shopper outside the very doors of Tesco's.

 

Well, not any more, charges are being levied on moored boats the same as at the Park above Caversham Lock!

 

 

All this is done, apparently by Reading Council, who it appearers, really don't want cruising boats, including the Hire boats to moor in there posh town!

 

DSC_0209.JPG

 

 

 

Nipper

 

 

Gave up trying to shop at the Tesco's some years ago,there is nearly always a colony of C.Mers cluttering the moorings.

 

Would be best to make it a 2 hour free mooring just for boater's to stop and shop.

 

CT

[ditchcrawler]

Gave up trying to shop at the Tesco's some years ago,there is nearly always a colony of C.Mers cluttering the moorings.

 

Would be best to make it a 2 hour free mooring just for boater's to stop and shop.

 

CT

That is how it use to be originally when Tesco opened.

[David Schweizer]

Gave up trying to shop at the Tesco's some years ago,there is nearly always a colony of C.Mers cluttering the moorings.

 

Would be best to make it a 2 hour free mooring just for boater's to stop and shop.

 

CT

 

I found the same more than ten years ago, and gave up relying on the possibility of a mooring outside Tescos at Reading. The system they have at Linslade mooring outside Tesco's seems to work really well with the 2 hour maximum observed by all boaters, Even if the mooring is full when you arrive, haning about for 15 to twenty minutes usually results in a space becoming available.

 

 

 

 

I mean, you can still moor there...you lust just have to pay...same at other places on the Thames. Or am I missing the point?

 

I have never had to pay for a mooring on the Thames, except a couple which have a voluntary charity donation request. I used to do the Thames regularly and knew where all the free moorings were, although some involved tethering to trees!!

Edited October 16, 2015 by David Schweizer

[Tim]

Gets my vote, maybe I'll be able to think about stopping to shop again!

[ditchcrawler]

Gets my vote, maybe I'll be able to think about stopping to shop again!

£9 25 to go shopping?

[nipper]

Not too bad if you save up the vouchers!

[valrene9600]

£9 25 to go shopping?

Cheaper to get it delivered to the boat. We do it all the time and have done it on Thames at Maidenhead.

[Jess--]

not knowing how many spaces there are available at reading (using 4 as an example for this)

 

If 4 boats have moored to do their shopping (each having to pay £9.25) I would think that they would be likely to stay there for the 24 hours rather than move on and have to another mooring charge in the same day.

 

this means that if you are unlucky enough to be boat number 5 you are unlikely to be able to moor up and do your shopping.

 

a better option would be free for 2 hours OR £9.25 for 24 hours

 

thinking about it maybe a better option all round would be to put in a pay n display machine set at £1 per hour (or £9.25 through till 10 AM the following morning). If tesco wanted to encourage moorers to use their shop they could then offer to refund customer mooring costs (with a limit of 3 hours for example)

[valrene9600]

I guess it boils down to who has the legal right to make charges.

[Steilsteven]

As far as I can see, this is the latest attempt to outlaw over stayers. There are a few who have been there a long, long time.

 

It's very nice of RBC to allow boaters to pay over the phone by credit card, obviously everyone will do so the moment they arrive!

 

Keith

[Peter X]

On my one visit in July (about noon on a Friday) we were struggling to moor to the one remaining space due to its overhanging vegetation, which I suspect was empty because of this problem, but the neighbouring boat offered to let us breast up for our visit to Tesco. If Reading Council has wanted £9.25 we'd have given it a miss and shopped elsewhere.

 

The sign (legible using cereal tiller's link DSC_0209.JPG) certainly reads to me as if someone on the council wants to prevent long term mooring there and make some money out of anyone who does moor, but is a bit ignorant about boaters and hasn't thought it through properly. If they fully enforce this charge, I'd expect the bank there to become pretty empty, and that the income from the few people who'd be prepared to pay it might not cover the cost of enforcement. It would be wiser to set charges rather like a typical town centre car park, i.e. quite cheap for a short shopping trip but escalating steeply for a longer stay. Tesco would probably prefer that too, although boaters will only be a small part of their business there and I suppose they have no say in the decision. In theory, assuming Reading Council own the riverbank there, I suppose they can set whatever charges they choose?

 

Does anyone know, how much do Reading council actually enforce their rules at Caversham? Do they really only use it as a blunt weapon to drive away anyone they don't like the look of?

[Steilsteven]

I guess it boils down to who has the legal right to make charges.

 

Reading Borough Council as riparian owners.

They have always tried to charge for mooring against their land but have, mostly, been ignored.

 

Keith

[David Mack]

I have never had to pay for a mooring on the Thames, except a couple which have a voluntary charity donation request. I used to do the Thames regularly and knew where all the free moorings were, although some involved tethering to trees!!

 

Last time I moored at Reading to go shopping in Tesco I had to tie up to trees.

[Peter X]

As to whether Reading's posh, historically it was famous for being average for the country, with a typical range of incomes, and was often used for test marketing of products for that reason. There were good and bad bits, and that was my impression of it on various visits and when I worked there in 1991-93. Nowadays I imagine it's gone up in the world a bit due to the general prosperity of the Thames Valley and the growth of the software business in and around Reading in particular, and viewing it from the Thames and Kennet in July it looked OK to me.

[Steilsteven]

The sign says £9.25 ( I wonder how they arrived at such an odd sum ) for 24 hours. As it doesn't say or any part thereof, or overnight,

this implies ( to me at least ) that there is no charge for less than 24 hours.

 

I've arrived there late on many an occasion and, after shopping, stopped over till the morning.

I will, no doubt, be doing that again and have no intention of parting with £9.25 for the privilege.

 

Keith

[Tony Brooks]

There is always outside the Queens Road car park and Sainsburys.

[Steilsteven]

As to whether Reading's posh, historically it was famous for being average for the country, with a typical range of incomes, and was often used for test marketing of products for that reason. There were good and bad bits, and that was my impression of it on various visits and when I worked there in 1991-93. Nowadays I imagine it's gone up in the world a bit due to the general prosperity of the Thames Valley and the growth of the software business in and around Reading in particular, and viewing it from the Thames and Kennet in July it looked OK to me.

Caversham Heights is the posh bit.

 

Keith

[Lady Muck]

 

Last time I moored at Reading to go shopping in Tesco I had to tie up to trees.

We attempted to go there 3 weeks ago (really wanted to do a big shop), even the moorable trees were taken. So we didn't go to Tesco.