6 County Lock

5 Lower Brook Street

The Kennet here now flows fairly swiftly along the eastern side of its valley. The streets on the eastern side of the valley rise quite steeply away from the river. The valley is then flat for several hundred metres before rising rapidly again towards Castle Hill. There is still evidence on either side of the valley of areas which were once dug for clay. The river itself hugs the eastern side of the valley. Across on the other side and a few metres higher runs the Holy Brook. This separates from the main Kennet several miles upstream and takes a more northerly course. At one time the two rivers were connected by many streams, but now few remain. In winter, the area between the two rivers regularly flooded, and it was on these water meadows that the townspeople in previous centuries used to graze their cattle. Muddy and impassable, this was the only area of the town not to be fortified during the Civil War. Only in the twentieth century was a railway goods yard built here. The Goods Yard was closed in the 1980's and a dual carriageway road now crosses the site. linking Reading with the Motorway, but still using the old railway bridge to dive below Berkeley Avenue.

The River Kennet here is a quiet backwater when compared with the bustle of the town. Once however, it was the main means of moving goods west and east from Reading. Now it is used mainly for pleasure craft, some of which are often moored along this part of the river.