This is a bridge across the River Thames between Caversham (formerly in Oxfordshire before 1911) and the town of Reading in Berkshire. It is a double span bridge usually pictured from the upstream side as the second span is obscured on the downstream side by the Island Restaurant. I like this side as you also get St. Peters Church visible in the trees on the Caversham side of the river. The first bridge on the site was built sometime between 1163 and 1231. The old bridge, stone-built on the Caversham half and wooden on the Reading half, was the site of a skirmish during the English Civil War in 1643 which resulted in a wooden drawbridge structure on the Berkshire half. The whole bridge was replaced by an iron lattice construction in 1869 which rapidly became too narrow for the increasing traffic using it. When a second crossing, Reading Bridge, had been completed in 1923, work began on replacing Caversham Bridge with the current structure which is of concrete with a granite balustrade. Although in use by 1924, it was officially opened by the Prince of Wales in 1926. ------------------------------------------ Original Photograph 12 Aug 2013