Reading, Berkshire from the "Readingas", an Anglo-Saxon tribe whose name means "Reada's People" in Old English, or less probably the Celtic "Rhydd-Inge", meaning "Ford over the River". In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when
Battle of Ashdown on Ordnance Survey maps of the area. Some years after the Boer War, manoeuvres were held at Ashdown Park. On the final day one year, in full view of a grandstand full of dignitaries and the general public, two large bodies of cavalry, including the Household Cavalry, came too close for comfort. The ensuing melee caused many injuries and was referred to as 'The Battle of Ashdown'. There is a comprehensive account of the battle in "The King of Atheleny" by the prolific historical novelist Alfred Duggan. There is a detailed account of the battle in "The Namesake", a juvenile