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Union Street, Reading

Coordinates: 51°27′22.58″N 0°58′24.04″W / 51.4562722°N 0.9733444°W / 51.4562722; -0.9733444
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Union Street
View north in 2007
Native nameSmelly Alley Error {{native name checker}}: parameter value is malformed (help)
LocationReading, Berkshire, UK
Postal codeRG1
Coordinates51°27′22.58″N 0°58′24.04″W / 51.4562722°N 0.9733444°W / 51.4562722; -0.9733444

Union Street, also known locally as Smelly Alley, is a pedestrian alley in the centre of the English town of Reading. It is lined with small shops and other retail outlets, and connects Broad Street and Friar Street. The name Smelly Alley came about in the 1940s, as there were many butchers and greengrocers, as well as two wet fish shops. In the 1970s there were four butchers, two greengrocers and two wet fish shops; also a baker's shop, two record shops, a hi-fi shop, a shop selling jeans, a cafe, a roast chicken shop, a chocolate shop and a hardware shop.


The name Smelly Alley comes from the presence of the long-established Frosts, a fishmongers.[1]

References

  1. ^ "Could Reading be City Of Culture?". BBC News. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2011.

Media related to Union Street, Reading at Wikimedia Commons