The vast Worton Grange (now Berkshire) Brewery was opened on the Reading/Shinfield border in 1978. The Anchor Brewery closed in 1981 and all brewing was transferred there. Imperial Tobacco was acquired by the Hanson Trust in 1986 and they sold off Courage to Elders IXL who were renamed the Foster's Brewing Group in 1990. The following year, the Courage section of Foster's merged with all the breweries of Grand Metropolitan. Its public houses were owned by a joint-company called Inntrepreneur Estates. Scottish & Newcastle purchased Courage from Foster's in 1995, creating Scottish Courage as its brewing arm.
The Brewery shut its doors for the last time on 2 April 2010 after 30 years. Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) announced its intention to close the former Courage Brewery in Reading in 2008. S&N, which has since been taken over, said it ended work at the 58-acre site next to the M4 due to an "over-capacity in the UK brewing industry". The staged closure over the last two years has meant many of the 362 workers have found new jobs or been redeployed within the company.
Sorry, another Courage report. Visited last week but we were a bit clueless so went back one night armed with a bit more information, and had no issues getting in or out. Getting to and in and out of the buildings was very simple, but you have to keep very quiet once on the inside. It sometimes sounded like there was activity, some lights were on and some were off and you dont know who is milling about. We saw fosters lorrys pulling into the distribution centre at 10.30pm so knew there would be people about. Suffice to say, we had a nice undisturbed look for a few hours and then made safe our exit, not wanting to push our luck.
The Courage Silos
Playing the waiting game
Fermentation Room
The Brewhouse by night
The Silos
Cheers to people for the knowledge, you know who you are
The Brewery shut its doors for the last time on 2 April 2010 after 30 years. Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) announced its intention to close the former Courage Brewery in Reading in 2008. S&N, which has since been taken over, said it ended work at the 58-acre site next to the M4 due to an "over-capacity in the UK brewing industry". The staged closure over the last two years has meant many of the 362 workers have found new jobs or been redeployed within the company.
Sorry, another Courage report. Visited last week but we were a bit clueless so went back one night armed with a bit more information, and had no issues getting in or out. Getting to and in and out of the buildings was very simple, but you have to keep very quiet once on the inside. It sometimes sounded like there was activity, some lights were on and some were off and you dont know who is milling about. We saw fosters lorrys pulling into the distribution centre at 10.30pm so knew there would be people about. Suffice to say, we had a nice undisturbed look for a few hours and then made safe our exit, not wanting to push our luck.
The Courage Silos
Playing the waiting game
Fermentation Room
The Brewhouse by night
The Silos
Cheers to people for the knowledge, you know who you are
