Page 42 - July 2013 Kettle published 2

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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
ONE TO DO ON YOUR OWN
The Mill at Sonning
Dinner Theatre on the Thames
Sonning, sometimes called Sonning on Thames
in Berkshire and either way pronounced Sunning
is 20 miles West of Windsor and just 5 miles East
of Reading. The village was described by Jerome
K Jerome as "the most fairy-like little nook on the
whole river". Terrence Rattigan lived in the village
in the 1940s. Michael Jackson came here to be best
man for his pal Uri Gellar when he renewed his
wedding vows in 2001.
The Mill at Sonning is a theatre and restaurant
(the only dinner theatre in the UK) converted from
an 18
th
century flour mill on an Thames island
opposite the village called Sonning Eye. The first
mill here was recorded in the Domesday Book and
it once supplied the Huntley & Palmer biscuit
factory in Reading operating its own barges to
bring flour up the river from London right up until
the 1950s. But Huntley & Palmers moved out of
Reading, the port moved to Tilbury and in 1969
the working mill at Sonning closed. The mill grew
derelict until it was bought in 1977 by Tim and
Eileen Richards, who with Tim’s brother Frank
turned it into a dinner theatre.
The intimate theatre seats 215 people in the
semi-round and in the kitchens all the food is
prepared fresh with not a microwave in sight to be
served in the restaurant that overlooks the river.
The Mill is totally self-sufficient, still owned by
the Richards family receiving not one penny of
tax-payers money or any form of grant, subsidy
or sponsorship. They even generate their own
electricity using the power of the Thames.
On arrival you find your table number displayed in
the foyer. Pre-lunch or dinner drinks are served at
the water wheel and the main course is served
buffet style with waiter service for desserts and
coffee. Your programme is waiting at your table
and in the interval you can come back for waiter
service interval drinks or use the theatre bar for
matinees. On Fridays and Saturdays there is live
music in the bar after the performance. Prices start
at £38.50 for matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays
with lunch at 12.30pm and the performance at
2.15pm. Dinner at 6.30pm with an evening show at
8.15pm costs £45.50 for Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday and £49.00 for Saturdays. The ticket prices
include a two course meal, coffee, programme and
the show. The Holiday Inn at Junction 10 of the M4
offers coach party room rates from £27pppn for
ticket holders to The Mill at Sonning. Call The Mill
at Sonning on 0118 969 8000 for discounts for
groups and bookings. The list of current shows can
be found at
and includes a
spine-chilling mystery thriller
called I’ll Be Back
Before Midnight by Peter Colley from 3 October to
23 November 2013, a Ray Cooney farce Not Now
Darling from 28 November 2013 to 18 January
2014 and Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy Absurd
Person Singular 23 January to 15 March 2014.