Opens on Tuesday 7 April
Venue: Welcome Gallery Reading Museum
Pulsometer 125 is a special community exhibition developed in partnership with SPP Pumps (formerly Pulsometer Engineering), celebrating 125 years since the company established its factory on Oxford Road in Reading in 1901.
The company was originally founded in Battersea in 1875, before relocating operations to west Reading 125 years ago. From its Oxford Road works, Pulsometer Engineering became one of the town’s longest‑standing manufacturers and a major local employer. Today, the legacy continues with SPP Pumps, now based in Theale, recognised as a world‑leading and award‑winning British engineering firm. Together, they form a living link between Reading’s industrial past and its innovative present.
This compact but object‑rich display brings together material from Reading Museum’s social history collections, alongside rare and previously unseen items generously loaned by private collectors and SPP’s own archive. Highlights include a beautifully crafted Edwardian hand pump, recently discovered in Australia and shipped back to Reading by SPP especially for this display. The polished brass instrument symbolises the global reach of engineering designed and manufactured in Reading.
The exhibition also features tools used by former employee A. E. Jones, offering an intimate glimpse into the skilled craftsmanship behind Pulsometer’s success.
Through artefacts, photographs, oral histories and film, Pulsometer 125 explores:
- the company’s historic role in industry and wartime production
- its importance to local community life through apprenticeships and employment
- its ongoing work addressing modern infrastructure and environmental challenges
Together, these stories celebrate a company that helped shape Reading’s industrial identity and continues to shape the world today.
