Will Wokingham's Iconic Strawberry Find a Home?

A giant fibreglass strawberry that has long marked Gray's Farm in Heathlands Road is up for grabs as the pick-your-own site prepares to shut this Saturday after more than 50 years.

Owner Peter Gray said equipment will be sold at an online auction next month, organised by Reading-based Thimbleby and Shorland, including tractors, picnic tables and the large strawberry.

Councillors and locals are already talking about its future. Cllr Mark Ashwell, the council's exec member for economic development, sport, leisure, countryside and the arts, said: "The strawberry is iconic. It's been around for many years. I remember it from growing up in Wokingham. I'd love to bid for it if there is an opportunity to do so. It would be great to see it incorporated somehow into the new development."

Gray's Farm opened to the public in 1973 and has welcomed generations. The family sold the land to Wokingham Borough Council in 2014 and rented it back.

Mr Gray, now in his late 70s, described the closure as "end of an era".

The council is planning a major sports facility on the wider 60-acre site.

On those plans, Cllr Ashwell said: "It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide a real cutting-edge sports facility for the whole borough. It is exciting. There are challenges around accessibility but we are getting ahead of the game, speaking to stakeholders and local businesses."

The authority's commercialisation team is working with local sports clubs on proposals and further updates on the site's development are expected in 2027.

Katie French, Local Democracy Reporter