By 1846 he opened the King's Road Factory, which led to a dramatic increase in the number of employees needed over the following decades.

The terraced houses of New Town, Reading were built from the 1870s and its proximity to the factory made it a popular place for the employees to live.

Newtown Globe Group has adopted a small area of land at Kennetmouth and has erected a seat, an interpretation board and a mosaic depicting the meeting of the rivers.

At its western edge close to the town centre is the Financial Services company The Prudential where the residential options are modern large apartments and The Orts road Council estate.

It has an active community both environmentally (being home to Reading's first Green party Councillor[1] and for families with the local children's centre.