Using the Reading Chronicle as a source he unearthed details of Wednesday, September 14, 1932 when Arthur Newbery handed the deeds of the park, known at the time as Hare Moor, to the village.

PC Finnerty,47, who grew up in Kentwood Hill, said: "When walking in the park the tempation could be to take it for granted, but without the foresight and vision of Mr Newbery, one of Reading's finest parks would have been lost to housing years ago.

PC Finnerty discovered the group of 30 gathered at the park 75 years ago tomorrow, including Mr Newbery, chairman of Reading Parks Committee, Alderman Webb, the Mayor, Alderman EO Farrer PJP, and Alice Jenkins, soon to be Reading's second ever woman mayor.

He said: "Once inside the park, Alderman Webb made a short speech in which he said another link was being forged in the chain of Reading's history. We are here to receive something which would be a lasting memory."

The group then walked across to the hill where they posed for a photograph with the Reading Crhonicle. Before handing over the deeds, Mr Newbery told the gathering: "In Armour Hill we have a remarkable beauty spot where one can see as far as Streatley Hill, Whitchurch, Woodcote and out as far as Dunsden and Sonning. Along in the valley floor could be seen the waters of the Thames. It seems to me that each generation should take care of the next by ensuring that the onward march of building did not cover all the beauty spots."

PC Finnerty, now a Neighbourhood Specialist Officer for Caversham and Oxford Road added: "The park has changed very little over the past 75 years. Air raid shelters were sunk into the ground in 1939 but removed in recent years. A paddling pool existed in the 1950s but is now a toddler's play area and the swings and slides of the 1960s have been taken away.

"The park is often left with the grass uncut and the odd rabbit can still be found if you look hard enough. All in all, it's a lovely place to pass your time."