Page 1016 - Reading Mercury

The church is off-square, meaning it is wider than it is long and this perhaps is its
most redeeming asset. With the centre of attention being the altar, set as it were half
way along the church, the congregation are much closer which makes for greater
participation in the liturgy. This is a great improvement on the traditional shape of
churches where a large chunk of the congregation can hear very little and see even
less. The architect seems to have achieved his aim of making a large area as intimate
as possible. The interior is well lit and all the modern facilities such as central heating
have been included.
The church is fully fitted out and ready for the opening. The floor is still to be tiled
and the Portland stone altar set up. The font and tabernacle will come from the old
church. The Station of the Cross were carved by David Johns of Woodley.

th
Thur 19 Nov
BISHOP CONSECRATES WOKINGHAM
After nearly sixty years in Shute End Corpus Christie Church has closed its doors
there and opened in ultra-modern style in Sturges Road, Wokingham. The Roman
Catholic church was too small and inadequate for a growing congregation and so
nearly two years ago a site was chosen to build a brand new and much larger R.C. for
the community. About £70,000 was raised mainly through donations and legacies
particularly from the Gale family of Bracknell who were converts during the last
century.
Last Saturday there was a service of dedication at the new church and more than
500 people came to celebrate mass and hear the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt. Rev. D
Worlock, consecrate the church.

Thur, 26th Nov
MAYOR OF WOKINGHAM TOLD TO MOVE ON.
The Mayor of Wokingham, Cllr. John West, was told to move on by film unit men
when he stopped in the Market Place during his Sunday morning stroll to look
through the awning of a market stall wondering why it had a display of fruit on a
Sunday morning. “I walked away, but became rather angry the more I thought about
it, and returned to find out if they were paying for the stall. I also wanted to know if
they had permission. I finally returned after learning that attempts had also been made
to move the Market Superintendent. When he informed the members of the film unit
who he was they apologised and invited him to lunch on the following day. The unit
had also brought their ‘soup kitchen’ and parked it in the passage-way to the red Lion.
This did not please the owners of the pub and they had it removed. There was another
incident at Wokingham Railway Station on Sunday night when a photographer was
kicked by Mia Farrow, star of the film, “Buff,” the location scenes of which were shot
in Wokingham and other parts of Berkshire.
According to Town Hall officials the unit had permission to film in certain parts of
the town but no streets were cordoned off. Double yellow lines were covered with
tarpaulins as a Mercedes car was parked for most of Sunday morning beside the
market for filming purposes. A temporary zebra crossing was rigged by rolling down
a marked tarpaulin at the bottom of Station Road at the approach to the station which
did not please some motorists. British Rail had given permission for the unit to film
but the station wasn’t cordoned off and passengers were able to enter and leave while
filming was in progress.

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