Page 1022 - Reading Mercury

LORD ORMONDE, HIGH STEWARD
Lord Ormonde has died in a Reading Nursing home. He died last Saturday a week
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before his 78 birthday. He is survived by two daughters: Lady Martha Ponsonby,
who had four children and lives at Woodstock and Lady Jane Heaton who has one son
and lives in the South of France.
The Ormonde family seat is in Kilkenny where his ashes will be buried. The funeral
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was held on April 22 at All Saints. His cousin is Mr. Charles Butler who will
succeed the title.
WOKINGHAM LAUNDRY
After having been in business since 1907 the premises of Wokingham Laundry Co.
Ltd. in Station Road are to close down tomorrow and the work transferred to Reading.
Hobbs West Reading Linen Service. The site is being disposed of for residential
purposes.” I was told by Mr. H.W. Waugh, general manager, who recalled that some
15 months ago the Wokingham concern was acquired by Maidenhead District
Laundry Co. Ltd. who operate several laundries in the area.
“After April 23rd we shall no longer be processing any work here,” he said. “The
whole of it will be transferred to Hobbs West Reading Linen Service, 38 Wilton
Road, Reading.” He emphasised that it was not a closure, but a concentration of
activities of the big plant at West Reading which is probably the most up-to-date in
the country.
In addition to acquiring the Wokingham one, Maidenhead District Laundry Co. Ltd,
bought their other company, West Reading Laundry and Hobbs Laundry, Reading and
amalgamated them.

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Thur 29 April
THE OLD SMITHY
The Old Smithy in Wokingham fell into disuse about four years ago and two years
later the last farrier who practised there, Fred Painter, died in his eighties. Until his
death, Mr. Painter would still come up to his premises and keep a watchful eye while
chatting to friends in the garage next door.
His former partner, Mr. Harry Berry, had died way back in 1943. Under the
partnership of Berry and Painter the smithy flourished. It was the very the early day of
the motor car and in this rural area, the horse was the common mode of transport,
whether it be horse-drawn vehicle or by horse alone. The local hunt met regularly and
many children owned ponies. There was work in plenty for the farrier.
The history of this smithy, one of three in the town (the others were in Station Road
and Peach Street) is a little hazy. According to the Wokingham Society the building is
definitely Victorian. It is also believed that the premises were originally owned by a
veterinary surgeon before he sold out to Berry and Painter.
The smithy had a regular clientele as well as the casual customer who would pop in
for a quick shoeing as one would now for a petrol fill-up. Berry and Painter kept a
good stock of ready-made shoes for clients such as the Garth Hunt and, as well as
being farriers, or catering, as they put it “for practical shoeing,” they were general
smiths. This included making utility products like hinges for barn door or hooks for
hanging kitchen utensils. Berry and Painter also undertook “Memorial work of every
description in marble, granite and stone designs.
Now the smithy lies dormant, its future undecided. Inside are all the tools of the
former trade, anvils, hammers, bellows, immediately recognizable but now rusting.
The Borough has received 11 offers for the premises including at least one to return
the smithy to its former use and another from Reading University for all the tools. The

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