Page 1071 - Reading Mercury

Control of the use of the sports hall will probably be carried out by a management
committee, half being representatives of the education authority and the remainder
shared equally by the town and district councils.
Plans have been submitted for the scheme to Wokingham District Council by
th
Berkshire’s Director of Education and will be considered on August 7 . He is asking
for outline permission for the extensions and sports complex.

nd
Thur 2 Oct
‘DISGUSTING STATE OF WOKINGHAM’ ATTACKED
Derelict and dilapidated buildings in Wokingham's town centre were again under
discussion at Tuesday's meeting of the Wokingham’s Chamber of' Trade and
Commerce. One trader, Mr. A; Bland, described the whole appearance of the town as
"”frankly disgusting” and said it was little wonder that people were shopping
elsewhere.
“Twenty years: ago, said Mr. Bland, “They had been promised a shopping precinct
in the centre of Wokingham, but instead other areas a few miles away had them and
people were going there to shop in comfort.” He accused the Wokingham District
Council of “a grave disservice” to the people of Wokingham in not looking after the
town centre in the way it deserved.
We have derelict shops and private premises in the town that are in an extremely
dangerous state,” he said. “Nothing is done about it. Hoardings and scaffoldings on
empty buildings are attracting fly posters which are never taken down.”
Mr. Jim Bate, who chaired the meeting, said the chamber would continue to put
pressure on the council on the thorny question of the appearance of Wokingham Town
Centre.

rd
Thur 23 Oct
LORD LIEUTENANT RESIGNS
Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, Maj. the Hon. David Smith, has resigned for health
reasons. He announced the decision to a meeting of the County’s Deputy Lieutenants
on Monday, but he is to carry on in the post until the end of the year. No decision has
yet been taken over a successor.
Major Smith, who is 68, was appointed Lord Lieutenant in 1959. He lives at Kings
Copse House, Southend, Reading.
Educated at Eton and Oxford, Major Smith was associated with the family company
of W.H. Smith and Son all his working life. He retired from the board of the company
1972 and was the governing director from 1948 until 1969.
He is still a member of the board of W. H. Smith and Son (Holdings) Ltd. a policy
making company, and on the board of Lloyds Bank.
In 1964 he was awarded the C.B.E, and three years ago was made an Honorary
Doctor of Literature at Reading University. Major Smith has held various positions on
local and national organisations including chairman of the N.S.P.C.C, President of the
Newsvendors’ Institution, and membership of the Berkshire Playing Fields
Association, the Berkshire Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society and the local branch of
the Council for Protection of Rural England.
In 1946 Major Smith was appointed a magistrate and was chairman of the Reading
County Bench from 1952 to 1958. He married Lady Helen Pleydell-Bouverie in l93l
and the couple have four sons one daughter.

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