Page 1074 - Reading Mercury

Mr. Bob Boyd, who was in favour of the scheme said it would be a great disservice
to the people of Wokingham if we were to refuse it. Mr. Boyd, who is also a member
of the District Council explained that the extension facility was now on top of the
County Education Authority’s list and the Town Clerk, Mr. Richard Jones commented
that on this basis there was every possibility that it would not be axed.

th
Thur 4 Dec
ONE OF THE LAST LINKS WITH REEVES IS TO END SOON
When Mr. Cecil Culver, manager of Bishop’s Move, Wokingham, puts on his coat
and closes his office door for the last time at the end of this month, one of the few
remaining links with the original firm of Reeves and Co. will be severed. Although
born in London, Mr. Culver has lived in Wokingham since he was a small boy and is
a member of a local family. His grandfather, Mr. William Culver, had a builder’s
business and was a member of Wokingham Town Council.
When he left school, Mr. Culver went into banking and insurance and the
circumstances that brought him to Mr. Ernest Reeves’ removal firm appear now
strangely fortuitous. Mr. Culver and Mr. Reeves’ son Gordon were school friends, and
in 1938, Mr. Culver was invited to join the business which had been started by the
Reeves family in 1887.
Gordon Reeves joined the army when war broke out, but Mr. Culver was turned
down on medical grounds. He continued in the furniture removal business, working as
Mr. Reeves’ right-hand man. Gordon was killed on active service and his father took
comfort in the friendship and loyalty of Cecil Culver.
In 1956, Mr. Reeves sold the business to C. and G. Ayres, of Reading, but the
original name was retained and Mr. Culver continued as company manager. The firm
was taken over by Bishop’s Move in 1972.
Mr. Culver, who is 65, says he has mixed feelings about retiring. “There’s such a
pile of legislation to get through nowadays. I’m scratching about with bits of paper
when I should be organising a removal,” he said.
As for changes in the type of removal jobs, compared with almost 40 years ago. Mr.
Culver thinks that people have less furniture now, and correspondingly, houses are
much smaller. He recalls a most memorable job at the outbreak of war when St.:
Paul's, School, London, was evacuated to Easthampstead Park. Several laboratories of
equipment had to be transported, as well as the other school supplies, and a few years
later it had to be moved back again to Kensington.
Although Mr. Culver is officially retiring at the end of this year he is taking over a
temporary relief at Bishop's various branches throughout the country, which could
mean quite a bit of sightseeing in the years ahead for Mr. Culver and his wife,
Edwina. He is a past President of Wokingham Rotary Club, chairman of the Friends
of Ranelagh, President of a local orthopaedic clinic, Vice-President of Wokingham
Horticultural Society, and past Chairman of Mid-Southern Area Furniture Removers’
Institute.

1976
th
Thur 8 Jan
JULIAN, 21, IS A THIRD GENERATION CRAFTSMAN
The skill of the craftsman has again manifested itself at Shute End House,
Wokingham, with the third generation of the King-Salter family to produce a highly
creative talent for handicraft work. Julian King-Salter is a 21-year-old theology

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