Page 1086 - Reading Mercury

In 1964 he was awarded the C.B.E. and in 1973 was made an honorary Doctor of
Literature at Reading University. Major Smith also spent many years as a magistrate,
becoming a Justice of the Peace in 1946 and Chairman of Reading County Bench in
1952 for six years.
Major Smith’s involvement with W. H. Smith and Son brought him into contact
with Old Ben, the news trades charity, and he was for many years an active supporter
of the institution.
He was involved with many organisations and charities including the NSPCC,
Berkshire Discharged Prisoners Aid Society, Berkshire Territorial and Auxiliary
Forces Association and the county branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural
England.
When Major Smith was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire in 1959 he assumed
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the title of Custos Retulorum which dates back to the 14 century. He also held
another ancient office—the High Steward of Wallingford.

Berkshire Mercury
1977 – 1994
The Reading Mercury, which became the Berkshire Mercury in 1970, published on
Thursdays. The Berkshire Mercury stopped publishing in 1979, with no, or very little,
Wokingham news during the final two or three years.

1977
April 1977
DENMARK STREET AS IT WILL BE
PLANS FOR SUPER STORE
The exhibition of plans for a superstore and multi-storey car park in Denmark Street
will be open to the public tomorrow (2-9 pm) and Saturday 9am to noon when a
model will be on show at the district Council offices, Shute End. A representative
from the firm of architects or a member of the district planning office will be on hand
to explain the plans and model.
Following the exhibition there will be a meeting of interested local organisations at
Shute End on May 10th when their representatives will be able to put forward their
views on the plan.
The store will be 53,100 sq ft. and have parking space above it for 316 cars. The
Drill Hall, Berkshire Craft Centre, public toilets and the Army Cadet Training Centre
will all be demolished and the toilets repositioned on the site of the new building.
The shops fronting Denmark Street will be kept and restored with office space
above and a courtyard development behind them. Fronting Elms Road will be used for
maisonettes, flats or small office suites. Access to the car park will be from Elms
Road. The superstore will be almost four times the size of Waitrose shop in Peach
Street.

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Thur 9 June
FILM STARS VISIT BERKSHIRE
Film and television personalities were in Wokingham last week to unveil a plaque in
Memory of Sir Stanley Baker, the British actor and producer who died recently. The
ceremony was the endowment of a new hall at Glebelands, the Cinema and Television
Benevolent Fund house for retired workers from the industries. A plaque was unveiled

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