Page 1132 - Reading Mercury

British Rail Southern axed half its trains and urged travellers to stagger their journey
times to ease the chaos. A spokesman for BR said, “The snow and ice is getting into
the engines causing them to cut out and become powerless. We are doing all we can to
maintain them and keep services running, but we are down to half our normal trains.
Beeline Buses managed to maintain an almost 100% service over the weekend,
although press officer Clive Alexander admitted certain services were cancelled after
the first snowfalls. There were problems with some of the larger buses.
The county worked around the clock with teams of 22-tonne gritters to tackle major
roads. Elsewhere smaller lorries loaded with rock salt battled along minor roads to
clear paths. Over 200 workers gave up their beauty sleep to make sure the roads
across the county were safe.

Thur 21st Feb
START IS MADE AT LAST ON NEW POOL
Work has finally started on the new £5M Wokingham swimming pool. The
Wellington Road site saw a host of dignitaries gathered for the historic moment on
Monday, when district council chairman, Jean Meyers, dug the first official hole. The
landmark ceremony was started off at the controls of a JCB, but Mrs. Meyers moved
on to the more traditional method of digging with a spade.
Contractors for the project are Laing of Wessex, part of John Laing Construction.
Pool designers and district architect, Eddie Boyle said, “We hope to have the pool
finished in 18 months’ time and we are scheduled to open in August 1992.”
When finished the pool will feature a 25 metre main pool, mini-leisure pool and
numerous water features for young swimmers.

GOWRINGS DECIDE NOT TO SELL UP
Car dealers Gowrings have decided against selling their Wokingham garage. The
owners realised that because of the slump in the market they would have to sell it for
less than it was worth. A spokesman confirmed that there were no further plans at the
moment to sell the garage.

THE MAYOR IS GRANTED HIS OWN SCOUT GROUP
Wokingham’s Mayor, Fred Clark, has been granted his very own Scout group. The
Mayor’s troop was disbanded after the first and fifth troops amalgamated to become
the Third Wokingham Troop. Cllr. Clark is delighted by the move. He said, ”I decided
it would be nice to reinstate the Mayor’s Own Troop, and with a bit of persuasion, the
council was happy to agree. I shall be visiting them regularly and following their
progress.

Thur 28th March
CONTRACT SIGNED FOR INDOOR POOL
The contract for Wokingham’s new indoor pool has been signed with Laing
Wessex. The contract worth nearly £5M was signed by district secretary John Marsh
and Trevor Berry, the company’s regional manager. Witnessing the signing were
district council chairman Jean Mayers and recreation chairman Lynn Griffith.
Work on the new pool began last month at the former Carnival Field on Wellington
Road. Facilities will include a 25-metre main pool, a learner pool and a leisure pool.

1130