Page 1140 - Reading Mercury

bed but hopefully Friday night will prove a point to people.
The sleepers reckon they raised £300 and CARITAS is about 10% on the way to its
target for the hostel it plans to build in Wokingham. Anyone who wants to make a
donation should contact CARITAS to PO Box 148, Wokingham, Berks, RG11 2EE.

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13 Aug
The Bull at Barkham has been in existence 1728. It is thought to have been named
after the Bullock family. The pub changed shape in the early 1980’s. The 250 year old
forge attached to the pub was closed down for good when Courage Breweries decided
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to modernise the Bull and add a restaurant. The historic forge closed on the 10
February 1982 and the blacksmith, Cyril Fuller, had to move on after 22 years as a
farrier.

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Thur 27 Aug
TOWN CRIER DIES
Wokingham’s stand-in town crier, Sid Stott, has died at the age of 72. Sid was
officially Woodley’s town crier for 14 years but regularly stood in for events in
Wokingham and Bracknell. Sid had been ill for some months before he finally died on
Sunday, August 16th. His funeral was held at St. John’s Church, Woodley, yesterday
(Weds) attended by his widow, Bessie.
He took over as town crier in 1978 after winning a competition run by the Woodley
festival of music and arts in conjunction with the town council. Although his position
was only for a year, Sid enjoyed the work so much that he asked to be taken on
permanently. From then on he was a familiar figure in Woodley when dressed in his
colourful robes, he made regular appearances at the switching on of the Christmas
lights and the council’s annual opening day in September.
For nearly thirty years Sid worked for British Aerospace in Bracknell until his
retirement in 1985. A member of the Burma Star Association and Winnersh British
Legion, Sid had served as a naval officer in the Far East during the war.
He was also a very active member of the community regularly attending charity
events and carrying out town crier duties in Bracknell, Wokingham and Reading. His
fee was always donated to his favourite charity, Age Concern. Only a few months ago
he daringly abseiled down one of Reading’s tallest buildings, the Reading Bridge
House, to raise money for charity.
Sid, who lived at Brunel Drive, Woodley, leaves six children and eleven
grandchildren.

Thur 10th Sept
POLICE GIVE WARNING TO CLAMPERS
Police have stepped into the Wokingham wheelclamping controversy—ordering the
clampers to release a family’s car. The police received advice from their control room
and told the clampers that if they refused to release the car they could be arrested.
The incident happened on Monday when motorist Sue Tallent parked in front of
Wokingham library alongside the wall of the chemist’s shop while she popped into
Montague House to sign on for a college course. Minutes later she emerged to find
that her Cavalier car had been clamped by Roadrunner Security—which is employed
by Berkshire County Council to stop non-library users from parking outside the
library.
Mrs Tallent who had her four-year-old son Darell with her was shocked and angry.
But she called her husband Andy and together they were determined to stand their

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