Page 1148 - Reading Mercury

celebrating, the town councillors were furiously drawing up a catalogue of
complaints. At a meeting last week they accused workmen of leaving hot water pipes
exposed after replacing the central heating; leaving holes in the walls because they
couldn’t find the right size of skirting board; turning up the heating to dry out the
floor covering in less than 24 hours—even though they were told to allow the floor to
dry naturally; putting down two coats of polish on the floor within one and a half
hour—even though the manufacturer advises a wait of 24 hours between each coat.
More importantly town councillors were told that new precautions to stop the floor
flooding in the future had been ignored.
Cllr. Jack Earnshaw, treasurer of the hall, told astonished colleagues that there was
still no way of monitoring how much water was collecting under the floor.
He said that there was no inspection hatch, as specified so we will never know
whether anything has been done to reduce the level of water under the floor. The
damp-proof membrane is not attached to the one in the wall and concrete blocks are
missing from under the screed. This was typical of the whole operation and could
compromise the strength of the floor.
Richard Dadd, chairman of the hall’s management committee said that he shared the
council’s concerns. “This has been a traumatic experience, especially since we
thought it would only be a four week job at the beginning. There are a number of
things outstanding and the main problem now is fitting in the work around the various
clubs. The hall opened last Monday and everyone is delighted to be back in it.”

th
Thur 9 Feb
JANUARY WAS A TOTAL WASHOUT
Last month was the wettest January in Wokingham ever recorded according to a
weather expert. Recordings taken at the Wokingham Meteorological station at
Emmbrook School show that 138.2mm of rain fell during the month—smashing the
previous record in 1948 by 10.7mm.
The torrential rain and high winds threw parts of the district into turmoil. The River
Stort and the Upper Loddon were put on flood alert, fallen trees brought down power
lines and blocked roads and rainwater cascaded over the platform edge like a waterfall
at Crowthorne rail station. But it was only a few freak days late in the month which
caused all the problems.
Weather expert Bernard Burton said that only 12.9mm of rain fell in the first half of
January and the remaining 125.2 came splashing down in the second half. Most of the
chaos was caused between Tuesday 17th and Sunday 22nd when 66.9mm of rain fell.
The following Tuesday was the most miserable with 11.5 hours of rain.
Figures for the other years featured in the top five wet Januaries—recorded over 114
years—are 117.6mm in 1939; 116.1mm in 1937 and 112.2mm in 1943. However
despite last month’s dire downpours it pales into insignificance compared to other
months. It is only the 21st wettest month since 1882 and is nowhere near the record
197mm of rain that fell in Wokingham in October 1960.

Thur 23rd March
NEWSAGENT EDITH DIES
One of Wokingham’s best shop owners of the 1960s and ’70s has died at the age of
88. Edith Langley served behind the counter of J.L. Langley newsagent, in Denmark
Street with her husband, Jack, for 24 years. She was also a familiar face outside the
shop as a member of many local clubs and associations during her lifetime in
Wokingham

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