Page 1153 - Reading Mercury

Church-goers were in mourning on Sunday evening (Sept 3rd) in Wokingham as St.
Paul’s Church organ finally bit the dust. Church organist, David Pether coaxed the last
hymn from the 130-year-old organ watched by a congregation led by priest-in-charge
Roger Stillman. An appeal to raise funds for a new organ was started soon after Father
Roger joined St. Paul’s Church last year.
Father Roger said, “The total bill could be about £40,000, we won’t know the exact
amount until it is removed. There could be a lot of a lot of repairs needed to the floor
boards under the organ.”
Parishioners have been devout in their donations for the new musical
accompaniment. The original appeal was for £20,000. There is a certain amount of
money in reserve but the church is hoping for another £5,000. The new organ will not
be installed for another month. Until then services will be conducted by the church
piano.

Thur 21st Sept
HUGE BLAZE WRECKS DEPOT
A huge fire that ripped through a warehouse belonging to a Wokingham storage
firm last Saturday has resulted in a double tragedy. News of the fire will have
devastated the people who left their possessions in the storage unit owned by Andy’s
of, Fishponds Road, Molly Millars Industrial Estate, Wokingham. Some of them put
their worldly goods into storage before going to Europe or the United States and
others live locally.
The ferocious blaze destroyed about three quarters of the furniture stacked in boxes
at the warehouse. Early estimates were that up to £500,000 worth of property had
been destroyed but the company later put the total loss at less than £100,000-.
Firefighters were called out just after 8 a.m. On Saturday. It took five teams of four
firefighters working in rotation over four hours to get it under control. It was one of
the town’s biggest ever fires. All that could be seen from the outside were clouds of
smoke.
Boxes that were on fire were lifted outside with a JCB to make it easier for
firefighters to put them out. A hydraulic platform was also needed to get to the top
storeys. Although the blaze was under control by 12.25 p.m., the warehouse was
regularly inspected over the weekend until it was declared safe on Sunday afternoon.
It is believed that the unit was only 30% full. If the fire had occurred three weeks
earlier the loss could have been five times as bad.
The fire, believed to be caused by an electrical fault in the heater units, is being
investigated. Staff from Andy’s spent the weekend clearing up and breaking the news
to customers and contacting the loss adjusters.

th
Thur 28 Sept
WELCOME RETURN OF OLD WAR ARTEFACT
A major war artefact from Wokingham’s past which was thought lost has been
unearthed in Slough. A scroll listing the names of the Wokingham company of the
Royal Berkshire Regiment dating from September 18th 1914, was presented to Mayor
Ann Davis on behalf of the town council.
Cllr. Davis thanked the Army for bringing it back and not keeping it in storage and
added that the scroll was now in the place where it belonged. The scroll was under
safe keeping at the barracks in Slough for 30 years but had to be refurbished by the
council. A spokesman from the town council said that nobody quite knows why it
had been kept in Slough for so long.

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