Page 1174 - Reading Mercury

Charles, from Rouen said Wokingham folk were very generous

COUNCIL CLOSES TENNIS COURTS
The closure of well-used leisure facilities in Elms Road could mark the beginning of
the slippery slope towards more housing in the town centre fears a Wokingham town
councillor. Cllr Colin King has slammed the closure of the pitch and putt golf course
and neighbouring tennis courts as “another nail in the coffin of the Wokingham Town
leisure facilities”. He fears if the Wokingham Cricket Club site is released for housing
developers could look enviously on the land across the road where the public golf and
tennis facilities are.
Wokingham District Council has moth-balled the Elms Road facilities for this
season as part of the £9M of budget savings which had to be found earlier this year.
The district council says it will reopen the facilities at the earliest opportunity. But
Cllr. King felt it was a crying shame that the tennis courts had shut. They were the
most high-profile and accessible courts in the town. When Wimbledon was on there
was a rush of youngsters to use the courts.
He added that the ruling Tories on the district council had previously off-loaded the
Martin’s Pool site beside Milton Road to be concreted over.
Perry Lewis, deputy leader of the district council said that he could not make a
commitment on when the pitch and out and tennis courts might be back in use. It
would depend on how much money the council was given by central government in
future. The facilities continue to be kept in a good state of repair.

ILLNESS FORCES TOWN CRIER TO CALL IT A DAY
Town Crier Ron Rimmer has retired because of ill-health. He had been Town Crier
for nine years and was a familiar face at public events. Such was his reputation that
Ron’s voice and bell was in demand from a number of authorities. Town Councillors
have sent Ron their best wishes and hope he will be well enough to judge the
competition for his replacement.
He took over from Chick Biddle. As a lasting tribute to Mr. Rimmer he has been
allowed to keep his clock and hat as mementos.

It was not just rain that was drenching people in the “It’s a Knockout” tournament
which formed one of the main grandstand attractions Teams competed on the obstacle
course and the slippery pole with bags of wet sponges.
Like many of the groups at the carnival the Wokingham Air Cadets, based at the
Carnival Pool car park in Wokingham are looking for recruits. Commanding Officer
Dave Screen invited any 13 or 14 year-olds who might be interested to ring him on
0118 9621266.
Nearby the Emmbrook School’s stand was full of other teenagers raising money for
a mission the cadets would be proud of. Around 40 Emmbrook School pupils and
three teachers hope to travel to Zimbabwe next summer for a four-week expedition
including trekking and community work. The students had organised the carnival’s
answer to horse raining to raise money. Gambling lovers were asked to buy a squirmy
friend for 20p for the maggot racing competition which happened throughout the
afternoon.
Also on the lookout for corporate sponsorship was Jane Banks, supervisor of the
Wokingham Play Bus which is an unusual travelling play group for Wokingham
children. The bus was on view at the carnival. She explained that the bus was in need
of some work and that there were some vacancies for children.

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