Page 548 - Reading Mercury

zeal. One player wore a straw hat, which suffered a rather untimely fate, while another
found a “topper” rather awkward to negotiate in the scrum.
Further fun was provided by the comic obstacle race, the competitors having to go
through a tank of water, crawl under a tarpaulin smothered in red ochre, and then
burst a bag of flour, not to mention emptying a sack of feathers. This had to be done
twice, and a number of the competitors were glad to get into the water afterwards to
remove some of their “red skin.” The winner of this event was I. Murphy, R. Dunn
being second and I. Smith third. A five-miles marathon race was also run and this was
won by T. Step, a veteran of over 40 years, second place being gained by E. Watts and
third by G. Jones. One competitor started a quarter of an hour late and would have
won, for he finished in a faster time than the winner. Seven competitors took part in
the race.
Then to complete the programme of sports events, half an hour of thrills was
provided by the aerobatic display organised by Messrs. Phillips and Powis Aircraft
(Reading), Ltd. Four machines came over and performed a number of stunts,
including stalling, banking, spinning, looping the loop and nose diving. Then there
was a bombing display’ a moving motor car, driven by Mr. Kennedy, in the centre of
the arena, being the target. The car was struck on one occasion by the intrepid flyers,
who also “bombed” one section of the public thereby causing much amusement. It
was a very clever display, and greatly appreciated.
BABY SHOW
The infant section of the population was brought out in full force in the afternoon
for the baby show, and 81 sturdy mites kicked and struggled on the scales and made
quite as much noise as the carnival revellers in the streets of the town. No fewer than
56?? Of these youngsters were under one year old, and they had the Orthopaedic
Clinic all to themselves, the older children being judged at the Town Hall.
Mrs. E.S. Whaley organised the baby show, and the judges were Nurse Sanderoff,
Wokingham, and Nurses Derrick, Jeffs and Eustace, of Reading. Members of the local
V.A.D. also assisted at the show.
The winning babies were as follows:-
Under one year.-1, Barbara Button; 2, Joan Ann Rogers; 3, Cora Vera McLean; 4,
Yvonne Griffiths; 5, Raymond Trevor Bristow.
Under two years.-1, Diana Keeling; 2, Roy Herbert Graves; 3, David Jones.
Under three years:-1, Molly King; 2, Audrey Burt; 2, Kenneth Willis.
Under four years:-1, Cyril Band.
Special prizes for twins.-1, Gilbert and Gwendoline Matthews; 2, Brian and Jean
Watts.
CARNIVAL PROCESSION
The carnival reached its climax with the procession in the early evening. All the
bizarre characters who had capered around the town during the day were there, and
were joined by many others who donned weird and wonderful costumes for the
night’s revelry. Scores of children were ingeniously dressed for the occasion, and
decorated vehicles and tableaux on wheels were a splendid feature of the procession.
One of the tableaux represented “Wokingham’s Lido, with apologies to Heath
Robinson and Wokingham Town Council. Bathing beauties reclined outside the bath,
and a tar boiler, towed behind the lorry, was brought into use as a Turkish bath.
Another vehicle contained all the characters in “Widdicombe Fair” astride the old
grey mare; there were ferocious motor-bandits with bags of gold on the radiator of
their car, the skull and crossbones emblazoned on the paintwork and the dread word
“blud” aloft on their pennant. A group of carnival spirits walked with a replica of the

546