Page 562 - Reading Mercury

Celebration Dinner
In celebration of the winning of the Maker cricket cup this year, the Embrook
Cricket Club held a dinner at the Bush Hotel, Wokingham, on Wednesday. The
Mayor of Wokingham, Ald. A.E. Priest, presided and was supported by Councillors
C. Wilson, F.S. Perkins, F.J. Barrett, W.C. Fullbrook and Mr. S. Collins (captain).
After the loyal toast the Mayor proposed “The Embrook Cricket Club.” He
congratulated the club on winning the Maker cup and said they must have had a good
side to have beaten the teams they did. They played three matches in the competition.
In the first match they beat Wokingham London Road by five wickets, in the semi-
final they ousted Newbury by four wickets, and in the final defeated Colebrook’s,
Reading, by five runs.

ALD. MARTIN’S GARDEN
A Wokingham Beauty Spot
NOVEL FEATURES
Folk Dance Party in Lovely Setting
Under the auspices of the Wokingham centre of the English Folk Dance Society the
annual summer party was held by the permission of Alderman W.T. Martin in his
delightful garden at Wokingham. Miss B. Bishop is the local hon. secretary and Miss
M. Grenside the manager of the branch. Visitors were present from Windsor,
Maidenhead and Reading. A capital programme of folk dances was carried out by the
Wokingham Committee, for which Miss E. Yalden supplied sufficient piano
accompaniment. Miss Bishop thanked Alderman Martin for his kindness in allowing
the use of his grounds.
A TRANSFORMATION
The kindly thought of Alderman Martin in allowing the use of his garden to the
Wokingham Centre of the English Folk Dance Society provides fitting opportunity for
a brief review of this beauty spot. Some few years back the site, lying between
Reading Road and Milton Road, was mainly a piece of rough meadow land, with a
belt of trees abutting on Milton Road. Acquired by Mr. Martin, the land was laid out
by him on a most picturesque and striking plan (the design of his son, Mr. Cathrow
Martin) as a beauty spot, and has been the admiration of the hundreds of visitors who,
attracted by its fame, have come from far and near to see it.
At the side of his residence, “Fernleigh House,” Reading Road, Mr. Martin had a
garage built. This, of concrete, carries a flat roof, upon which has been established a
“hanging garden,” which, in addition to shrubs and flowering plants, actually carries a
couple of growing beech trees. Rockery, fountain and lily pond, with some three
dozen blooms, form a continuation of the garden, while a cascade and rocky vault,
with quaint approaching paths between large boulders, provide an atmosphere of
coolness on the sunniest day. A feature is the rock bridge spanning a deep gorge. A
small pond, at one time containing goldfish, has been robbed of its inhabitants by the
depredation of a kingfisher.
THE ITALIAN GARDEN
Next comes an Italian garden with shaped fish pond in which goldfish and other
varieties besport themselves, the larger varieties being perfectly harmless as regards
their brilliant companions. These fish are all so tame that at a signal (a stamp on the
stone wall of the basin) they swim out in a body to be fed. Quaint statuettes, in
recumbent pose, add to the air of peace. A balustrade of old-time red bricks provides a
venerable appearance, and seats, also of brick, are built at intervals.

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