Page 593 - Reading Mercury

THE ELECTRIC THEATRE
“Friday the Thirteenth,” the outstanding British picture, with dialogue by Emlyn
Williams, will be shown on the first three days of next week. The film reveals the
private lives of a number of people involved in a ‘bus crash. Jessie Matthews, Sonnie
Hale, Gordon Harker, and Edmund Gwenn, are well cast. “Gold Diggers of 1933” will
be the attraction at the end of the week. The players include Joan Blondell and Ginger
Rogers, and a large chorus.

MEMENTO
As a memento of a most successful effort, Alderman Priest, president for the last
four years of the Wokingham Hospital Committee, has presented every member with
th
a folded card, autographed, “With the best wishes of the president, A.E. Priest, 4
March,” and containing a fine photographic reproduction of the tablet which has been
placed above the bed in the Royal Berkshire Hospital. A dozen cars were lent to
convey the visitors to Sunday’s ceremony, which is reported elsewhere.

NO WOKINGHAM CARNIVAL
A meeting of the executive committee of the Wokingham Carnival was recently
held to discuss the question of holding a carnival this year. After prolonged thought
and careful discussion it was thought advisable to postpone for this year the event, and
to hold the next carnival in 1935. This was the unanimous decision of the committee.
The dart tournament will, however, be held this year, as the rules of the tournament
state that it shall be an annual event. Councillor D. Goddard has agreed to act as hon.
secretary for the tournament.

st
Sat 31 March
WOKINGHAM’S NEW LIDO
Alderman W.T. Martin’s Enterprise
It has long been the hope of Alderman W.T. Martin that Wokingham should have its
own swimming pool. For thirty years he has urged the Wokingham Town council to
provide such facilities but largely on the grounds of expense the proposal has not got
very far. So at last Mr. Martin, with the assistance of his son, Mr. Cathrow Martin, has
taken the matter in his own hands, with the result that this summer there will be at
Wokingham one of the finest lidos in the south of England. Alderman Martin’s
gardens at Fernleigh house, Shute End, Wokingham, have always been a popular
rendezvous for people in the district, and with a splendid swimming pool added at the
rear, they are likely to make an appeal to a wider area still.
The new swimming pool is the design of Mr. Cathrow Martin himself. It will be 110
feet long, 40 feet wide, and 9 feet deep at its greatest depth. The water will fall over a
glass cascade, which will be illuminated from underneath. It will then run down a
series of stone steps into the pool. Underwater lighting has been provided for the pool
itself, giving a sort of perpetual moonlight. No lights at all will be apparent to the
eyes. The swimming bath is constructed of concrete with a snowcrete facing, and
many tons of steel have been used for reinforcement. At the end of the pool opposite
the steps will be a Venetian bridge with three diving boards, two six feet and one
twelve feet in height. A curtain of water will be permanently falling from under the
bridge. The whole pool will be found to have been designed on most artistic lines.

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