Page 630 - Reading Mercury

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Sat 11 Sept.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE VISIT WOKINGHAM FOR TOWN’S CORONATION
CARNIVAL
Day Of Revelry To Raise Funds For Charity
PROCESSION OVER A MILE LONG
Programme OF Events From Early Morning Till Late At Night
The Coronation year of 1937 has been one of magnificent functions in Berkshire,
but none of its many towns and hamlets can successfully challenge the claim of
Wokingham, which boasts of the finest carnival of the year.
Wednesday’s effort, the Coronation carnival, will go down in the town’s history as
one of the finest ever held there.
Thousands came into Wokingham on Wednesday to watch the proceedings and
there was not a dull moment from eight o’clock in the morning until an early hour on
Thursday. They thronged in the Market Place in the afternoon to see the Mayoress
(Mrs. F.J. Barrett) crown the Carnival Queen (Miss Joan Grist) and, after watching the
other events, came back to line the streets to see a memorable carnival procession for
a small town. It was, in fact, about 1½ miles long, full of interest and originality,
several of the entries being thoughtful and cleverly stages.
The carnival spirit was in the air, and everyone, old and young, participated in a
most memorable and delightful programme of events.
A NEW FINANCIAL RECORD?
The tranquil everyday life of Wokingham vanished in a night. On Tuesday evening
townspeople worked up to a late hour making their house and premises as bright and
colourful as possible.
When the final balance sheet is made public it is quite possible that Wokingham will
have a new financial record.
One can trace the gradual popularity and purpose of Wokingham Carnival from
1929. Up to Wednesday five carnivals had been held, resulting in total gross proceeds
of £?,838 5s., and of this sum £600 has been passed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital
through its local committee. The remainder has been devoted to numerous other
deserving charities. The committee make a point of spending every possible penny of
the expenses of the carnivals in Wokingham, and a large proportion of the amount
allocated has again been circulated in the town.
Practically everyone in the town has an interest in the carnival, which is always an
eagerly awaited event.
This year the executive committee could not have selected a more popular president
and chairman than the Wokingham-born Mayor of the town, Alderman F.J. Barrett,
who has thrown himself heart and soul into the preliminary arrangements. He has had
an able deputy in Councillor H.F. Curl (deputy mayor), who. Much to the public’s
regret, was unable to be present at the 1935 carnival held during his year of office
owing to ill-health.
PICTURESQUE DECORATIONS
Wokingham prides itself on the splendid and colourful decorations during Carnival
Day. A reporter of this paper made a tour of the town on Tuesday evening in order to
see the interest that people took in making Wokingham worthy of the occasion. They
certainly made a good job of it. Most people made use of their effective Coronation
decorations. The Town Hall lost most of its drabness because the brickwork had been
covered with shrubs, bunting and flags. The police had also done their best to decorate
their station with flags and bunting. Wokingham’s new flower baskets in Broad Street
gave the decorations an added brilliance. Business premises were a feature of the

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