Page 886 - Reading Mercury

ROADS CLOSED
Peach Street was closed to motor traffic for about four hours on Sunday morning
whilst a new water supply was laid for the two Queen Victoria Almshouses. Also
closed was Easthampstead Road, railway work being in progress at Star Lane
crossing.

C.E.M.S. PILGRIMAGE
Nine members of the All Saints’, Wokingham, branch of the Church of England
Men’s Society took part in the diocesan pilgrimage to Salisbury on Saturday, led by
the Bishop of Reading, the Rt. Rev. E. Knell. After tea at Salisbury the visitors were
taken on a conducted tour of the cathedral, where they attended evensong.

MYSTERY TOUR
Thirty-eight members of the Wokingham No.1 branch of the National federation of
Old Age Pensioners enjoyed a “mystery tour” on Friday last week. They visited
Chertsey (where they had tea) and Burnham Beeches, returning by way Windsor and
Maidenhead.

MEMORIAL TO FIRST MAYOR
A new wooden seat has been placed in All Saints’ Churchyard by Miss D. Wescott,
of Broad Street, Wokingham, in memory of her parents, the late Thomas and Susan
Wescott. Mr. Wescott was the first Mayor of Wokingham, in 1885, and was the
town’s first citizen in the following year, and in 1900. Several years ago Miss Wescott
presented to the town the chain of office now worn by the Mayoress, in memory of
her father.

SCHOOL’S GOLDEN JUBILEE
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On January 6 , 1906, Mr. T.F. Douglas, of 91, London Road, Wokingham, was the
first boy to enter the newly-built Wescott Road School, Wokingham. On Wednesday
he was among the earliest of the many parents and visitors to arrive and share in the
school’s golden jubilee celebrations.
Chatting to our reporter, he recalled the march, in bitterly cold weather, from the old
“British School” in Milton Road, Wokingham, to Wescott Road. On Wednesday,
without hesitation, he found his way to the headmaster’s office with considerably less
trepidation than he would have shown half-a-century before.
Another of the original scholars to return was Mrs. Houchin, of 28, Elm Lodge
Avenue, Reading, who lived as a girl in Mount Pleasant, Wokingham. Her father
helped to build the school, and she later returned to it as a teacher for a short time.
There were originally 223 boys and girls at the school, and this number rose to its
peak of 499 in 1952. The opening of St. Crispin’s School eased the burden of
accommodation by taking 143 children away, but the roll has again risen, now
standing at 477.
The celebration ceremony was under the chairmanship of the Hon. Mrs. M.
Corfield, the chairman of the governors, who paid tribute to the work of the teaching
staff during the life of the school.
Mayor Welcomes Parents
The Mayor, Cllr. Mrs. C.E.A. La Bouchardière, welcomed the parents, and was
followed by Mr. E.E. Browne, head master from 1924 to 1945. In thanking his
successor for the invitation to take part in the celebrations, Mr. Browne said that his
wife was among the first teachers at the school, but that on the opening day in 1906

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