Page 906 - Reading Mercury

of Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the Design Centre, Haymarket, London,
on Thursday. The lace—which is on permanent display in the design centre—has
already made a successful appearance in the home and export markets.
It has a simple elegance, is functional and, at the same time, blends well with the
current trends in furnishing. In these days of larger windows and more extensive use
of glass in building, the prizewinning lace solves the problem of shielding the interior
of rooms from the outside view, whilst not greatly interrupting the outward view;
largely for this reason it was dubbed “Vision Net.”
It is not surprising to find that the designer—and his charming wife—come from the
home of fine lace, Nottingham. It was at the Nottingham School of Art that Mr.
Hobden began the training that, having taken him into the lace and fabric industry,
enabled him to pursue his career in America, where the family spent 20 happy years.
In the United States Mr. Hobden came, towards the end of his stay, a free-lance
designer and, as such, worked in many media other than lace, which, nevertheless,
remained one of his favourites. During their prolonged American visit the family lived
in New England and Southern California—where, for five years, they were on the
border of Hollywood—and the decision to return to England was taken by Mr. and
Mrs. Hobden after the marriage of their daughter to an Englishman.

st
Sat 31 May
A GYMKHANA AT WOKINGHAM
Members Of Garth Hunt Pony Club Compete
The recently-formed Wokingham sub-branch of the Garth Hunt branch of the Pony
Club and the local St. John Ambulance Brigade, joined forces on Monday to stage the
first Wokingham Pony Show and Gymkhana, held on the Carnival Field. Early
morning rain made conditions far from ideal, and the mud tested riders and horses
alike. As the day progressed, however, the weather improved and by the afternoon the
earlier downpour had been forgotten and the public arrived in force to watch the
novice and junior jumping and gymkhana events.
A feature of the morning’s programme was the success of Dawne Archer, who has
been riding only since October, in sharing the first place in the high jump (13 years-
old and under class) with Carol Close, clearing four feet. The scurry jumping was
strongly contested, and the Pony Club Cup for this went to Ian black, on Huffy, after a
jump off with Gillian Morphew on Clare. The junior jumping for the Ashby cup was
won by Virginia Houldey on Acrobat.
The judges were Lieut. B.J. Palmer, R.C.M., J.T. Sallis, Royal Horse Guards, and
Mrs. Jean Perkins. The profit from the show will be shared by Wokingham sub-
branch of the pony club and the St. John Ambulance Brigade, the superintendent of
which, Mr. W.E. burden, told the Mercury that the appeal fund for the coach would
benefit from their share.

(Harry Banks of 43, Langborough Road, former Town Crier of Wokingham died on
st
31 July 1958)

th
Sat 6 Sept
ANCIENT MEASURES
The Mayor of Wokingham, Alderman F. Moles, and the Town Clerk have a
problem—where to store a set of brass measures recently given to the town by the
Weights and Measures Department of the County Council. Made in 1857, this set of
ten measures, from half-a-gill to a bushel, was issued to the police of Wokingham,

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