Page 960 - Reading Mercury

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Lord Lieutenant, will
arrive at Wokingham Town Hall at 2.55 p.m. There they will be welcomed by the
Mayor, Cllr. P.P. Pigott, who will have been presented to the Queen at Easthampstead
Park Training College.
The Mayor will present to the Queen those who comprise the official platform
party; the High Steward, the Marquess Ormonde, and Lady Ormonde; the Mayor’s
chaplain, the Rev. F.A. Steer; and the Town Clerk, Mr. L. Goddard Smalley.
Then the council members will step on to the dais in order of seniority to be
presented. First will be the Deputy Mayor, Cllr. A.G. Skedgel, to be followed by
“Father” of the council and Freeman of the Borough, Alderman E.W. Reeves.
Then will come the aldermen, councillors and chief officers.
The Queen will be asked to sign the Distinguished Visitors’ Book and autograph a
portrait which will be hung in the Town Hall. Before leaving she will be presented
with a bouquet by the four-and-a-half-years-old granddaughter of the Mayor, Eleanor
Cozens, and daughter of the Mayoress Mrs. G. Cozens.
The centre of the town will be closed to traffic early in the day. Schoolchildren will
watch the visit from outside St. Crispin’s School to Seaford Road; in Broad Street
outside Markham House and The Elms from Montague House to Rectory Road.
The Market Place will be lined by Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Nursing Cadets,
members of the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance Brigaded and the Civil
defence Corps.

ROYAL EXCHANGE AT WOKINGHAM IS CLOSING
The traditional cry of “Time, Gentlemen, Please,” will be heard for the last time at
the Royal Exchange, Denmark Street, Wokingham, on Whit-Monday evening.
This week, Mrs. Phoebe Parfitt, wife of licensee, Mr. W.C. (“Jack”) Parfitt, said that
the house had been sold by the brewers and they would close on Whit-Monday. They
are to take over the Red Lion at Spencers Wood.
Before coming to Wokingham, Mr. and Mrs. Parfitt were in the fish-and-chip
business in London, but they like public-house life and are glad to be taking over
another house. “We have made many good friends in the town since we came here
nearly nine years ago—we are sorry to leave, but in a way we are glad that no one else
is to take over,” said Mrs. Parfitt.
The Royal Exchange fronts on to Denmark Street, and has land which extends back
to Cockpit Path. It has been proposed that there should be large-scale development on
this side of the road.

th
Sat 9 June
WOKINGHAM TERRITORIALS
In 1939 a soldier from the Royal Berks Territorials put several shooting trophies in
the vaults of a Wokingham bank. The soldier was killed in action in the last war—and
the cups stayed in the bank until 1960, when they were found by auditors. The name
of the soldier has never been discovered but the cups are being used for their original
purpose.
Last week-end 34 members of the “D” Company from Wokingham took part in
their annual classification and prize meeting marksmanship contest. They used rifles
and light machine guns and several members of “C” Company from Maidenhead took
part. Seven men qualified with rifles and nine with the light machine gun.

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