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ONE event dominated our coverage in June as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne.
Starting on Thursday, June 2, through to Sunday, June 5, the borough came together for a range of activities to recognise the Queen’s public service.
Beacon lighting took place across the country to mark the start of the festivities.
Tears welled up as the Hurst beacon was lit and the St Nicholas Singers performed the jubilee song A Life Filled with Grace. A sliver of crescent moon looked down on the crowd in the community orchard opposite St Nicholas Church.
Among those enjoying the DJ Paul Palmer’s music afterwards were local MP Theresa May and her husband Philip – who obligingly threw some shapes to dance for a young villager’s phone videos.
A large band of 14 took turns to ring the church bells. Two new ringers were Janice Howell of Whistley Green, Hurst and Angela Vickery of Winnersh. They had answered a call, backed by Wokingham Today, for more ringers for the jubilee. They said tower captain Graham Slade was a great teacher.
Wokingham Rock Choir’s 80 singers performed. The Hurst Clangers played the national anthem with their hand bells. Reading bagpipe player Colleen Scott gave moving renditions of the jubilee bagpipe tune Diu Regnare [Latin for Long to Reign] and other tunes.
The beacon was lit by Lucy Zeal, Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire and John Jones engineer at Haines Hill Estate, Hurst. Mr Jones made the beacon which was the estate’s gift to the village.
Hundreds of Finchampstead residents came together as Revd Dr Leonard Onugha welcomed people to the ceremony at St James Church.
Pipe Major Ron Paterson then performed Diu Regnare, a tune composed for the jubilee which was played by pipers around the country.
The crowd joined together for a rendition of the national anthem before Cllr Simon Weeks, chair of Finchampstead Parish Council, raised a toast to the queen and signalled for the beacon to be lit.
In Woodley, the town council mayor Cllr Janet Sartorel welcomed people to a short before taking the large taper to light the crown-shaped beacon.
The crowds applauded as the Bel Canto Chorus sang the special jubilee anthem, A Song for the Commonwealth.
Cllr Sartorel then joined the choir to lead everyone in the singing of the national anthem.
Sonning held a series of special events to mark the occasion.
On Jubilee Thursday and Friday, the bi-annual scarecrow trail took place with thousands of visitors admiring all kinds of witty tableaux, some with a royal theme.
There was also a classic car show and some open gardens to explore.
The village church, St Andrews, welcomed bellringers who rang out a full peal of Spliced Surprise Major.
This piece of music lasts three hours and seven minutes.
In the evening, attention switched from the village to the King George V recreation ground for the village’s beacon lighting ceremony.
Children were allowed to gather at the front of the crowds to ensure they could see, and the beacon blazed.
On Jubilee Saturday, Six bands representing all seven decades of the Queen’s reign performed in Elms Field on – and the town partied on.
From rock n roll to the present day, all genres of music were represented.
The show kicked off with the sound of the 50s, courtesy of Peggy Sue & The Jukebox.
That was followed by some of the greatest Motown hits, thanks to the Midnight Soul Sisters.
The 70s was represented by a tribute to Bob Marley and the Wailers, Trenchtown Experience. The band performed all of the Wailers’ greatest hits and encouraged the audience to join in.
Well and truly warmed up, by the time Supersonic Queen took to the stage the dancing shoes were on, and the crowds took to their feet as classics such as We Are The Champions and I Want To Break Free were heard.
Spice! Celebrated all things Girl Power, and the audience wholeheartedly joined in on the singing of top tunes including Mama, Wannabe, and Say You’ll Be There.
The evening closed with everyone on their feet for Fully Funktional, playing 21st century musical hits.
Thousands flocked to Elms Field for the event, which replaced this year’s international street concert and was the first time that the field had been used in this way.
Judging from the success of the evening, it won’t be the last.
To close the weekend, hundreds of street parties were held in every corner of the borough with roads closed so communities could host their own festivities.
A double celebration was held at a Sonning church.
Not only did St Andrew’s hold a service to celebrate Pentecost and 70 years of the Queen’s reign, but they also dedicated a new buggy which will be used to help parishioners with mobility issues get around the church grounds.
The service featured a Scripture reading from former prime minister Theresa May, and an address by Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury.
Celesete Hexter, head chorister of the church and a pupil of St Joseph’s College in Reading, also gave a Bible reading, while the choir sang a number of anthems including a setting of Psalm 150, and a performance of Zadok The Priest, which was composed for the coronation of King George II in 1727, and performed at every British coronation since.
Hymns included I Vow To thee My Country and Lord For the Years, Your Love Has Kept and Guided.
Afterwards, people headed to the church’s garden room, The Ark, for a drinks reception and the unveiling of the mobility buggy, which has been called Bertie.
Funding was provided by Christina Goodacre, in memory of her late husband, Peter, and by Janet Robson, in thanksgiving for the work of the church.
In Woodley, the town council saw plenty of people pitch up with their own tables, chairs and picnics to enjoy an afternoon of entertainment as part of its big lunch.
Cllr Sartorel addressed the crowd before the town crier called for three cheers to the Queen adding: “God bless the Queen”.
She was joined at the main table by deputy mayor, Cllr Kay Gilder along with the winners of the town centre’s jubilee stone competition.
Cllr Sartorel said: “Thank you to everyone for joining me and my very special guests to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”
As part of the weekend, the Twyford Donkey Derby returned for the first time since the start of the pandemic to a crowd of more than 3,000 people.
The popular event saw several heats take place, with competition almost as fierce as the horse racing.
Away from the jubilee, the University of Reading had been busy preparing for #ShowYourStripes Day.
This included unveiling its latest climate stripes for Wokingham.
No words. No numbers. No graphs. Just a series of vertical coloured bars, showing the progressive heating of our planet in a single, striking image.
The stripes, created by Professor Ed Hawkins at the University of Reading in 2018, show clearly and vividly how global average temperatures have risen over nearly two centuries.
Each stripe represents the average temperature for a single year, relative to the longer-term average temperature. Shades of blue indicate cooler-than-average years, while red shows years that were hotter than average.
The deep red stripes on the right-hand side of the graphic are a stark reminder of the rapid heating our planet has seen in recent decades, especially given the temperatures we endured over the summer.
In our final edition of the month, we revealed that Wokingham Conservatives had hatched a secret plan to disrupt council meetings as much as possible.
A briefing given to councillors laid out a number of tactics including interfering speeches, accusations of bias and taking credit for the policies of other parties.
The confidential document, obtained by Wokingham.Today, was titled Using Council for Effective Opposition and sets out a strategy for the party to get their “own way” during council meetings.
This included challenging rulings made by the borough mayor, Cllr Caroline Smith, and disrupting the administration to keep them “constantly on their toes”.
Cllr Clive Jones, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, heavily criticised the tactics, describing them as “shameful”.
A spokesperson for the Wokingham Conservative Group has said it is the “democratic responsibility” of the opposition to “robustly challenge” the actions and comments of the administration”.
They added: “The administration may not like this, but it is an integral part of our political process.”
