Arborfield
Local History Society

 The 'Mercury' and the Home Front in WW1

The King and Queen visit Reading

From the 'Mercury' of March 16^th 1918, there was a very detailed article on the King and Queen's visit to Reading on Tuesday 12^th March. They arrived mid-morning at the G.W.R. station, accompanied by peals of bells from St. Laurence.

The King, a former High Steward of Reading, was in uniform.

They visited the ‘No. 1 War Hospital’ for about an hour, then to Sutton’s Seeds, seeing the radio-active area where experiments had for some years been carried out on improving yields.

They moved on to the Town Hall where representative inhabitants and war workers were presented to their Majesties by the Mayor, and included Mr. John Simonds, one of the local directors of Barclay’s Bank, Ltd., who was borough treasurer.

Then to the Biscuit factory, and home via the G.W.R. station.

[The Reading Standard also reported on the visit, and included a full page of pictures of the occasion].

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