Bracknell Nostalgia - Some stories that happened in 1993

One of the most talked-about stories from the area 29 years ago saw a Bracknell-based author join a town centre store in protest, that imposing VAT books in the forthcoming budget would be a tax on knowledge.

The potential VAT on reading items was met with a wave of negativity

Colin Hickson, who was a teacher at Garth Hill School and author of Bygone Bracknell, a history of the town, attended the town’s W H Smith branch to voice against the notion.

Smith’s then manager, Peter Gormley, said that putting VAT on items such as books, magazines, and newspapers would severely undermine the Government’s own efforts to reduce illiteracy and improve education standards,

Mr Gormley said: “Research shows that one in three 14-year-olds in the UK has a reading age of 11 or less, whilst six million adults have serious reading and writing difficulties.

He added that ‘millions of unemployed people will find it more difficult to afford to buy the materials to learn new skills.’

The new section of the library was opened in 1993

He continued: “At a time when the Government should be promoting literacy, a tax on reading seems a very illogical move.”

Mr Gormley, along with Mr Hickson, were just thousands of people to sign a petition that opposed the plans.

Sticking with books, a new section of Binfield library was opened by the chairmen of the county council’s community services committee.

Cecil Trembath opened the area of the library following an influx of new books being submitted.

Another big story from that time saw the Meadow Vale Primary School in Bracknell receive computer equipment worth £3,500.

The school won the computers after one of their students, Gemma Wade, enter a Christmas card competition and defeated more than 400 other children in the process.

Gemma Wade's artistic skills won her £500

And even though the school benefited from Gemma’s hard work, then eight-year-old also won a prize herself as she won £250 worth of books and £250 cash that went towards her festive shopping.

Other feel-good stories from ’93 saw the Roebuck in Terrace Road shut for three years for a refurbishment.

The Roebuck in 1993

Once they reopened, they transformed their popular pub back to how it once looked decades earlier, to give customers, punters, and regulars and feeling of nostalgia

The move was well-received.

The charity raised more than £4,000

Finally, a bed blitz manager to raise a total of £4,039 for the Paul Bevan MacMillan Appeal for Cancer Care.