By Chris Forsey

A CHARVIL schoolgirl, 10, was waiting for a reply to her letter from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1982, offering her some advice on how to cut down unemployment.

Polehampton school pupil, Lizzie Strathmore. also gave the ‘PM’ tips on creating better educational facilities, more affordable housing and reducing violent crime.

Although Downing Street had not replied to her letter Lizzie admitted to the Chronicle:” Mrs Thatcher gets hundreds of messages, so I do not expect a reply just yet.”

Residents of damp-ridden maisonettes at Scott Close, Emmer Green were campaigning to have their own council flats knocked down 36 years ago, with 60 signing a petition asking Reading Borough Council to make a decision.

Sherry Earle, whose husband, Guy, presented the petition, revealed to the Chronicle:” A lot of people up here think this place is a slum, and don’t want to talk to us, if they take us out of here and do it up, we still won’t come back.”

Another resident, Sally Tillin, admitted:” I would like the whole thing pulled down, it’s disgraceful and definitely an eyesore.”

The Reading University Orchestra, conducted by Peter Wishart, were preparing their Christmas concert and they were hoping it would appeal to all music lovers.

Their programme would include Walton’s Overture “Portsmouth Point”, the Prelude to Act III of Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” and Vaughan Williams Symphony No 5.

An audience of over 60 family and friends packed in to St Patrick’s Hall, Charvil to watch the 1st Charvil Guides stage their Christmas variety show.

For the first time in the guides first year of existence the thirty girls performed nineteen separate acts, including country and classical music, poetry reading and duets

Guide leader, Barbara Zordan, told the Chronicle:” It was very, very successful, all the girls took part and worked out their acts by themselves, when we started a year ago, when we only had nine members!”

Caversham Round Table’s Christmas Float was off on its travels collecting money to provide food parcels for the elderly in 1982.

The floats busy week-long schedule included visiting Caversham Park and Emmer Green, where the it would reside all day in the Budgen car park.

Twyford inventor Percival Packham, was celebrating filing his 200th patent in 1982, despite having retired ten years before.

Now in his early eighties, Percy was most famous for inventing the Packman Potato Harvester, which over 200 were built.

One of his new pet projects was to design a ‘Channel Bridge’ linking the UK and France with a huge span and in order to advance his idea Mr Packham had produced a 3D model.

In Percy’s view, a tunnel would present too many geological problems when being dug, and the pressure of the water above would make it far too difficult to excavate.