WARFIELD church had a very special guest of honour to open its fete in 1947, BBC radio star, Joan Harben, who played “Mona Lott” in the legendary comedy show, “ITMA”.

“It’s That Man Again” ran from 1939 to 1949, and her character’s most famous line was “It’s being so cheerful as keeps me going.”

The show was credited with keeping the nation’s morale up and counted the Royal family amongst its biggest fans, generating many well-known catchphrases such as “After you, Claude”, “Can I do you now Sir?” and “TTFN” (Ta ta for now).

A rather special bowls match was played out at Bracknell Bowls Club 73 years ago, as all the players were ‘Octogenarians’.

The photo taken (at the point of high drama) when the tape measure had to decide the nearest wood), showed Messrs. Coates, Geeves, Lovick and Chandler, who were aged between 82 and 88 years.

Wokingham Produce Association held it’s annual show in ’47 and it obviously had been a good summer for breeding, as the judge, Mr. A.A. MacAllister, set about his work with a table groaning under the weight of so many cute bunnies.

The Produce Association had been formed in 1943, during the WW2 ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign and in 1953 it amalgamated with the Allotment and Gardens Association in July ’47.

Sunninghill Park was due to be the first official home of HRH Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten, but a serious fire ravaged the entire building.

A replacement building became the official residence of the Duke of York until 2004, this fell into disrepair and was demolished in 2016.

A huge ‘caravan’ was pictured trying to negotiate the roads of Crowthorne as it set out for its destination in Oxford in 1947, and astonished onlookers watched as the driver tried to figure out his next manoeuvre.

Due to the lack of building materials in post-war Berkshire, many new homes were of a temporary construction and would have to last much longer than originally intended.

‘Prefabs’ (prefabricated houses) were built to address the need for temporary dwellings and by 1951 the Ministry of Works completed 156,623 homes.

The summer of ’47 was extremely hot, and farmers were reporting that yields for many crops in Berkshire were going to be low, especially for vegetables.

The Royal East Berkshire show held its annual ploughing match complete with heavy horses pulling a hand-held plough to make the furrows.

One farmer, Mr. Salter Chalker from Hinton Farm in Hurst explained: “Our corn has ripened very quickly, and this, in conjunction with a rapid growth indicates a low yield.”