FORMER Mayor of Winchester Cllr Chris Pines handed over his "bling" to Cllr Mike Read tonight (Wednesday May 14).

CLLR Read took charge of the chain of office, which Cllr Pines used to refer to as his "bling", and was appointed 809th Mayor of Winchester.

He took over from Cllr Chris Pines, who has been mayor for the past year, at a special Mayor Making ceremony at Winchester Guildhall.

Cllr Read is currently the Conservative representative for Denmead on Winchester City Council and also lives in the village.

He was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, but moved to Portsmouth at a young age which is where he spent most of his childhood and informative years.

Cllr Read has been married to his wife Jan for 40 years and they have two children, Carl, who now lives with his family in Sweden, and Zoe who lives locally.

Both of the new Mayor and Mayoress's children attended the special Mayor Making ceremony along with other family members, friends and councillors.

Cllr Read has always enjoyed the outdoor life. As a young man he joined the Royal Marine Cadets where he became their regimental sergeant major and he joined the Scout movement in 1963 and put his RSM role to good use by teaching fellow Scouts to march.

He is currently Deputy City Commissioner for the Portsmouth district, was awarded the Scouting Medal of Merit in 1984 and in 2004 he received the coveted Silver Acorn award for exceptional service to the Scouting movement.

His working life started with an apprenticeship in the printing industry, later becoming company director of the firm he was with.

Cllr Read then joined the NHS working at the Knowle Hospital for people with mental health problems until it closed in the early 1990s.

He then moved on to working for Hampshire County Council until his retirement in 2003.

Cllr Read has served on Denmead Parish Council from 1979 - 2002 and was elected as a member for Denmead on Winchester City Council in 1994.

He is also president of the Denmead and Saint George le Baillargeaux, in France.

Cllr and Mrs Read love the outdoor life and enjoy camping holidays at home and abroad.

During his term as Mayor, his charities will be: The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Service, The Rowans Hospice, and The Scout Association, Pinstead campsite and Solent Scout training centre at Shedfield.

Cllr Read's escort will be his wife Jan and the deputy Mayor this year is now Liberal Democrat member for St Bartholomew ward, Dominic Hiscock. The deputy Mayoress will be Dr Caroline Rubin.

After he was handed the keys to the city of Winchester, the keys to Abbey House, the Mayoral ring and the badge and chain of office, the new Mayor said: "I am deeply honoured to be asked to serve as Mayor of this ancient city. It is without a doubt a great privilege. I would like to thank the past Mayor Chris Pines who has allowed me to undertake a number of engagements over the past year. Chris and Denise (Baker, Cllr Pines' escort during his year as Mayor) have given both Jan and I a good grounding for the challenges which lay ahead.

"My motto for this year will be community, communication and charity."

Cllr Chris Pines, who is Winchester's only remaining Labour councillor and represents St John and All Saints ward in the city, raised around £40,000 for his chosen charities - Age Concern Winchester, Friends of the Family, Winchester, Winchester and District Young Carers Project, and Youth Options Youth Support Team.

Cllr Pines, whose escort for the year was his friend Denise Baker, said: "We have had so much fun this year. I am over the moon that we have raised so much money, it is tremendous."

Highlights of Cllr Pines tenure as Mayor, he said, were the army and forces marching through Winchester, establishing the Mayor's Award Scheme that recognises the city's volunteers and welcoming around 2,000 people during the year to Abbey House, the official residence of Winchester's Mayors based in The Broadway and establishing the youth council.

Cllr Pines added that he was now looking forward to a well earned rest, and would be endeavouring to rid his garden of slugs.

After the Mayor Making ceremony Cllr George Beckett was once again elected as the council's leader and chairman of the cabinet, and Cllr John Cooper was elected as vice chairman of the cabinet for the ensuing year.

The chairmen of the rest of the authority's committees will be: licensing & regulation - Cllr Fiona Mather, Planning - Cllr Earnest Jeffs, Personel - Cllr Richard Worrall, principal scrutiny -Cllr Colin Chamberlain, appeals and disputes - Cllr Neil Baxter, housing - Cllr Eileen Berry, social issues - Cllr Ian Tait, environment - Cllr Barry Lipscomb, local economy - Cllr Michael Anthony, resources - Cllr Malcolm Wright, statement of accounts - Cllr George Beckett.