Banbury is one of the most famous towns in England mainly because of the nursery rhyme ‘Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross’.
The original Banbury Cross was demolished at the end of the 16th century and a new one built in 1859 to celebrate the wedding of the Princess Royal to Prince Frederick of Prussia.
Banbury is known for its cakes and these used to be shipped abroad to places such as India, America and Australia. Banbury cakes are made from fruit and pastry rather similar to an Eccles cake but oval in shape and are still made today.
Banbury probably comes from the name of Banna who built a stockade in the 500’s. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book. In the 13th century it had a thriving wool trade and this brought money and assets to the town. New industries grew with the opening of the Oxford Canal in 1780.
Ashford is a market town on the River Cherwell and is now the commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area. It is an expanding town due to the fact it is very close to the M40 motorway that links London to Birmingham via Oxford.
Up till about ten years ago Ashford had the largest livestock market in Western Europe.
The Oxford Canal runs through Banbury and is a place where many pleasure boat owners stop on their way north to join the Grand Union Canal.
Originally there were two stations in Banbury, Banbury Bridge and Merton Street Station that closed in 1959. The station nowadays is known as Banbury with trains
running to Paddington, Birmingham, Oxford and Leamington Spa. The fast non stop train to London takes 68 minutes and 62 minutes on the return journey.
There has been a large Polish community in Ashford since WWII accounting for 10% of the town’s population. One catholic church now says part of its mass in Polish. Polish shops have opened and Tesco is opening specialist food counters to cater for the Polish community.
There are plenty of properties to rent in Banbury with average costs of £395pcm for a
Studio flat, £500pcm for a l bed flat, £600pcm for a 2 bed house and £745pcm for a 3 bed house.
Banbury is home to many major companies such as Alcoa and Kraft Jacobs Suchard. The town’s industries include car components, plastic, printing and food processing.
Banbury caters for many sports such as cricket, Wrestling (has monthly shows and a school for the over l6’s) football, golf (this opened in l993 and has three separate 9 hole loops) and rugby.
On the Industrial Estate in Marley Way can be found a B & Q DIY store, Homebase and Wickes are on Southern Road, There are also several supermarkets including Iceland, Morrison, Sainburys and the second largest Tesco in the country.
Banbury is a good place to shop and these can be found the High Street, Parsons Street, Broad Street and Market Place. Two retail parks are very close, Retail Park Banbury and Cross Retail Park.
Castle Quay shopping centre was built in 1977 and expanded in the 1990’s. It has six entrances and over seventy shops including Gap, Wallis, Oasis, Jaques Vert, The Officers Club, Burtons and Adams.
Banbury is home to a museum with free admission and over twelve public parks.
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