The name of Bracknell means ‘bracken covered hiding place’. The oldest building is the Old Manor Public House it was built during the 17th century. Next to it was the Hinds Head public house, which had a bad reputation and where it is said Dick Turpin frequented. There was a tunnel connecting the two pubs so that he could escape, when necessary, from the authorities.
Easthampstead Park lies on the outskirts of Bracknell town and was a Royal Hunting Lodge. It was here that Catherine of Aragon was made to stay until her divorce from Henry VIII was settled.
Bracknell became a ‘new town’ in 1949. The town centre was built in the 1960’s and plans for a new town centre have been approved and are underway.
There are plenty of new builds around the town including both flats and houses. One of the largest being developed on the old RAF Staff College site and will offer 1200 homes when finished.
Lettings are plentiful in and around Bracknell town offering both flats and houses. The prices are around £600-£700 a month for a l bed flat, with a 2 bed flat costing between £725 and £800 a month and a 2 bed house approximately £825-£850 a month.
Bracknell is easily accessible making it a popular place for commuters. The mainline station has frequent services to Waterloo and Reading and road travel is made simple by Bracknell being on the A329M and very close to both the M3 and M4 motorways.
There are plenty of public houses and restaurants in the town and on the outskirts serving a variety of good quality meals. There are also several hotels and guest house’s in and around town.
Major businesses have relocated to Bracknell with some of the big names being Hewlett Packard, Dell, Cable and Wireless and Panasonic. The Met Offices had large premises in Bracknell until 2003 when they moved to Exeter. There are several business parks just on the edge of town.
Bracknell is well known for its plentiful sports and entertainment facilities. There is the Bracknell Leisure Centre, with pools, gyms, courts and a running track. The Coral Reef Water Park, has waterfalls, a rapids pool and children’s area.
Just off the A329 towards Binfield is the John Nike Ice Skating Rink and artificial Ski Slope, this is a very popular centre for young and not so young alike. In the complex is also a café, restaurant and bar.
A few minutes out of town is the Devonshire Golf Complex another popular site.
In Bracknell Forest is the Look Out Discovery Centre, which is a hands-on science centre especially formulated for children. There is also a café and large adventure playground to keeping the children amused whilst the adults have a rest and coffee. There are plenty of seats around the playground so the children can still be kept in view. If you feel more energetic you can try your strength and bravery on the ‘Go Ape’ course. It’s an adventure course through the trees, with rope walks, swinging foot ropes, with giant pulleys stretching a hundred or more metres through the forest. You can walk, cycle, it has one of the best off road mountain bike tracks in the South of England, or even take your horse and have a canter round the designated tracks at a mere cost of £6. per day. Adults pay a small charge for cycling through but children go free.
South Park has an arts centre with jewellery, ceramics, printmaking, art and silversmithing businesses in the same complex and all offer weekend courses. Also on the premises is a theatre that produces concerts, plays and ballet performances.
For further entertainment in town there is a ten pin bowling alley and a cinema.
If you prefer the outdoors, Bracknell has a lot of parks and open spaces most of which have a playground with many having a football or rugby pitch.
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