Newbury is the principal town in the west country of Berkshire. It stands on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the centre of town. The town centre is known for its many 17th century buildings. The town serves as the major commercial and retail centre of West Berkshire.
Newbury is surrounded on three sides by the North Wessex Downs and to the south it rises out of the river valley giving fantastic views including Watership Down, made famous by the novel and film of the same name.
The east-west road is the A4 from London to Bristol that has always been the main route from London. The M4 runs three miles to the north of the town.
The Newbury by-pass was built to ease the traffic congestion around the town. Before it was completed the A34 and A4 met at the infamous Robin Hood Roundabout. This is a road system of six roads, a fire station and has an exit on the internal side of the roundabout.
Newbury was founded in the latter part of the 11th century following the Norman invasion as a new borough, hence the name.
Both King John and Henry III frequented the town whilst on hunting trips to the area.
The town’s economy was originally the cloth trade. The original factory may have been the first factory in England and the tale of Jacks Coat came from the story of a bet as to whether a coat could be made in a day from wool sheared that morning.
The cloth trade declined in the 16th century leaving the town in poverty. It rose again when it became the stopping place of Londoners on the way to Bath. The town is just about half way between London and Bath and soon many coaching inns sprung up in the area. Some of which were said to be able to stable three hundred or more horses.
A theatre was built in town around this time to entertain the travellers with major stars of the period performing there.
Nearby Greenham Common was a large Royal Air Force base during WWII. In the 50’s it became a United States Air Force bomber base. In the 80’s it was turned into one of only two bases in the UK to house ground launched nuclear-armed cruise missiles and it became the site of Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. When the base closed much of the land was returned to heathland.
Newbury is the home of the world headquarters of Vodafone the company employs over 4,000 people. Until their £129m building was completed in 2003 they used sixty-four buildings across the town centre.
There is plenty of property available for rent in Newbury with average prices of £550pcm for a l bed flat, £880pcm 2 bed flat, £775pcm for a 2 bed house and £970pcm for a 3 bed house.
Other companies in Newbury include Bayer AG, Quantel, Micro Focus, Cableline Ltd. and Newbury Racecourse.
Newbury has one of England’s major racecourses, which celebrated its centenary in 2005. The most famous race, held here in late November, is the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup.
The town has one of the few lido’s left in the country and still attracts as many as 1,000 visitors a day during the peak summer months.
Newbury has several entertainment venues and holds annually the Newbury Spring
Festival which first started three years is becoming a key event.
Shopping is good in Newbury and some of the many shops to be found in and around the town centre include Girls, Girls, Girls, SOS clothing, Camp Hopson, Clothing Exchange, Azur Collections, Fat Faces, Waud and Badgers Menswear.
|
