West Berkshire: Racecourse, Peace Camp, and Canal Country
West Berkshire is the rural half of Berkshire — the part that didn't get swallowed by the Reading-Bracknell-Slough conurbation. Newbury, the principal town, sits on the River Kennet and has been a market town since the medieval wool trade made it prosperous. The racecourse at Newbury, opened in 1905, hosts flat and jump racing and draws significant crowds during the winter National Hunt season. The town centre's mix of Georgian and Victorian buildings survives around the Corn Exchange and Northbrook Street, though the Parkway shopping development and out-of-town retail have drawn footfall away.
Greenham Common, the former USAF airbase south-east of Newbury, carries a different kind of fame. The women's peace camp, established in 1981 to protest the deployment of cruise missiles, became the longest-running protest in British history, lasting until 2000. The base closed in 1993 and has been returned to heathland — a nature reserve now occupies much of the site. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs through the district, connecting Reading to Bath along a 87-mile waterway that was restored through decades of volunteer effort. The stretch through Hungerford, Kintbury, and Newbury is popular with narrowboaters and walkers.
The district is affluent and predominantly rural. Lambourn, in the Berkshire Downs, is one of England's main racehorse training centres — the gallops on the Downs support hundreds of horses in dozens of yards. Hungerford, Pangbourne, and Thatcham are smaller towns with distinct characters. West Berkshire consistently ranks among the least deprived local authorities in England, with high household incomes and property prices that reflect the combination of countryside, commuter access (the M4 runs through), and good schools.
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West Berkshire is the rural half of Berkshire — the part that didn't get swallowed by the Reading-Bracknell-Slough conurbation. Newbury, the principal town, sits on the River Kennet and has been a market town since the medieval wool trade made it prosperous. The racecourse at Newbury, opened in 1905, hosts flat and jump racing and draws significant crowds during the winter National Hunt season. The town centre's mix of Georgian and Victorian buildings survives around the Corn Exchange and Northbrook Street, though the Parkway shopping development and out-of-town retail have drawn footfall away.
Greenham Common, the former USAF airbase south-east of Newbury, carries a different kind of fame. The women's peace camp, established in 1981 to protest the deployment of cruise missiles, became the longest-running protest in British history, lasting until 2000. The base closed in 1993 and has been returned to heathland — a nature reserve now occupies much of the site. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs through the district, connecting Reading to Bath along a 87-mile waterway that was restored through decades of volunteer effort. The stretch through Hungerford, Kintbury, and Newbury is popular with narrowboaters and walkers.
The district is affluent and predominantly rural. Lambourn, in the Berkshire Downs, is one of England's main racehorse training centres — the gallops on the Downs support hundreds of horses in dozens of yards. Hungerford, Pangbourne, and Thatcham are smaller towns with distinct characters. West Berkshire consistently ranks among the least deprived local authorities in England, with high household incomes and property prices that reflect the combination of countryside, commuter access (the M4 runs through), and good schools.
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