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Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former airbase at Greenham Common.
Geography
Today, Newbury town has a population of about 32,000 (2004) and, with adjacent towns such as Thatcham, is the centre of a continuously built up area with an overall population of around 60,000. Newbury serves as the major commercial and retail centre of West Berkshire. The River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal flow through the centre of the town, while the River Lambourn partly forms its northern boundary and the River Enborne forms its southern boundary (and also the county boundary with Hampshire). Adjoining the town's south-eastern border is Greenham Common and the famous racecourse. Newbury is surrounded on three sides (north, west and south) by the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The downland to the south rises steeply out of the river valley providing scenic views, including Watership Down (made famous by the novel of the same name), Beacon Hill and Combe Gibbet. Location and TransportImage:Lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Central Newbury Berkshire.JPG The Kennet and Avon Canal runs through the heart of Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is situated on the River Kennet, the valley of which has always formed an important east-west transport route, served by the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the Great Western Railway line from London to the West Country. Today, Newbury is served by two railway stations, Newbury and Newbury Racecourse, which both lie on the Great Western Main Line.
At Newbury this east-west route is crossed by an equally important north-south route, from the major south coast port of Southampton to the industrial centres of the Midlands. Although this route was once served by a railway line, today it is only served by the A34 road, which now bypasses Newbury to the west on an alignment partially using the old rail route (see also 'Modern Notoriety' below). Until the completion of the bypass, the A34 and A4 met in the town centre at the infamous Robin Hood Roundabout. This is a complicated gyratory system encompassing 6 approaching roads, a fire station and an exit on the internal (right-hand) side of the roundabout which has to fly-over the roundabout as it heads away to the north. Recently the sculpture, Couple in Conversation, was unveiled on the roundabout, providing a new landmark for one of the major gateways into the town. Other significant roads radiating from Newbury include the A339 which now includes the renumbered part of the old A34 through the town centre and then heads towards Basingstoke and the M3 motorway, the B4000 to Lambourn, the B4494 to Wantage and the B4009 to Streatley. Most local bus services are provided by Newbury Buses. Newbury bypass
The town's location at the intersection of the routes from London to Bristol and from Southampton to Birmingham made it, for many years, a transport bottleneck. Since the first bypass opened in 1963, the A34 road and M4 motorway trunk routes have intersected 5km north of the town, at Chieveley. The ring road around the town still suffered serious congestion and the Newbury bypass was proposed in 1981. The plans were approved in 1990. However they were extremely controversial and this led to a major environmentalist campaign (sometimes dubbed the Third battle of Newbury) opposing the development. In spite of this, the road was built and finally opened in 1998. In August 2004, the improved A34-M4 junction was opened which allowed north-south traffic on the A34 to completely bypass the roundabout at the M4. Local governmentNewbury is part of, and the administrative centre of, the district administered by the unitary authority of West Berkshire. Newbury is also a civil parish in its own right, with parish council responsibilities undertaken by Newbury Town Council since 1997. Newbury Town Council currently has 23 councillors, representing 7 wards of the town. These are Brummel Grove, Clay Hill, Falkland, Northcroft, Pyle Hill, Victoria and St Johns. As of 2006, 19 of the councillors represent the Liberal Democrats, 3 represent the Conservative Party whilst one is independent (formerly Liberal Democrat).[1] In Parliament, the town is in the Newbury constituency. Since the election of May 2005 this constituency has been represented by Richard Benyon, a Conservative. Newbury is twinned with:
HistoryThere was a Mesolithic settlement at Newbury. Artifacts were recovered from the Greenham Dairy Farm in 1963, and the Faraday Road site in 2002.[2]Addition material was found in excavations along the route of the Newbury Bypass.[3] Image:Newbury town centre.jpg Newbury town hall. Newbury was founded late in the eleventh century and acquired its name through being new in the sense of post-dating the Domesday Survey. Doubt has been cast over the existence of 'Newbury Castle', but the town did have Royal connections and was visited a number of times by King John and Henry III while hunting in the area.[4] Historically, the town's economic foundation was the cloth trade. This is reflected in the person of the 16th century cloth magnate, Jack O'Newbury, and the later tale of the Newbury Coat. The latter was the outcome of a bet as to whether a gentleman's suit could be produced by the end of the day from wool taken from a sheep's back at the beginning. Newbury was the site of two Civil War battles, the First Battle of Newbury (at Wash Common) in 1643 and the Second Battle of Newbury (at Speen) in 1644. The nearby Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle. In 1795, local magistrates, meeting at the Pelican Inn in Speenhamland, introduced the Speenhamland System which tied parish welfare payments to the cost of bread. Greenham Common
A large Royal Air Force base was established during the Second World War at Greenham Common on the edge of the town. In the 1950s, it became home to US Air Force bomber and tankers, for which it was equipped with the longest military runway in the United Kingdom. In the 1980s, it became one of only two bases in the UK equipped with ground-launched nuclear-armed cruise missiles, causing it to become the site of protests by up to 40,000 protesters and the establishment of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. With the end of the Cold War, the base was closed, the runway was broken up for use as fill material in building the Newbury bypass, and much of the area restored to heathland. EconomyNewbury is home to the world headquarters of the mobile network operator Vodafone, which is the town's largest employer with over 4,000 people. Before building their £129 million headquarters in the outskirts of the town in 2003, Vodafone used 64 buildings spread across the town centre.[5] As well as Vodafone, Newbury is also home to the UK headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Bayer AG, Newbury Racecourse (a major course on the British horse-racing calendar), Mediasurface, Quantel, Stearn Electric, The Bindloss Gibb Foundation, Micro Focus, and Genesys Video Conferencing. It also is home to Newbury Building Society which operates in the local region. Sports and leisureImage:Newbury library.jpg The reception area in Newbury's library. Newbury is home to the major horse-racing fixture, Newbury Racecourse. The most prestigious race in the calendar is the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup which normally takes place in late November. Newbury is fortunate enough to still have one of the last remaining outdoor lidos in the UK. It was built in the 1890s originally although the structure we see today was erected in the 1930s. The pool is still very much in use receiving more than 1000 visitors a day during peak times. The pool made national news in July 2006 when then manager Andy Reeves ran a feature on the problems of outdoor pools and how to manage existing lidos and securing their future. Uniquely the pool is owned and subsidised by West Berkshire Council but managed by an external contractor Parkwood Leisure.[1] Newbury is also home to A.F.C. Newbury, which was for a period one of only two football clubs to be sponsored by Vodafone (the other being Manchester United). In May 2006 Vodafone ended its sponsorship of the club[6] Newbury's rugby union club, Newbury R.F.C. (also sponsored by Vodafone), is based in the town. In the 2004/05 season, the club finished second in the National Two division earning promotion to National One and is now in the top 26 clubs nationally. Newbury had previously won National Four South (now renamed as National Three South) in 1996/97 with a 100% win record. The club was founded in 1928 and in 1996 moved to a new purpose-built ground at Monks Lane,[7] which has since hosted England U21 fixtures. Major cricket clubs in the town include Falkland C.C. and Newbury C.C.. Newbury also has a strong athletics club and there are Newbury District Leagues in many other sports such as badminton, table tennis, squash and darts. Victoria Park is home of the Newbury Waterways Festival. As well as lending out books, Newbury Library, which moved to a new building in July 2000, provides internet access and a wide range of other services to its users and members. There is a wide range of arts provision in the Newbury area - The Corn Exchange providing a main focus for both professional and amateur live performances. The Watermill Theatre is prolific and internationally renowned, and New Greenham Arts is building a reputation for supporting new and emerging artists. [2] Annually the Newbury Spring Festival showcases classical music in a variety of venues, and The Newbury Comedy Festival (started in 2004) has rapidly become a key feature in the town's cultural calendar. [3] Places of interestImage:Newbury and surroundings.jpg Newbury is in the Kennet valley. (As viewed from Donnington Castle)
EducationNewbury has three main secondary schools:
There is also Newbury College, a further and higher education college funded by private finance initiative. Independent schools nearby include:
MediaThere are three main local radio stations broadcasting in the Newbury area - a publicly-funded radio service from the BBC, BBC Radio Berkshire - and two independent local radio stations - Kick FM which broadcasts from Newbury, and 2-Ten FM which broadcasts into the area from nearby Reading. The following local newspapers are distributed in Newbury (circulation in brackets[8]):
Famous peopleA number of famous people have originated from, worked, lived or died in Newbury:
Further reading
References
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