I invite you to read my post about ‘Old’ Newcastle on the Broad Oak Magazine blog. You may also like to read my previous post there about Cragside.
The historic town of Newbury is situated on the River Kennet and Kennet and Avon Canal. Wikipedia gives a brief history:
Newbury was founded late in the 11th century following the Norman invasion as a new borough, hence its name. Although there are references to the borough that predate theDomesday Survey it is not mentioned by name in the survey. However, its existence within the manor of Ulvritone is evident from the massive rise in value of that manor at a time when most manors were worth less than in Saxon times. In 1086 the Domesday Book assesses the borough as having land for 12 ploughs, 2 mills, woodland for 25 pigs, 11 villeins (resident farmhands, unfree peasant who owed his lord labour services), 11 bordars (unfree peasants with less land than villans/villeins), and 51 enclosures (private parks) rendering 70s 7d.
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 of Newbury, the proprietor of what may well have been the first factory in England, 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.
Most people will be more familiar with the nearby Greenham Common, which until the end of the cold war was an important (and notorious) RAF base:
A large Royal Air Force station 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 bombers andtankers, for which it was equipped with the longest military runway in the United Kingdom. In the 1980s, it became one of only two USAF bases in the UK equipped with ground-launchednuclear-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 was restored to heathland.
A more detailed history of the town can be found on the following link:
10 Comments CherryPie on Oct 13th 2014
All happiness in the world comes from thinking about others, and all suffering in the world comes from preoccupation with yourself.
Santideva
28 Comments CherryPie on Oct 12th 2014
After breakfast it was time to say goodbye to Winchester and its Cathedral and set off on our homeward journey. We stopped off at Hidcote, the first garden that the National Trust took ownership of. We had lunch before strolling round the garden.
We got home mid afternoon and that was when we noticed the first of our recent problems…
18 Comments CherryPie on Oct 11th 2014
After breakfast it was time to resume our walking tour around Winchester, taking in the sites that were on our ‘To Do’ list. We made our way to the Cathedral which we intended to revisit but when we arrived we noticed a long queue leading to the closed front doors of the Cathedral. Our immediate thought is that there must be a morning service about to take place. We decided to carry along the route and come back later. Whilst I was taking a photograph around the side of the Cathedral Mr C got chatting to a lady who was parking her bicycle, she informed him that the service about to take place was the ordination of the new Bishop of Basingstoke.
We carried on along our planned route and as we passed Winchester College we noticed that a guided tour was due to start in 30 minutes. We walked on to the new Bishop’s residence and Wolvesey Castle (the Old Bishop’s Palace). We wandered around the ruins until it was time to make our way back to the college. The tour was extremely interesting, our guide was very knowledgeable and informative. There were only three of us on the tour which added to the experience.
After the tour we made our way back to the Cathedral for morning coffee as we arrived there we realised that the service was due to finish shortly. After coffee we waited to see if we could get a glimpse of the Archbishop of Canterbury in front of the Cathedral. We weren’t disappointed. I was so close I could have stepped through the gate and shook his hand.
Lunch in in the guild hall was was rather chaotic due to it being full of people who had attended the service in the Cathedral. I had a cheese and chive scone with chutney, it was delicious. After lunch we visited Winchester City Mill and took a walk alongside the river Itchen. We then retraced our steps and visited the Cathedral to explore things I had missed on the first visit. When I had finished my explorations I was rushed to Peninsular Barracks so that Mr C could visit the Royal Green Jackets Museum to see the Waterloo diorama. On arrival we found that this part of the museum was closed in preparation for a new Waterloo exhibition that will be displayed in 2015 to celebrate the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo.
After all that walking we returned to the hotel to put our feet up and relax before a return visit to The Old Vyne for our evening meal in Winchester.
14 Comments CherryPie on Oct 10th 2014
We returned to Portsmouth to carry on where we left off the previous day. We started off with a visit to the Royal Marines Museum, which is included in the entrance ticket to Portsmouth Docks but situated a short way from the dockyard itself. It was thundering as we arrived and we didn’t quite make it inside before the heavy rain started. The museum explains the history of the Royal Marines and gives insight into what basic training involves and what it takes to become a Royal Marine. The videos of recruits stories as they undertook their training are quite touching and enlightening. We spent the whole morning there and had lunch in the Quartermaster’s Kitchen before making our way to Portsmouth Docks.
On arrival at the docks we visited HMS Warrior, the first armour-plated iron-hulled warship. Warrior propelled by steam power as well as being fully rigged for sail. The evolution of this type of warship led to Warrior becoming obsolete just a decade after she had been launched.
After Warrior we visited the Museum of the Royal Navy before returning to Winchester for our evening meal. We returned to La Place, the food was not quite as good as our previous visit but the atmosphere and experience was much better.
6 Comments CherryPie on Oct 9th 2014
Portsmouth Dockyard is very large and has so many attractions that we planned to visit on more than one day. On the first visit we visited Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory, first. It was interesting and a lot more compact inside than I had imagined. Even I had to duck my head at times. I found it strange to think we were on the vessel where Nelson spent the last moments of his life.
Next we visited the Marie Rose museum which is in the dry dock next to HMS Victory. This museum is very well done, the remains of the Marie Rose are on its starboard side and the archaeological finds and information are exhibited on its port side. It was good to have seen Victory first because it allowed me to interpret clearly what I was seeing. The Marie Rose is currently behind perspex because she is being dried out as part of the final stages of the work undertaken to preserve her.
We then went into the museum that complimented HMS Victory. Mr C wasn’t too fussed about going upstairs, but I decided I wanted a quick look which led me to find a viewing platform looking out over the dockyards. One of the museum curators explained about the decommissioning of HMS Illustrious within Portsmouth Dockyard. She then produced a book on warships and showed us some of the ones that were currently in dock. She also pointed out a Victorian structure that covered the place where Queen Victoria alighted her train before boarding a ship to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. We were also pointed in the right direction to find W L Wyllie’s Panorama of Trafalgar which we otherwise would have missed. The painting was displayed as a ’son et lumiere’ which was an excellent way of showing it off but it also meant we couldn’t linger to study it as long as we would have liked.
I chose to take a boat ride around the harbor. It is the best way to see the ships that are docked in the port as well as other more permanent features. The tour included a commentary naming the ships and pointing out various features of interest.
It was then time to head back for our evening meal, which on this occasion was rather disappointing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why… After the meal we made our way towards The Bishop on the Bridge for a drink before we returned to the hotel. As we approached the main thoroughfare where the pub was situated we heard a loud crash of glass. An angry man crossed in front of us shouting ‘England Forever’. People from the two nearby pubs rushed out to see what was going on. The man moved by and we crossed the road on our way but the man suddenly turned around and walked into the middle of the road, ranting and raving in our general direction. Mr C was all for carrying on past him towards the pub but I had other ideas. I insisted we move back out of his anger zone. By this time there were people out with brooms sweeping up the glass which he had smashed in the middle of a busy traffic island. There was glass everywhere so I am not sure what he had thrown. The people who had been near him in one of the pubs said he had been peaceful one minute and the next he went into a rage.
When the coast was clear we made our way to The Bishop on the Bridge for a well deserved drink.
10 Comments CherryPie on Oct 8th 2014
