St Nicolas church as it stands today was completed around 1500 to 1530. There is some evidence that to suggest that the church was used as both a prison and a hospital after the Second Battle of Newbury in 1664.

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:

• History of Newbury

We were a little behind schedule and left an hour later than planned.  We had decided against plan A which was a visit to Avebury to break our journey to Winchester. We didn’t want to rush the visit.  As we journeyed south we also shelved plan B which was to visit a National Trust property called The Vyne because we decided there wasn’t enough time to do that justice either. After stopping at Warwick services to buy sandwiches from Waitrose, which we ate in the car we moved on to plan C.

We stopped in a town called Newbury and enjoyed a cup of tea by the side of the river whilst watching the swans and narrow boats. After our cuppa we went for a stroll around the town and visited St. Nicholas Church before resuming our journey.

As we approached the hotel a fire engine we followed a fire engine with a rotating platform. It turned off before arrived at the hotel car park. On arrival at the car park the attendant booked us in and advised us that there were currently no spaces and that we should try the staff car park just around the corner. If that was full we were to come back as a few cars were just about to leave. There were no spaces on the staff car park but we found the fire engine with its rotating platform parked up outside. We drove back to the hotel and managed to find an awkward space and wiggle into it. As we did this a standard fire engine drove past us in the direction of the Cathedral.

We checked in and went to find our room with a view over the Cathedral grounds. On entering our ‘Room with a View’ we noticed the fire engine with the rotating platform fully extending and performing some activity in relation to the Cathedral building. There were firemen everywhere. After this bit of excitement we fetched the bags out of the car and unpacked before going out for dinner in Loch Fyne.

After the meal Mr C was drawn by the sound of music coming from inside one of the local pubs.  The entrance was up an alley way and it didn’t have a good feel (to me) so I held back and stepped aside to let one of the locals come past me. He helped us find the kind of pub that Mr C was really looking for. It was called ‘The Oak’ and its claim to fame was being the oldest pub in England…

When we arrived at the hotel earlier in the day, I started experiencing an excruciating pain in the top upper part of my back if I twisted in the wrong direction.  This had got worse over the evening and I was hoping it was going to have recovered by the morning… I think it had been brought on when I was adjusting the seat as we set off in the morning. Mr C had suddenly accelerated causing the car seat to shoot backwards…