Newbury : my first destination abroad !
Since I am a child, I want to go to England and experience life there. In October 2006, I left the suburb of Paris to go to West Berkshire. I spent 8 months there, I was living in Newbury.
The area of Berkshire is located in the middle south of England. From one hour to London, it is the deep countryside -- at least for a city girl who had always been living in the suburb of Paris before !
The geographical situation is really great to visit cities all around the area, such as Bristol, Bath, Oxford or London for instance.
Newbury is a nice little town, one of the main towns in the area. It is very beautiful for walks along the canal, or deeper in the countryside. The town can be quite animated at night with the Market Place and its pubs and discos. The main street is surrended by shops, there is even a little shopping centre (Kennet Shopping) and, a further from the town center (route to Basingstoke) you can find some fast food, a big Tesco and Retail Shopping.
The discos are Liquid (in front of the bus station) and Chicago Rock Café (at the post office, near the Market Place). Pubs are maily around the Market Place and Bartholmew Street, the main street in the town centre. When the sun is shining, terraces are really nice along the canal (at the Lock Stock and Barrel for instance). For a football matches, I liked the athmosphere in the Berkshire Tavern and the Hog's Head. You sometimes have bands playing in live in the pubs, but not very often (and sometimes not so good... Paris I miss you ;o).
To go out, in addition of pubs and discos in the town centre, you have the Leisure Centre (near Thatcham) with a bowling very cheap on Monday night! There are events at the Corn Exchange: theatre, movies, art exhibition, sometimes music...
The town is famous for its racecourse.
The West Berkshire Museum is located near the town centre, where the tourist information is.
Near Newbury, in a small village called Donnington, there are ruins of a medieval castle. Built on the top of a hill, it can be an opportunity to see the countryside and Newbury from above... but actually I think there is not much to see. I prefered nice walks in the countryside than this "castle".
You can find an other castle in Newbury, Highclere Castle.
My summary
- Time spent there : 8 months (from October 2006 to May 2007)
- Accomodation : 300£/month (rent a room near the town center and the canal)
- Things to do / nightlife: 5/10 (lot of pubs, some discos and activities... but too small for me!)
- How I get there : by train, less than 1 hour from London Waterloo (First Great Western)
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