The Newbury Society
Protecting the architecture and promoting the history of the market town Newbury for all who live there, work in it or visit it
The Berkshire Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) took over the management of West Berkshire Council's main countryside sites, including Snelsmore and Greenham commons and the Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre, at the beginning of 2014. Simon will be reviewing the way in which the management of the sites has evolved since then and highlighting some […]
A summer social event marking 50 years of the Newbury Society. Open to society members and their accompanied guests. Tickets are £10 per head. For further details contact Graham Smith at newburysoc.secretary@gmail.com
An illustrated talk which will look at the life and work of some local artists, as well as the depictions of local scenes by others. It will include fine and decorative art, with the emphasis on the former. Among the artists covered will be JMW Turner, Joseph Toomer (thrice Mayor of Newbury), William Gore, Fred […]
Dr David Peacock traces the history of Donnington Castle, from its manorial origins in 1287, the licence awarded to Richard Abberbury 'to crenellate and fortify' in 1386, through to the Civil War period and beyond.
“Road by Road books – Inspiration, Research and Publication” Roy Tubb R. B. Tubb is the author of seven local history books, several organised in a road-by-road format, and covering Thatcham, Cold Ash, Greenham, Shaw, Speen and Stockcross, as well as the distinctive publication Newbury Road by Road (2011). Roy Tubb is a retired mathematics […]
“The Craven story” Clive Williams 'This is the rags to riches to rags story of the Craven family. They came from nowhere in the C16th to become one of the richest families in the country in one generation. They then bought up England and then succeeded in losing virtually everything over the next 3 centuries. […]
Camp Hopson was founded in 1921 with the merger of two businesses: a furniture business owned by Joseph Hopson and Camp’s Drapery Bazaar owned by Alfred Camp. The talk will trace the origins of these two family businesses and their amalgamation, resulting in the cherished department store at 6-12 Northbrook Street.
The talk will be an introduction to the water industry, how our wastewater is managed and how that interacts with our local waterways. Paul is an ex-geography teacher who has worked at Thames Water for 12 years. He currently works on River Health-related projects as part of Thames Water's strategy and external affairs team.
The talk will include an examination of sundials in Lockinge (which was in Berkshire until 1974), Bucklebury, Stockcross, Reading, Newbury, Avington (near Hungerford) and Crowthorne. Notable local makers include John Blagrave of Reading, David Pawley and John Singleton (all of Newbury) and David Harber of Blewbury. To that list of sundial inventors and makers can […]
There must be many people in West Berkshire who pass the massive granite obelisk at the top of ‘Wash Hill’ and have little or no idea of its origins, the man it was named after or even any connection with the Falkland Islands. Having become immersed in the story of the First Battle of Newbury […]