Cambridge, UK

Plymouth, UK

Cornwall, UK

The North Wessex Downs

The North Wessex Downs is a unique and spectacular landscape that includes tranquil open downland, ancient woodland, and chalk streams in the centre of southern England, and is sandwiched between Newbury in the East and Swindon in the West. Within the North Wessex Downs there are so many fascinating places to visit and experience, from pre-history to the present day, that it is impossible to mention them all, but they include some of the most magical pre-historic locations in the country.

The internationally renowned Avebury Stone Circle and White Horse Hill are well known to visitors, but there are many other interesting sites such as the Neolithic tombs of Kennet Long Barrow and Wayland’s Smithy, that are equally mysterious places to visit.

For a predominantly rural area, the North Wessex Downs has a surprisingly rich industrial heritage, and the Kennet and Avon Canal is well worth a visit as it was a vital thoroughfare connecting the river Avon with the River Thames in the 18th and 19th centuries. It also flows through Newbury, giving many lovely places to enjoy a drink or lunch by the water.

The North Wessex Downs is also home to some of England’s finest country houses from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Highclere Castle (famous as the location in the hit television series ‘Downton Abbey’) has impressive staterooms, an Egyptian exhibition, and wonderful grounds to roam, but more of this later.

Newbury’s history is not well documented, but a settlement grew up here over 1000 years ago due to its position as a river crossing and a cross roads of north/south and east/west trade routes.

The name Newbury was first mentioned in 1079 in the “Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy”and was granted the right to hold a fair and a market (which it does to this day). In the late 15th century Newbury was renowned for its cloth manufacture, and its most famous clothier was John Smallwood who was a close friend of HenryVIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon.

Newbury was also the site of two battles during the English Civil War (1642-46). The first battle was in 1643, when the Earl of Essex was returning to London after reliving the siege of Gloucester and found his way barred by King Charles’s army. The Earl of Essex won, after the King’s army ran out of gunpowder! The second battle was in 1644, near Donnington Castle. Now a partial ruin, it was besieged for 20 months. It fell to the Parliamentarians, but the King’s defenders of the castle were allowed to withdraw because they had put up a stout defence.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Newbury was important as a coaching centre, being on the Great Bath Road, and it developed many inns, theatres and horse races to entertain the travellers, and these pleasures remain to this day. The racecourse that exists today, Newbury Racecourse, was opened in 1905, and apart from a brief gap in 1942 when the course became a marshalling yard for the American army, continues to hold race meetings throughout the year.

The 18th century also saw new industrial industries spring up, with some even surviving to the present day, and due to its great road links Newbury has now attracted many high technology companies such as Vodafone, Merant (formerly Micro Focus) and Quantel.

Newbury has been synonymous with the Nuclear debate for many years as the Greenham Common Airbase is near Newbury. This base was used to participate in the invasion of Europe on D-Day, 6th June 1944, but what stirred up the fury of many people was that it was used during the Cold War as an American nuclear bomber base, and then a Cruise Missile Base, prompting many demonstrations, and a permanent tented village set up by CND outside the main entrance for many years. Since the end of the Cold War, Greenham Common has returned partly to a common and partly an industrial estate, and the protesters moved on.

On our visit to Newbury our first port of call was to Donnington Castle which is a ruined medieval castle, situated in the small village of Donnington, just north of Newbury. It was built by Sir Richard Abberbury the Elder in 1386, and was bought by Thomas Chaucer (politician and son of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer), before the castle was taken under royal control during the Tudor period. As mentioned, the castle survived a 20 month siege during the First English Civil War and after the surrender Parliament voted to demolish the castle and now only the impressive four towered gatehouse survive. There are no tourist facilities here and entry is free, which to me shows that this site is all about history, and not money. Entry is during any reasonable hour, and please note the gatehouse itself cannot be entered.

Our second port of call was to Highclere Castle which is about 5 miles (8 km) south of Newbury. This was something my wife was really looking forward to as she is a big fan of the television series Downton Abbey which is filmed here, and she couldn’t wait to see where The Crawleys (fictional characters) had spent their years. We drove up through the understated entrance gate through the stunning gardens designed by Capability Brown, and then were treated to our first sight of this truly striking Jacobethan styled house designed by the architect Charles Barry. This is the very impressive country seat of the Earl of Carnarvon, and he and his wife do live here, so rather than it being a museum house this is actually someone’s home, and this comes to light as you pass through each room and explains why it is not open all year round, so do check opening times.

Highclere Castle will not disappoint Downton fans, as filming didn’t just take place on the outside as most of the internal rooms were used too, so you really are on set here.

Highclere not only delights those who love Downton, it will also delight those who love architecture (as it really is a stunning building full of antiques and old masters paintings) and to add icing to the cake it has a third string to its bow as a museum of Egyptian artifacts. That appears odd for a country house in Berkshire, but the clue is in who owns the house. The most recent Lord Carnarvon is descended to the Lord Carnarvon, who, with Howard Carter, discovered Tutankhamun’s Tomb, and so there are many artifacts from that tomb in their museum. What I found most interesting is that a copy of everything found in the tomb has been made for security reasons, and only a few know which is at The British Museum and which is at Highclere at any given time.

As well as the house, the gardens are extensive, and you could spend many hours enjoying walks to one of the many folly’s which litter the grounds. The stable block houses many thoroughbred horses used for breeding (indeed the Queen’s trainer has his stables next door, well, the next estate, so a few miles away!).

The castle and gardens are open to the public during July and August and at various other times during the the year, but there are several special events coming up at Highclere, the dates of which you can see on the website. For me this house is a must see for everyone, and it has something for all the family.

Newbury still has many inns and places to stay, but we stayed at The Donnington Valley Hotel and Spa, which is perfectly located to not only visit the sights of Newbury and the surrounding area, but also has enough to keep you in or near the hotel, with its state of the art Spa, and a lovely challenging 6296 yards, 18 hole, par 71 parkland golf course, set in beautiful rolling countryside. The rooms have a warm modern feel, and are well equipped with large flat screen TV’s, Egyptian cotton duvets, marble bathrooms, Wi-Fi internet access, laptop-sized safes and complimentary bottled water. This is not just a golf hotel, as it has bars and restaurant full not just of people bemoaning their misfortune on the course, but families were there celebrating birthdays and couples were enjoying a great night out. This modern 4 star hotel truly caters for everyone, as along with the spa it has a very good size swimming pool and jacuzzi, surrounded by comfortable loungers.

The actual golf course has its own clubhouse, so by the time golfers have returned from their trials and tribulations on the course, they are able to relax and make the most of the welcoming bar, or head back to the hotel with its large bar area and fabulous restaurant.

The restaurant at Donnington Valley, The Wine Press, is in my view the jewel in this hotel’s crown. This 2 AA rosette restaurant offers the perfect blend of classic British dishes served in an intimate yet informal atmosphere, and there is an à la carte menu, or as part of our one night deal we could choose dishes from a set menu (4 options for each course) which was exceptional value.

I started with Pressed Confit Piglet, pickled turnips and greengage and the peppery greens complemented the piglet perfectly, whereas my wife had the Spiced Goats Cheese. Our mains were the Corn Fed Chicken Wellington with smoked mash which was an original twist on a classic, and Scorched Cauliflower Risotto, which was warm and creamy with a lovely crunch provided by the cauliflower. The desserts we chose were Bitter Chocolate Tart and a Bramley Apple Crème Brûlée, which rounded off a lovely meal.

Newbury may not be the first place to visit on everyone’s list, but you should really reconsider, as it is very easy to get to, and has lots of things to see and wonderful places to stay. My wife has previously stayed at The Vineyard, where she did a day of wine tasting and gained her WSET Level One Sommelier certificate. This one day course is open to all wine lovers, and after a few hours tasting and tutoring you are able to gain a qualification which is the first stepping stone to becoming a fully fledged sommelier, or you can just use the knowledge to impress your friends! TheVineyard is a 5 star award winning hotel, with a 3 AA Rosette restaurant and award winning 30,000 bottle wine cellar, as well as its excellent dining facilities, also has a spa and indoor swimming pool. It is also closely associated with Donnington Valley Hotel and Spa, but is probably more suited to adults rather than young children, although they are very welcome!

For further information on Highclere Castle visit: www.highclerecastle.co.uk

For further information on Donnington Valley Hotel & Spa, please visit: www.donningtonvalley.co.uk

For further information on The Vineyard please visit www.the-vineyard.co.uk