The Changing Face of Newbury

Tony Higgott, the town's former museum curator, looks at the changes there have been to Newbury in the years since 1960.  He uses over 100 photographs from local collections to show how Newbury turned from a busy market town based upon the local farming community into  a thriving centre focussed on the science and technology of the 21st century.

Here the major topics affecting the town during those years are recorded. Among them are the struggle to establish a bypass in the 1980s despite the objections of Swampy and his fellow protesters; the disappearance of privately owned grocery stores and the emergence of supermarkets; the evolving of new shop fronts in central Newbury around Northbrook Street; and the arrival of the town's largest employer - Vodafone - are all recalled.

At the same time some things are still with us but have grown and expanded, such as the ancient Michaelmas Fair, the Newbury Agricultural Show, Newbury Racecourse and the Hennessy Gold Cup meeting, an independent local newspaper and the jewel in Newbury's crown, the Watermill Theatre. All find a place in this marvellous record of the changing face of Newbury over the last 50 years or so.

A4 ~ almost (softcover) 96 pages

Author: Tony Higgott

ISBN 9781846743405