Situated on the main crossroads between London and the West country, the south coast and the Midlands, it’s possible to reach London, Bristol and Bournemouth in an hour’s drive.

Newbury is on the edge of the Thames Valley, where the technology revolution has created thousands of jobs over the last 30 years.

The property market is among the most expensive in the country, fuelled by Londoners moving out of the city. Meanwhile, there’s traffic congestion from the army of commuters driving into Newbury every day, and the labour pool has dwindled to nothing, creating staff shortages in many industries.

Many of the young professionals arriving in Newbury come to join the mobile phone firm Vodafone, which employs around 4,000, but another 100 mobile telecoms firms operate locally. Thousands more commute to London via the M4 or direct train to Paddington.

Newbury’s 32,000 population forms part of a conurbation totalling some 60,000 residents, so as a result of these new influences, Newbury is evolving from a rural market town into an increasingly sophisticated cultural centre, with a vibrant arts community supported by theatres, an arts festival, orchestras, and a profusion of eating and drinking outlets. Big shopping centres in neighbouring Reading, Basingstoke and Swindon have created new challenges for Newbury, but more are coming back to the town where the shopping is more unhurried, and where many of the retailers are happy to stop for a chat.

In addition, the town boasts a top quality racecourse, plus dozens of sporting organisations, and outdoor pursuits are very popular in the Kennet valley.

This latest boom is the third in the town’s 1,000 year history. Founded by Norman knights, for its convenient position on major communication routes, by the Middle Ages a booming textiles industry made Newbury one of the top 20 towns in England. The next flourish of activity was in the Georgian period, when Newbury became the main stopover for London folk on their way to Bath – Britain’s first tourist resort.

Newbury has often achieved national prominence as the home of protests. Peace campaigners targeted the nuclear missiles stored at Greenham Common airbase with up to 40,000 women during the Cold War, and today, protests are active against the nearby AWE nuclear bomb facilities, and the USAAF bomb depot at Welford.

However, Newbury’s traffic problems also saw campaigners arrive from around the country to protest at a seven mile bypass through wildlife reserves, a Civil War battleground, and pristine woodland. The road cost £25 million extra due to the protests, and after Newbury, the government scrapped most of its road-building programme.