Talk:Newbury, Berkshire

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I suggest moving discussion of the Newbury Bypass to a separate article, as there are issues beyond those which relate directly to Newbury as a town. It would also be convenient to link to directly from other articles (e.g. as I tried to do just now from A34 road, but had to point here instead). ,,,Trainspotter,,, 14:16, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Contents 1 Greenham Common and the A34 2 Longest Military Runway in the UK 3 Geography 4 Population 5 Famous People 6 Northcroft Leisure Centre section 7 North-South railway line

[edit] Greenham Common and the A34

I'm baffled by the latest edit saying that Greenham Common had the longest military runway in the world "until it was broken up to help build the A34 by-pass". How can this be possible? They are on opposite sides of Newbury? Mpntod 18:44, Jan 6, 2005 (UTC)

It is not my edit, but I do know that the runway surface was used as hardcore in building the by-pass. I'll take a look at the article, and see if I can clarify. -- Chris j wood 20:11, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The whole para was a bit difficult, so I've re-written it and hopefully removed the confusion. -- Chris j wood 20:32, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Longest Military Runway in the UK

I'm a bit dubious about this claim. I know the runway at RAF Macrahanish (probably not correct spelling) in Kintyre is very long, and is rumoured to be an emergency diversion strip for the Space Shuttle, a claim I've never heard made for Greenham Common. Of course by the time the shuttle was in use, Greenham was no longer a front-line fixed-wing base, so there may have been issues with runway condition. -- Chris j wood 20:32, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

- according to RAF_Machrihanish, RAF_Machrihanish had the second longest runway. Joolz 18:00, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Geography

The following is confusing: The parish of Newbury consists of the town, and the suburbs of Wash Common, the City, West Fields, East Fields and Speenhamland. The modern conurbation of Newbury, however, also takes in the surrounding villages of Speen, Donnington, Shaw & Greenham.

"The parsh" may be apt if one is looking at the civil parish but there are three C of E parishes within the same area and part of a fourth.

How do you classify a suburb? Is the City a suburb? I can't accept that Speenhamland is not part of the centre of the town.

[edit] Population

- Where are the population statistics from? If Newbury has a population of 32,000, and the area has a population of 60,000 (the area can't be West Berkshire because apprarently that has 143,000) - Where, apart from Thatcham do the missing 28,000 come from? (And Thatcham is not that big) Joolz 13:44, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

- - I've done some calculations and I've worked out that Newbury has a population of roughly 36,454, using the wards of Greenham, Speen, Victoria, St Johns, Falkland, Clay Hill, Northcroft. I chose these wards based on the maps at neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk and the population information contained there. The only problem with this is that it includes places such as Boxford (which is in the Speen ward) which really isn't part of Newbury. Joolz 15:27, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC) + The following is confusing:

- - Thatcham certainly is that big - a similar calculation for the wards of Thatcham (Central, East, North, South, South & Crookham, and West) show a population of 35,670 (2001 census). So the area figure quoted in the article is too low.

[edit] Famous People

What is the qualification for this section - several of those mentioned lived near rather than in Newbury. Would Beau Brummell qualify - he lived a mile from the town centre but in Donnington. Or Thomas Hughes author of Tom Brown's Schooldays (also Donnington).

In my opinion they count as Newbury residents as surely Donnington is just a suburb of Newbury. I'd like to know what other people think, though. I-hunter 08:09, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

The article itself defines the borders of Newbury. It is a town and civil parish. Anyone coming from outside the parish boundary is therefore - strictly speaking - not from Newbury. A suburb of Newbury is not necessarily part of Newbury. Shaw-cum-Donnington is a separate parish. Verica Atrebatum 08:49, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

I would agree with Verica - but most of the people already listed lived in the area around Newbury - not within the parish or town boundary. For instance Theo Walcott (Compton), Gerald Finzi (Ashmansworth), John Kendrick (Reading & London), Geoffrey Eastop (Ecchinswell). They may have associations with the town - but did they originate from, live in or die in Newbury? Newburychap 19:18, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Looks like it needs tidying up then, particularly the removal (or transfer) of the two people from Hampshire. John Kendrick is listed because of the large legacy he left to the town. Verica Atrebatum 08:33, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

What difference does it make that they are from Hampshire? Ecchinswell and Ashmansworth are closer to Newbury than Compton (Theo Walcot) or Reading (Kendrick). Obviously there is no qualification - certainly not relating to any association with the town beyond using it as a local place to shop. Finzi is in fact one of the best qualified to be here - he founded the Newbury orchestra.87.81.252.131 13:18, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Northcroft Leisure Centre section

To give the contributor the benefit of the doubt I will leave this section in the article for the time being, despite being of the opinion that it really does not belong in this article or is at least in the wrong place. It seems to be little more than advertising for the leisure centre. I would appreciate comments from other users. Thanks. I-hunter 22:07, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree - reads out of place. Stephenb (Talk) 10:11, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] North-South railway line

I recall learning (about 30 years ago) that the North South railway line (Oxford to Poole) would have passed through Newbury, with consequent economic benefits, had the landowners around Newbury not refused to sell their land for this purpose. As a result the line was moved east so that it met the GWR at Reading, which reaped the benefits instead. Is there any truth in this? Does anyone have any sources? Would it be worth including in this entry if so? Rachel Pearce 17:43, 13 November 2007 (UTC)