Bracknell is well known for being one of the ‘new towns’ built after the Second World War to relieve the pressure of housing and industry in London – but the history of Bracknell goes back much further than that.
It has a unique history, and this is its story told through a talk and a walk.
Details of the events below may be printed from here.
The Talk 12 April 2025 start at 2pm (arrive from 1:30pm) Garden Hall, Watlington House.
The Civic Society has arranged for Andrew Radgick, Bracknell Forest Civic Society’s History Officer, to give a talk based around his book ‘The Story of Bracknell: Before the New Town’ on 12 April 2025 at 14.00 in the Garden Hall, Watlington House.
Andrew has lived in Bracknell for nearly fifty years, and has been the Bracknell Forest Civic Society’s History Officer for the past ten. Terry Dixon and Richard Bennett met him when he took part in one of Terry’s Walks for the Walks fest in 2023. Copies of his book ‘The Story of Bracknell: Before the New Town’ will be available for sale (£20 cash only).
The talk is free to members of the Reading Civic Society, but we will appreciate donations which we will put towards the fund for the new Jane Austen plaque on the east side of the Abbey Gateway.
The Walk 12 June 2025 meet at 7pm Bracknell Station
Andrew and members of the Bracknell Forest Civic Society will lead us on this walk of exploration around Bracknell.
Starting from Bracknell railway station, the walk will be a gentle stroll around Bracknell town centre, highlighting the history of a bustling market town, hidden for centuries in Windsor Forest. There is still evidence of the turnpike road that ran through the town, the inn where coaches stopped, and a house with a priest hole. We pass the sites of Bracknell’s brewery, prison and stocks, weekly cattle market, and first department store, an emporium from 1860 that sold everything under the sun. There are stories of secret tunnels and a Sweeney Todd innkeeper – but are they true?
The walk will take no more than an hour and a half and consists of easy walking with one short flight of steps.
Getting there – best by train as the tour will start from the station. The nearest parking is the Bracknell Station car park – there should be free spaces by 19.00. The next nearest is Princess Square car park, a short walk from the station.
The walk is open to all. A donation of £10 per head is sought, to be given in cash on the day to The Bracknell Forest Society.
Booking the walk. Please register by 6 June with the Bracknell Society. Email the Bracknell Forest Civic Society at tbfsinfo@gmail.com giving your names and contact details and telephone number.