- Victoria Park, Newbury
Victoria Park is a small public
park near to the centre of Newbury,Berkshire ,England . Current features of the park include abandstand ,tennis courts , boating lake,bowls club,skatepark , and astatue of Queen Victoria.The Park is also the venue of the locally renowned outdoor dance music event 'Keep Off The Grass' which takes place every summer. www.keepoffthergass.net
History
Originally Victoria Park was called "The Marsh", however by the turn of the 20th century the name Victoria Park had arisen. This is likely due to the Queen's popularity and the fact that many public celebrations, such as the Queen's jubilee were held in the park. The statue of her was originally placed in the centre of town, however it was moved into the park in 1966.
Up until the 1930s the park was
common land , which included the right to grazecattle . The park used to be larger, however it has been gradually encroached upon by housing and the nearbyA339 road to the eastern edge of the park, which up until the building of the Newbury bypass was the main route for traffic betweenOxford andSouthampton .The A339 was in fact built on the path of a
stream called the "Minny Flush", because of the number ofminnow s to be found in it.The American Bridge
During the
second world war a temporary or emergencybridge was built over theKennet and Avon canal , joining the park with the centre of town. The reason for this was because it was feared the other main bridge in the centre of town was to bebombed which would have effectively split the town in two. Although it was supposed to be a temporary bridge it became a key crossing point and lasted up until 2001 when it was replaced with a new structure. Erroneously this was called the "American Bridge" because although it was built by civilian contractors for theWar Office its plans had been stamped by the American Army, certifying its use for their forces. A major problem with the temporary bridge was that it was only 7 ft high, much lower than the recommended height of 8 ft 6 in.ee also
External links
* [http://www.newburyfringefestival.org/ Newbury Fringe Festival]
* [http://www.keepoffthegrass.net/ KOTG (Keep Off The Grass)]
* [http://www.newburybowlsclub.co.uk/ Newbury Bowls Club]References
* [http://www.westberks.gov.uk/WestBerkshire/tourism.nsf/b836fbd336b6b86f8525696c006eb0db/0ad3ab4c605a81f480256ef5002d2eb8/$FILE/Victoria%20Park.pdf westberks.gov.uk: "Discover Newbury... Victoria Park"]
*"Popular History of Newbury" by Walter Money (ISBN 0-900294-05-1)
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