Information AboutBracknell |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BRACKNELL | |
| towns in berkshire | |
| bracknell forest | |
| new towns in the united kingdom | |
Bracknell is a Town in the Bracknell Forest borough of Berkshire , England . It lies 6 Mile s (10 Km ) to the east of Reading and 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Windsor . The town is surrounded by the vast expanse of Bracknell Forest . NEW TOWN Bracknell was designated a New Town in 1949, in the aftermath of the Second World War . The site was originally a small village in the parish of Warfield in the Easthampstead Rural District . Very little of the original village is left. The location was chosen over White Waltham , an alternative possibility, because the Bracknell site avoided encroaching on good quality agricultural land. It had the additional advantage of being on a railway line. It was made a parish in its own right in 1955 . The town expanded beyond the intended size into farmland to the south. The town centre is a 1960s design, and in need of major regeneration. The Borough Council is working in partnership with the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership ( Legal & General and Schroders ) to regenerate the town centre. Under the Local Government Act 1972 , the entire Easthampstead Rural District became the Borough Of Bracknell on April 1 , 1974 . SUBURBS AND AREAS Bracknell is divided into a number of suburbs and areas around the town centre:
- and towards the Forest, in the parish of Winkfield :
Major expansion is again proposed to the west of the town (Peacock Farm) and a new neighbourhood on former Ministry of Defence land near the town centre (the Staff College site). The town centre is also due for a major re-development, moving away from its 1960s style into something more comtemporary. A feature of a number of the estates that causes great confusion for outsiders and newcomers alike is the fact that streets only have names, not titles - in Birch Hill, Crown Wood, Great Hollands and others there is no " Road ", " Avenue ", " Street ", just " Frobisher ", " Jameston ", " Juniper ", " Jevington ". The residential streets are named in alphabetical order starting in Great Hollands , with A's, through D's, such as Donnybrook , in Hanworth , J's, such as " Jameston " and " Jevington " in Birch Hill , and beyond. But there is exception for streets in the Wimpy Homes area of Bracknell, Streets such as Hornby Avenue and Packenham Road are present here. BUSINESS The town was successful in attracting high-tech industries, and became home to companies such as Fujitsu (formerly ICL ), Hewlett-Packard , Siemens , Honeywell , and Novell . Its success subsequently spread into the surrounding Thames Valley or M4 Corridor , attracting IT firms such as DEC (subsequently Hewlett-Packard ), Microsoft , Oracle Corporation , Dell , and Sun Microsystems . The most visible landmark in the town centre is Winchester House, formerly owned by 3M and informally known as the 3M building as it had the 3M logo in illuminated red letters in a prominent place at the top of the building. It is a twelve storey building which used to house the company's UK headquarters before being abandoned in 2004, and it can be seen from over a mile away. The town was also the home of the Met Office until 2003. ARTS In the south of the town is South Hill Park , a Mansion dating from 1760, although much rebuilt, that now houses a large Arts Centre . The Wilde Theatre was opened in 1984, named after Oscar Wilde who created the character "Lady Bracknell" in his play The Importance Of Being Earnest . TRANSPORT Bracknell has two railway stations: Bracknell and Martin's Heron on the main line between London's Waterloo Station and Reading , originally built by the London And South Western Railway and now operated by South West Trains . As a consequence of the frequent service on this line, Bracknell is now a major commuter centre with its residents travelling in both directions (westwards to Reading and eastwards to London). The town has good road links and is situated between the M3 and M4 motorways. TRIVIA In 2004, research into smoking habits in Britain by the consultancy firm CACI found that, on average, Bracknell's inhabitants spent less money on Cigarette s each year than people from any other area of the country. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
Schools |
|
|