Victoria Park, Newbury

Current features of the park include a bandstand, tennis courts, boating lake, bowls club, skatepark, and a statue of Queen Victoria.

The park used to be larger, however it has been gradually encroached upon by housing and the nearby A339 road to the eastern edge of the park, which up until the building of the Newbury bypass was the main route for traffic between Oxford and Southampton.

The A339 was in fact built on the path of a stream called the Minny Flush, because of the number of minnows to be found in it.

During the Second World War a temporary or emergency bridge was built over the Kennet and Avon canal, joining the park with the centre of town.

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.