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.
The Walk 12 June 2025
Andrew Radgick of the Bracknell Forest Civic Society led 4 members and a Bracknell resident on an evening walk of exploration around Bracknell.
Starting from Bracknell railway station, the walk was 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 took around 90 minutes, easy walking with one short flight of steps.
The Talk about Bracknell 12 April 2025
The wall followed a talk to members given by Andrew Radgick, Bracknell Forest Civic Society’s History Officer, based on his book ‘The Story of Bracknell: Before the New Town’
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’ were available for sale (£20).