Hungerford

Hungerford's name means "the ford leading to poor land", and the price of a cottage by the Kennet has spent a long time making the Anglo-Saxons look daft. William of Orange was offered the Crown of England over a stay at the Bear Inn, which is still the most ambitious thing ever agreed on the Bath Road. These days the big decisions are about the Paddington train, made in the last town before Berkshire gives up and becomes Wiltshire. The market town is still there, but it checks the timetable before it opens.