Maxted Travels with Modestine 5: Returning home

Wantage, Newbury, Andover and Wilton
Our report on Oxford completes our notes. We could be home in three hours. However, we were ahead of ourselves so decided to return via Andover and Salisbury in the hope of seeing friends along the way.

At Wantage we stopped to explore and found it charming. In the museum, which is very well managed and crowded with interest, we chatted with local people using the cafe/community centre for coffees or early lunches. Community hubs are to be found in many of the little towns and villages we have explored and are a valued asset to their community. Libraries may sadly have disappeared in many towns as free centres of knowledge, education and learning, but they are thriving as places for local activities, run by volunteers, and are bringing communities together again, despite, or perhaps because of, the increasingly difficult economic times people, particularly in small rural towns, are currently living through. We spent far longer than intended exploring the museum with its fascinating rural artifacts and coverage of local crafts, industries and businesses in a bygone age. Around the town we found a statue of Alfred the Great, born in Wantage in 849. Outside the museum is a bust of the poet John Betjeman who lived with his wife and family in Wantage from 1951 to 1972.

Alfred the Great. Statue. Wantage. Oxfordshire.

The poet John Betjeman, Wantage. Oxfordshire.
At Newbury we also stopped to briefly explore the main street with its Corn Exchange, Town Hall and canal.

Canal at Newbury. Berkshire.

Church tower from the canal. Newbury. Berkshire.

Canal at Newbury, Berkshire.

Town hall. Newbury, Berkshire.

Corn Exchange, Newbury. Berkshire
Finally we made our way to Andover hoping to see friends Lesley and David. They, it transpired were somewhere with their campervan up in Denmark however, so we parked for a few hours in the town to explore. We are familiar with Andover but have never really devoted any time to exploring it. It merits a visit having a pleasant market place and an excellent museum. This latter occupied us for longer than expected. Such delightful museums invariably do.

River, Andover. Hampshire.

Town Mills, Andover. Hampshire

Town Hall, Andover, Hampshire.

Mosaic in the market place, Andover. Hampshire

War Memorial, Andover. Hampshire

Andover. Hampshire.

Andover museum, Hampshire.

Andover museum Hampshire.
Eventually we left, to arrive with Rosemary in Wilton, near Salisbury, before dark. Next morning we joined her and Peter for lunch in the village before continuing home. Thus ends our 2018 travels around Britain.