Exploring Berkshire- Pretty Pangbourne

Its a little wonder Pangbourne is popular with locals and tourist alike. From supercars to water pubs to independent shops and gorgeous meadows, this village has it all

- Sarah Rodi and Thomas Newport

This summer, take a walk into Pangbourne across the toll bridge, one of the few fee-paying ones left on The Thames. Stop for a rest at The Swan, a lovely old pub established around the time of the English Civil War and watch the boats pass by. It was at The Swan that the Three Men in a Boat (by Jerome K. Jerome) decided to abandon their homeward trip back from Oxford to Kingston.

Famous Pangbourne residents have included The Wind in The Willows author Kenneth Grahame, the book written when he lived further downstream at Cookham (head to The George Hotel in Pangbourne and you’ll find the rooms are inspired by The Wind in the Willows); Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and engineer Sir Benjamin Baker, who lived just outside the village. Amongst other things, Baker built the Forth Railway Bridge, the Aswan Dam in Egypt and the Central Line on London’s Underground. He also designed the cylindrical vessel used to transport Cleopatra’s Needle from Egypt to the Thames Embankment. The writer Lytton Strachey also spent some time living in the village.

Sitting just to the southwest of the village is Pangbourne Naval College. The college gets its name from its founder Thomas Devitt, who established it in 1917 as The Nautical College. The Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel was opened here in March 2000 by The Queen and the shape of the chapel resembles a ship.