Questers visit to West Berkshire Museum (WBM) and Canal boat trip from Newbury Wharf : Thursday 10th September 2026.
On a pleasant day in September, 13 intrepid U3A members met to start the day with a coffee in the WBM café followed by a self-guided tour of the Museum. The Museum is housed in two of Newbury’s most historic buildings. The Cloth Hall was built in 1627 by Richard Emmes, a master carpenter for the Newbury Corporation as a cloth factory. Originally part of a larger range of buildings with a courtyard in the centre, the building was subsequently used as a workhouse, hospital and school before being used for storing corn from 1829 until its conversion to a museum. It holds various artworks and collections related to Newbury and West Berkshire.
We then walked the 100 yards or so to the wharf where the Jubilee was moored. It is a traditional canal boat, seating up to 25 passengers. Once we were all on board the canal boat trip commenced. As we travelled through Newbury the boat crew (all members of the Kennet and Avon Trust) provided a very interesting commentary on the history and architecture of Newbury (some Jacobean cottages were highlighted) including going through one lock and a swing bridge. I certainly saw parts of Newbury I had never seen previously and was surprised to see there was a privately owned island in the middle of the town with a number of dwellings on it. After approximately 35 minutes we reached a what is known as a “winding hole” a section of the canal that has been specially widened so that narrowboats and barges can turn around. The boat was turned and we commenced our reverse journey. The knowledgeable onboard KA Trust crew answered all our questions and pointed out items of interest along the way.
Once we had all disembarked, we thanked the crew for and excellent trip. A number of us then went to a local restaurant for lunch after an extremely interesting and enjoyable trip.
Kevin Barter