Why live in West Berkshire?

Our location gives West Berkshire a unique vantage point;West Berkshire covers an area of approximately 70,484 hectares (272 square miles) and has a population of around 145,000 people.

West Berkshire is well located in relation to the rest of the country with easy access by road and rail.

The district lies at the convergence of two key road arteries in the south – the M4 and the A34. Both provide direct road links in all directions, with all of the key urban centres in southern England (London, Reading, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bristol, Oxford, and Swindon) within an hour’s drive.

The district has good rail links, with London less than an hour by train and further connections, via Reading, to all the mainline routes throughout the country. The area also has very good links to international transport hubs: Heathrow and Southampton airport are 40 miles away, as are the ferry terminals in Southampton and Portsmouth, providing links with the Isle of Wight and the continent.

The district is characterised by chalk downlands, which are intersected by the River Kennet and the associated Kennet and Avon Canal.  Both run through the entire district from west to east. To the north lies the River Thames.

The district is widely recognised as an area with a high concentration of high-tech firms and is home to companies such as Bayer, Norsk Data, Quantel, and Vodafone.  West Berkshire has a thriving economy and one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe and is at the hub of what is often called the UK's Silicon Valley.