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Marlborough High Street (and cars)Wealthy market town..........
I've passed through Marlborough more than once, but decided to stop for a wander on my way back from Somerset.
It has always struck me as a well-off sort of place, not simply because of the high-status public (fee-paying) school on the edge of the town centre but also because of the shops. Charity (thrift) shops are always a good guide to an area; in well-off areas you often find more high-status labels but you will also find higher prices for all the goods. Marlborough has a couple of charity shops, and this was most definitely the case (good place to look for ball gowns though).
Marlborough makes a good base for exploring the wonderful prehistory of the area.....Avebury, Silbury Hill and West Kennet longbarrow are only a few miles away, for example....and there are lovely walks in the surrounding downland, and in the ancient Savernake Forest on the outskirts of the town.
The high street is the second-widest in England......truly huge and always packed with cars (it is used for parking except on twice-weekly market days).
There are some interesting bits and pieces of architecture, including a silk merchant's house from 1653 now open as a museum (but only from Easter until the end of September) but nothing really caught my eye or persuaded me to extend my explorations further.
So: a good base for an exploration into the surrounding countryside, a pleasant place to stop for refreshment on a journey elsewhere but not really somewhere to seek out just for itself.
