Maidenhead

Transport has played a major role down the years in the history of Maidenhead, first with Thames traffic, then as a stop on the London-Bath coaching route, and finally with the coming of the railway, which helped to turn the town into a fashionable Victorian resort. The Maidenhead Rail Bridge was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1839 to carry his Great Western Railway over the Thames. The bridge, which comprises the widest, flattest brick arches in the world, was hailed at the time as the pinnacle of engineering achievement and has been immortalised in Turner’s incredibly exciting and atmospheric painting Rain, Steam and Speed.

Boulter’s Lock, one of the biggest on the Thames, takes its name from an old word for a miller. A flour mill has stood on Boulter’s Island since Roman times. The island was also the home of Richard Dimbleby, the eminent broadcaster and father of the famous broadcasters David and Jonathan. To the north and west of the town, MaidenheadCommons and Cock Marsh contain a variety of habitats, including woodland, scrub thickets, grassland, ponds and riverside. Both are popular with walkers and nature-lovers: Cock Marsh is an important site for breeding waders, and both sites are rich in flora and invertebrate fauna.