It is summer again and our little town is buzzing once more. The countryside that surrounds it on all sides is at its best and fingers crossed, the weather seems to be playing ball with long hot days for us all to enjoy.
Hungerford Arcade in all its Summer splendour
If you are visiting Hungerford for the first time, one of the first things you will notice is how many antique establishments there are in the town. I have not counted them all but there are at least five, as well as an antique market stall that pitches up on Wednesdays.
As I have lived in Hungerford for ten years, I have had the opportunity of visiting all these premises and have been surprised at what is on offer. From Nineteenth Century knitting needles to Regency wardrobes, you can buy them all in Hungerford.
I have also had the privilege of writing the odd article for the Arcade over the last few years and these have been great fun to write and I have always received kind comments which just add to my enjoyment.
When I arrived in Hungerford, I knew little about Susie Cooper or The History of Pewter and other delightful subjects, but now I know a little more and this is due to the opportunities I have had to contribute to the Arcade’s Newsletter and Blog. But one thing I have ignored is the actual Arcade building itself, which is an integral part of the High Street.
In my view, this ancient building blends in well amongst the interesting mixture of architectural styles that is our High Street today. I have therefore decided just for fun, to list twelve interesting facts about the Arcade and am indebted to the Hungerford Virtual Museum which has helped me when researching these facts. It can be easily found on the internet and is a treasure trove of information about Hungerford.
Here are some facts about the Arcade, some are quite well known but others are a little bit more obscure.
1. The earliest reference to the building was in 1676 when it appears that the Widow Mills (died c1697) lived in one of the properties.
2. The Arcade is actually two properties (this can easily be seen when viewing the building from the High Street).
3. The Arcade is a Grade Two Listed building and is reported to be haunted.
4. Although dating from the 17th Century, the buildings have experienced alterations in each of the centuries since (excluding the 21st Century).
5. 
The building housed a high class grocer (Alexander’s Grocers) between 1844 and 1972.
6. In May 1917 a plane crashed into the garden of what was then Alexander’s and sadly the Canadian pilot was killed in the accident.
Jonty Hearnden cutting Hungerford Arcade’s 40th Birthday Cake in 2012
7. Hungerford Antiques Arcade opened in 1972 and was one of the first of its type in the country.
8. The Arcade (as one can see when visiting its website) has had many famous visitors from Pam Ayres to Hayley Mills from Bear Grylls to Mary Berry. However, in its early days it was reported that the late Princess Margaret visited the Arcade on several occasions.
9. In 1990 some murals were found in one of the rooms,they were thought to be quite early but were later discovered to have been painted on 18th Century plaster.
10. In March 2012 Hungerford Antiques Arcade was voted the Best Antiques Centre in the UK as voted by readers of the BBCs Homes and Antiques magazine.
11. On the 15th of March 2014, the Arcade was damaged by a runaway car. The impact was heard as far away as Tesco’s, (where my wife and I were at the time) happily nobody was hurt.
12. Well I am going to leave this space blank, as I believe that if you visit the Arcade, you will experience or find something quite special. This space is for you and your Hungerford memories.
As you can guess, I have only skimmed over the long history of the buildings and as I have noted there is a mine of great information to be found on the internet.
If you are in the Arcade and have an interest in a part or all of the building, then one of the helpful staff will be able to point you in the right direction for you to gather further information. As an alternative, just e-mail the arcade (hungerfordarcade@btconnect.com) and they will answer your questions, if they can.
If you are visiting our lovely town, do enjoy all of its facilities from its canal and two rivers to its beautiful Town Hall. We have a number of splendid churches in the town (both High and Low) and these are well worth visiting.
Also, we are lucky in a way that we do not have many chains in the town which means that a number of independent shops can be found. There are a number of nice cafés as well as a good selection of pubs in Hungerford.
In all, there is plenty to do once you have visited the antique shops and the Arcade.
We are also conveniently placed for Marlborough (9 miles) and Salisbury (just over 30 miles away).
Also Hungerford is convenient for the Savernake Forest (5 miles) as well as being in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (which even looks good on the grimmest of days).
You are also not that far from Avebury and Stonehenge, so there is plenty to see when you leave Hungerford.
I hope that this short article has whetted your appetite and we will see you in Hungerford this summer.
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