Geography
Apart from Newbury, the other main centres in the district include Thatcham, Hungerford, Pangbourne and Lambourn. Larger villages include Theale, Purley-on-Thames, Burghfield, Mortimer and Hermitage. The West Berkshire district borders Hampshire to the south, Wiltshire to the west, Oxfordshire to the north and both the Reading and Wokingham unitary districts to the east.
The highest point in southeast/south-central England is located in West Berkshire at Walbury Hill with a summit height of 297 m (974 ft) 2 km to the south of the village of Inkpen. West Berkshire is also home to the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment, based near Aldermaston to the east of the district and the worldwide headquarters of Vodafone on the outskirts of Newbury. The area around Lambourn in the far west of the district is noted for its numerous horse racing stables and training grounds.
West Berkshire has a number of water courses running through the area. In addition to the River Thames, there are the Rivers Lambourn, Kennet, Pang, Bourne and the Kennet and Avon Canal and a number of tributaries that feed these rivers. Properties within flood plains may be at risk of flooding from rising river waters or from water coming up through the ground in some periods of heavy and/or prolonged periods of rain. Purley and Pangbourne are particularly at risk.
Read more about this topic: West Berkshire
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