Newbury is a great place to head for a family day out together particularly if your family are keen walkers. Newbury has lot of beautiful open spaces where you can take some really scenic walks and see some wonderful views of the local countryside. Newbury is surrounded on three sides (the north, west and south) by the North Wessex Downs which has been deemed an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and includes the famous Watership Down from which the children’s book took its inspiration, so keep your eyes peeled for lots of rabbits! Another famous open space in Newbury is Greenham Common where the U.S. Air Force had a controversial base that provoked mass protests during the Cold War for housing nuclear missiles. Greenham Common is now open to the public and there are still remnants of the old base as well as a ‘Peace Garden’ that commemorates the efforts of the women’s peace camps. For a totally different type of environment check out The Living Rainforest which is exactly that, a living, breathing miniature rainforest complete with banana trees, terrapins and even monkeys. Wind your way through its Amazonian atmosphere and learn a little about what it’s like out in the real rainforests of the world. And if that’s piqued the kids’ interest in nature then you should also try Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre which offers the young ones an opportunity to view some local wildlife, feed the ducks, go bird-spotting and also has a number of good activity sites to keep them entertained.