A Rainy Day in West Berkshire

Antiques in Hungerford

Hungerford, a few minutes west, is one of the best antiques towns in the country. Hungerford Arcade is among the oldest and largest covered antiques markets anywhere, a warren of stalls you can lose an hour in whatever the weather, and the Georgian high street is lined with more shops, emporiums and good cafés.

A farm-shop lunch

Just outside Hungerford, Cobbs Farm Shop and Kitchen does a proper job of a rainy lunch: homegrown and local produce, a butchery and deli, and a café serving breakfast, lunch and Sunday roast. There is a play barn for children, so everyone is happy while the sky does its worst.

Murals and museums

For something quieter, Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere holds Stanley Spencer's extraordinary cycle of murals, painted from his own experience of the First World War. It is small, intimate and entirely indoors. The free West Berkshire Museum in Newbury is another easy hour out of the rain, full of the town's long story.

Tropical and stately

If you have children, the Living Rainforest near Hampstead Norreys is the obvious answer, a warm glasshouse of tropical plants and creatures to wander while it pours outside. And Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey, is a grand way to spend a wet afternoon when it is open, with the house and its Egyptian exhibition both safely under cover.