Bracknell

Bracknell is a town in the Bracknell Forest borough of the English county of Berkshire. It lies 18 km (11 miles) to the south-east of Reading, 16 km (10 miles) southwest of Windsor and 53 km (33 miles) west of London.

The town is surrounded, on the east and south, by the vast expanse of Swinley Woods and Crowthorne Woods. The town has absorbed parts of many local outlying areas including Warfield, Winkfield and Binfield.
The town covers all of the old village of Easthampstead (though not all of the old parish) and the hamlet of Ramslade. Easthampstead has a very long history. There is a Bronze Age round barrow at Bill Hill. Easthampstead Park was a favoured Royal hunting lodge in Windsor Forest and Catherine of Aragon was banished there until her divorce was finalised. It was later the home of the Trumbulls who were patrons of Alexander Pope from Binfield.

Bracknell is a Saxon word meaning 'Bracken-covered Hiding Place'. One of the oldest buildings in the town is the 'Old Manor' public house, a 17th century brick manor house featuring a number of priest holes. Next door once stood the 'Hind's Head' coaching inn, where it is said Dick Turpin used to drink. It is believed that there were once underground tunnels between the two, along which the famous highwayman could escape from the authorities. In 1723, the Grenadier Guards had a battle with the infamous bandits called the 'Wokingham Blacks' near the town.

Barack Obama's step-mother lives in Bracknell and he visited for his half-brother-in-law's Stag Night in 1998. Keiza Obama, the first wife of Barack Obama Senior, was family guest of honour at Barack Obama Junior's inauguration for the US Senate.