Thames Valley covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The combined population is more than two million people.

Berkshire
Often referred to as Royal Berkshire because of its close association with royalty, the county takes its name from the great forest of birch trees called Bearroc (the Celtic word for ‘hilly') and the traditional home of the ancient British god/spirit Herne the Hunter.

More recently, its strong links with the computer industry have led to it becoming known as England's Silicon Valley.

Scenic Berkshire covers about 500 square miles. It has acres of rolling hills, which make up the Chiltern Hills.

Its principle towns and cities are:
Reading
Ascot (famous for its racecourse)
Bracknell
Eton
Maidenhead
Newbury
Slough and
Windsor (famous for Windsor castle)

Buckinghamshire
The name Buckinghamshire derives from the ‘farm of Bucca's people'. In the Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire is Chequers - the prime Minister's country residence.

Buckinghamshire covers about 730 square miles. The county town is Aylesbury. People living in the town are commonly known as Aylesbury Ducks, referring to the breed of white ducks, which are native to the area.

The county is full of historic houses, museums and interesting country walks.

Famous residents of Buckinghamshire include the poet John Milton (Paradise Lost) and the 19th century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (who grew up at Bradenham Manor and later bought Hughenden Manor near High Wycombe).

The passionate scene between Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell at the first wedding in Four Weddings and a Funeral was filmed at the Crown Hotel in Amersham.

Buckinghamshire's principle towns are:
Beaconsfield
Buckingham
High Wycombe
Milton Keynes
Olney

Oxfordshire
The county of Oxfordshire, famed for its university city of 'Dreaming Spires', covers just over 1,000 square miles and has a constantly changing population of around 600,000 due to the students attending famous Oxford University.

One of the most scenic of all English counties, Oxfordshire has some beautiful if gentle and rolling, rather than spectacular, countryside.

The River Thames runs through the south and centre of the county, the wooded chalk Chiltern Hills run along the south-east and part of the popular English tourist destination known as the Cotswolds runs into the west.

The Oxfordshire Way is a 65 mile trail connecting the Chilterns to the Cotswolds while the Thames Path follows the Thames from the mouth of the river near the Thames Barrier in London through Oxfordshire to its source at Thames Head in Gloucestershire.

Places to visit in Oxfordshire include:

• Blenheim Palace and Woodstock, the ancestral home of the Churchill family & the birthplace in 1874 of Sir Winston Churchill
• Banbury, with its famous Banbury Cross, excellent shopping and nearby Broughton Castle - home to Lord and Lady Saye and Sele and the location for many famous films
• the prehistoric sites around Uffington where the ancient track known as the Ridgeway cuts across the south of Oxfordshire. Over a thousand years ago the Ridgeway divided England into the kingdoms of Wessex in the south and Danelaw in the north.
• Burford & Witney in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
• Abingdon with its riverside gardens
• Henley-on-Thames, home of the Henley Regatta

For more information about Thames Valley and links to other relevant sites visit:

www.uktouristinfo.com

www.thisisbuckinghamshire.co.uk

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk