Hungerford is nothing if not anomalous. The city is modern in every sense of the word and has grown up along major transportation yet, in spite of this, Hungerford sticks to traditions that many other towns have long since given up. The city is indelibly linked to its past even while creating goods and services largely steeped in the present and future. The town is filled to the brim with natural beauty at nearly every turn, even residing within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, yet it is also the site of one of the most gruesome and violent events in British history. This, however, is the nature of Hungerford. It is a city you can't nail down no matter how hard you try. As soon as someone thinks they have encapsulated the nature of Hungerford the city does an about face and leaves the pondering fool covered in dust and shame.
As mentioned above, Hungerford is nestled within one of the most beautiful parts of the United Kingdom. The North Wessex Downs make up a large array of incredibly scenic locales which include such famous tourist heavens as Berkshire Downs, Savernake Forest, Lambourn Downs, and the Vale of Pewsey. Mountains, hills, canyons, cliffs, crags, and valleys make up but a few of the many formations that dot this impressive landscape and Hungerford offers one of the best views of these sights. A mere four miles from Hungerford is the famed Walbury Hill. At nine hundred and seventy feet high, Walbury Hill is the highest point in the entire southwest of England.
As a cruel juxtaposition to the scenic wonders of the area, Hungerford is also the site of the infamous Hungerford Massacre. On August 19th, 1987, Michael Robert Ryan forever altered the country of England. Michael Robert Ryan was an unemployed laborer who had an affinity for guns and his favorite niche happened to be automatic weapons like the ubiquitous AK-47. Ryan was obsessed with firearms and investigators would later find countless magazines and pictures that declared his love for weaponry. In those days England was far more tolerable of gun possession and it wasn't exceptionally difficult to garner a large collection of guns in a short period of time. Ryan owned two different shotguns, two semi-automatic pistols, and two automatic rifles at the time that he decided to commit mass murder. First he shot his mother in their shared home and then he set about driving around the town murdering people. He shot a mother in front of her children in the park and then went to a gas station and began gunning down people who were filling up their vehicles. In the end sixteen people were murdered before Ryan took his own life. This horrific event is considered the second worst criminal events in the history of England and it led, not surprisingly, to the Firearms Amendment Act of 1988. This act is still in effect and it bans the ownership of semi-automatic weapons and certain shotguns. This was due to the fact that Ryan legally owned all of the weapons that he used to take the lives of the innocent people of Hungerford. At any rate, the silver lining is that nothing like this has happened again and, though it is unfortunate that Hungerford had to suffer for it, the city and its people have since moved on admirably. This is the nature of Hungerford and it is the reason why visiting the city is a must for anybody interested in a city that is at once gorgeous and damaged.
| 
+44 (0)1488 658377
