Marlborough High Street, looking towards St Mary's church and the Town HallMarlborough town centre, with its wide High Street, is one of the most recognised in the country.
More than a million vehicles a year pass through the town on either its north-south Midlands-South Coast routes, or the A4 east-west route.
The town was bypassed by the M4 at the end of the 1960s but fears of it becoming a ghost town were groundless and the tourist and retail centre is busier today than it was in pre-M4 days.
Generations of families have become used to stopping-off at Marlborough for a break from travelling and accordingly Marlborough has provided plenty of restaurants and inns where weary travellers can be refreshed.
The Polly Tearooms is among the most famous stopping-off places in Britain. But there are many other good refreshment places in the town, including historic pubs like The Bear and the Sun Inn in the High Street and The Lamb and the Crown Hotel in The Parade.
The High Street is the venue for the Wednesday and Saturday markets and also the once a month Sunday Farmers' Markets.
It's a natural arena for community celebrations like last year's 800th Charter Anniversary and the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 when 1,000 children sat down to a street party.
Two churches, the redundant St Peter's at the west end, which is used as a community centre, and the parish church of St Mary's, stand sentinel over the quarter mile long street.
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