Til A TCHAM 



149 



station on the Hants and Berks branch of the Great 

 Western Railway, travellers will look in vain far the 

 name of it in their railway guides. If they will refer 

 to " Midgham," however, they will have found it under 

 another title. Originally called by the name of the 

 village, it was found that passengers and luggage 

 frequently lost tlieir way here in mistake for Wolver- 



THATCHAJI. 



hamptou, also on the Great Western, and so the name 

 had to be changed. 



Three and a half miles from Woolhampton comes 

 Thatcham, famed in the coaching age for its " King's 

 Head " inn, but now a decayed market town which 

 has sunk to the status of a very dull village. A 

 battered stone, all that remains of a market cross, 

 stands in the middle of the wdde, deserted street, 

 enclosed by a circular seat, bearing an inscription 

 recounting the history of the market, and the kingly 



