Newbury - parking/cafe/wifi suggestions

little_critter

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My horse is going for an MRI at Donnington Grove tomorrow. I need to find a way to amuse myself for the majority of the day.
Can I have suggestions for somewhere I can park my 3.5t horsebox, have a very slow lunch and use some free wifi please?
(I'm thinking supermarket cafes / garden centres etc) I don't want to clog up a small car park with my box.
 
There is a garden centre on the way into Thatcham from Newbury, not far from Donnington. I think it's Wyevale. A bit further out but the other side of Hungerford is Cobbs farm shop which has a lovely cafe.
 
Think you can also book a lunch table at Donnington Grove hotel, and there are (or used to be) some lovely walks around the estate.
 
There's a service station on the left as you come off the M4 towards Donnington. Not sure about Wi-Fi, but they probably wouldn't turn a hair if you sat there all day!
 
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There's a "Lounge" in Newbury - Cobrizo Lounge. I haven't been to that specfic one but have been to a few other Lounges. They have wifi and are normally pretty good about people staying and working from there as long as you order a coffee every so often. The cakes are pretty good too!
 
There's a service station on the left as you come off the M4 towards Donnington. Not sure about Wi-Fi, but they probably wouldn't turn a hair if you sat there all day!
Careful on this one - most service stations have time limits on free parking. Colleague found that out the hard way when we met at one for a meeting - she arrived a bit early so over-ran the parking time limit and got a £60 fine! Now I know, I've since spotted the signs up at lots of them!
 
Waitrose definitely has a time limit, think it’s 2 hours.

Not the prettiest place, but Chieveley service station is just up the road. Lots of parking for bigger vehicles, and you can stay for a while.
 
I'm local to Donnington Grove (3 miles) and would have happily put you up for the day, but I sadly have plans. I wouldn't particularly like Waitrose car park in a horsebox although the Waitrose delivery vans go there, so it depends how long your lorry is. Mine is only 4.5t but 21 feet long, so it would be a bit of a wiggle. Cabrizio is in the middle of town, so you would need to park somewhere, and most of the car parks are for cars, and not much longer vehicles. There's the Hillier garden centre up towards Hermitage which has reasonable parking, not sure about wifi though. Chieveley services are an option, but limited time I think. I believe you can park a lorry up by Snelsmore Common, so you could go for a walk. Sorry, none of that is very helpful at all, but good luck, and if you pm me in future if you are returning, I am sure you could park at ours/use our wifi and I could provide you with a cuppa or two. xx
 
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