The Base
4
This location was reported permanently closed
About
As a purpose-built visual arts and craft building, The Base comprises of an 110sqm gallery, artists’ studios and a workshop space for participatory classes. There is also a cafe facility managed by Honesty Cafe group. The Base opened on Friday 8 February 2019 in partnership with Greenham Trust and the Corn Exchange. The £1.7M building was designed by Sutton Griffin architects, based in Newbury.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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4.0
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Stella Maxwell
Marlborough, UK3 contributions
Sept 2021 • Solo
I have signed up for a class on pastels and watercolours, starting on 21 September. I duly turned up at the right time on the day, with about 4 other people, only to be told that the class had been cancelled. I was told that I should have been informed by e-mail of this. Neither I or any of the other participants had been told of this fact. I was rather annoyed, as I had travelled a fair distance to go to this class. You need to get your communications improved.
Written 22 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Good afternoon Ms Maxwell,
We met a little while ago when you attended The Base for the first session of Watercolour & Pastels course when you found out on arrival that the session had been cancelled. I have also emailed you this reply.
As I explained at the time, we had sent an email to participants the previous week to explain that the practitioner was unable to lead the session. I have emailed you directly a screenshot of this email showing your email address listed.
I was therefore disappointed to see this review as I felt that we had come to an understanding that there had been a genuine breakdown in communication. I wanted to get in touch with you to let you know that whilst one participant did seem to get the email (as they responded immediately to say they had received it), we have now put in to action a second line of contact to avoid this situation ever happening again. If ever we need to postpone/cancel a session, we will email and call participants to ensure they have received the message.
As a relatively new venue, we are building our reputation by trying our very best to ensure every visitor gets the best service and experience with us. I am therefore sorry on this occasion that you felt this was not the case, however, I hope you are enjoying the course and that we can earn back your trust.
Best wishes,
Stephanie
Written 11 October 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Jenn S
Newbury, UK3 contributions
Jan 2020
How do the staff even wash their hands ?
Coffee and hot chocolate as you would expect along with the cakes and biscuits.
Slow service given not busy.
Actual building is lovely and a great destination for EV cyclists and walkers alike
Coffee and hot chocolate as you would expect along with the cakes and biscuits.
Slow service given not busy.
Actual building is lovely and a great destination for EV cyclists and walkers alike
Written 26 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your feedback (albeit a rather delayed response, sorry) and I hope I can assure you that our cleaning regimes are top notch, even more so in the current climate of course!
We will ensure to pass on your feedback to the team at Honesty Group who run the cafe. However quite a bit of water has passed under the bridge since your review in January 2020 and so I hope you would have a different experience if you were to return.
Thank you again for your feedback and kind words - we hope to see you again when we are able to reopen.
Written 18 February 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Gemma
2 contributions
Jun 2020 • Family
Our family visited to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition and we are so glad we did. It was exceptionally well laid out and was suitable for even a 3 year old to walk around. Staff had even laid out a little colouring station at the end of the exhibition, which was a nice touch. We stopped for some lunch afterwards and the food was varied and delicious. Would highly recommend coming to visit The Base. We will be back :)
Written 26 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Karasinski123
Newbury, UK6 contributions
May 2021 • Family
Fantastic space! Highly recommend a visit! My daughter and I visited on Sunday to see the ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ exhibition, simply amazing to get such a quality exhibition in Newbury. My Daughter is doing GCSE photography and DofE award using photography as her skill segment, so excellent opportunity to see such high quality photography locally.
Plenty of parking, great building, excellent cafe!
Plenty of parking, great building, excellent cafe!
Written 25 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DJF710
Reading, UK345 contributions
Mar 2023 • Family
Incredibly slow service, tables left uncleared and dirty for a very long time, no gluten free food available, poor customer interface.
Written 20 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
janeyvera
Wantage, UK32 contributions
May 2021 • Family
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to The Base to see the wildlife photographic exhibition! Lovely venue, very well organised - will definitely return!
Written 6 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
uk_speedy010
Ecchinswell, UK12 contributions
Oct 2019 • Business
I visited the Base this time round (have been a couple of times, as it is local to me) to work remotely. It’s a nice cafe in a great Arts venue, and well worth visiting. This time round I just had a couple of cups of tea and a cookie. Friendly service, nice cookie, but over priced tea, considering it’s just a tea bag served in a tea pot for loose leaf, rather than loose leaf. Will definitely be back to try some of the delicious looking food on the menu!
Written 8 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your feedback. We have just taken ownership of this page which is why there's such a delay in responding, sorry for that! We will be sure to pass on your comments regarding food and drink to the team at Honesty Group who run the cafe. Alternatively, they do have their own Tripadvisor listing which is titled 'Honesty at The Base' where you can leave feedback relating to that aspect of your visit.
We hope that when you return, you might wander upstairs to see our Resident Artist studios or perhaps book to enjoy one of our exhibitions when are able to reopen.
Thank you again for taking the time to feed back and we hope to welcome you back to The Base in the not too distant future!
Written 18 February 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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