 The settlement lies adjacent to the A343 and A34 highways (Newbury Bypass), approximately south-south-west of Newbury.Some locals claim it is named after the spot on the River Enborne where women washed the troops' clothes during or after the First Battle of Newbury of the English Civil War, others say it is because wool was washed in the local rivers before fulling in the two nearby mills.Village facilities include a public house called the "Woodpecker Inn", formerly the "Derby Arms".