Shanly Homes’ exciting £230m regeneration scheme in Maidenhead town centre has put this beautiful spot on the river back on the map.

In recent years the shops had been stuck in the economic shallows partly due to competition from the internet and also because they’re too far from the river to profit from passing trade from the boats.

Thanks in part to local boy Michael Shanly who grew up in Maidenhead and has a special affection for it, the town today has a real buzz about it,

Under the guidance of environmentalists heading up a charity called Maidenhead Waterways, a team of volunteers have freed up ancient channels clogged with undergrowth and debris to enable a narrow tributary from the Thames to flow inland. In days of yore there were lakes in the centre of Maidenhead.

Shanly’s Chapel Arches development includes shops, offices and leisure facilities, not just homes. It is fast becoming a waterside destination for day visitors from outside the area as well as locals. When Crossrail starts operating from Maidenhead the journey from the West End will be cut to threequarters of an hour. At weekends the commute into London could be reversed. Londoners will hop on the train for a day’s shopping spree in Maidenhead.

The redevelopment of the town centre is being built in phases. The first phase was 40 one, two and three bedroom flats spread over the upper floors of a building called The Picturehouse built on the site of an old cinema with a restaurant at street level.

The second phase is called Chapel Wharf. The flats here are above smart new shops overlooking the new waterways. Chapel Wharf is also close to the new amphitheatre which is part of the overall Chapel Arches scheme.

The latest development to make Maidenhead a prime attraction for tourists is the new bridge linking Boulters Lock with Taplow on the opposite bank of the Thames opened in February by the MP for Maidenhead and the then Prime Minister Theresa May.