There are plenty of websites eager to take your cash in return for access to old records and other members' work.
If you would like to try before you buy I would suggest a trip to the library where you can have a go on Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) for free. Despite Uncle's post none of these sites have 'got it all'.
There are also plenty of programs you can use to record your tree information as you find it - you can also do this on sites like Ancestry and Genes Reunited (not sure if you can still access these if you decide to stop subscribing at some time in the future). Several of these programs are available as free downloads, usually limited in some way so you need to buy them to get all their featurs or build a significantly sized tree. A totally free one is PAF (Personal Ancestral File) it's a bit limited in comparison to the better commerchal ones but, nevertheless a pretty good program. Download from http://www.familysearch.org which is also a huge source of free data (courtesy the Church of the Latter Days Saints). It is pretty simple to move data from one program to another so you can start with a cheap/free one and move up if you get the family history bug.
For more hints/advice you could go to a meeting of the Berkshire Family History Society (www.berksfhs.org.uk) they have a Newbury Branch that meets in the church hall at Shaw.
And, as you evidently enjoy forums you could try http://www.rootschat.com - forum boards for beginners, every county, and loads of other topics.
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