Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK

"Are you trying to tell me that we just stuck out our thumbs and some green bug-eyed monster stuck his head out and said, Hi fellas, hop right in. I can take you as far as the Basingstoke roundabout?" - Arthur Dent, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

What does Basingstoke bring to mind? No matter how hard the present generation of planners have worked, it can still brings up images of concrete monstrosities, chain stores and endless estates ridden with chavs. Sadly, such places still exist, but Basingstoke has more to it than what meets the eye. As Mageret in the opera Ruddigore mentioned about:

"...some word that teems with hidden meaning — like "Basingstoke"..."

...which aptly describes the town today.

Despite being on the receiving end of the British sense of humour, the town has a below-average rate of crime, an above-average standard of living and affordable housing. Resident's opinion of the town is divided, according to Location, Location, Location's surveys.

The town also has a high percentage of younger people, and since the culture of youth is apparent everywhere you go, it is not surprising that people assume the place is 'awash with chavs'. For a town its size, it does not have as much history, although it has a bigger story to tell than many other new towns.

History

Old History

Basingstoke is not a new town. There is evidence of 'Basingestoches' in the Domesday Book, along with another place called Basing (now the suburb of Old Basing), but there is evidence of an iron age hill-fort in the suburb of Winklebury.

'Basing' comes from 'Basa' (a tribe leader) + 'ingas' (people). The tribe in the area was thus called the Basingas. The 'stoke' part means 'secondary farm'. The settlement started out as Embasinga stocae. This became Basingestoches, then Basingstoke.

Old Basing was the location of one of the last castles built in England, which became a stately home of Basing House. In its day, it rivaled Hampton Court for size, but it was wrecked in a siege during the English Civil War, then bricks were taken to repair nearby houses so it fell to ruin. The ruins still survive, including a 100 metre long tunnel (a former 15c sewer or drain) which is large enough to be crawled down (I myself have had the unfortunate experience of getting trapped in it). Basingstoke was once served by the Basingstoke Canal from the River Wey (a tributary of the Thames) near Woking, and although most of the Canal has been restored the final section to Basingstoke is empty.

Cloth, malting, brewing, engine production and vehicle production have provided industry for the town, as well as the birth of Burberry. There was also some notorious rioting against the Salvation Army in 1880. Thomas Hardy wrote about it called it 'Stoke Barehills', which included the words "gaunt", "unattractive" and "decay" - and that was before the '60s! Some things never change. But Basingstoke was about to, just after the Second World War had bombed it (for a targetted town, it was unusually small).

Modern History

The 1960s was a time of big change, when as part of the Greater London Plan, some new towns were built. Basingstoke had recovered from the Luftwaffe, only to face worse: The 1960s Planners. Their primary objective was to make a town which could accommodate some of the London overspill, and which would be a modern utopia for businesses, vehicles, shoppers, etc., following designs of other new towns which had so far proved successful (though clearly not today).

Basingstoke had a large ringroad built in a circular course around the town centre (to tell the truth, it is more of a square with two rounded edges). More famously is the number of roundabouts which give Basingstoke its nickname as the 'Doughnut City'. The town has about 44 roundabouts - roughly a roundabout for every 2045 people.

Large parts of the town were demolished and replaced with a new brick shopping centre with a concrete car park. This never aged well, as it declined and people immediately began to see how visually appalling it was. 1960s Estates too, fell into decline and were moved in by people who were less well off and more likely to break the law. Later estates, built around the '70s such as Chineham, Kempshott and Hatch Warren were far more successful.

After an all-time low in the '80s, things began to look up. In the 1990s, an area of land which had been set aside for an extension to the shopping centre was developed with The Anvil. The theatre and concert hall is renown for acoustics and appears on many nationwide tours.

At the turn of the millennium, someone decided to finally do something about it. A large part of the shopping centre, including the east and south sides and the bus station was redeveloped into Festival Place. The new shopping centre has attracted many shops, although it is mostly dominated by young fashion. The eastern side has seen an extension to the shopping centres with a spire (hence its nickname: The Cathedral of Shopping), a new bus station and a restaurant area called Festival Square. Although it consists of mostly chain stores (again), it is arguably a big improvement on its predecessor.

Places in Basingstoke

Festival Place

Festival Place is one of the largest in-town shopping centres in England. The new shopping centre has attracted many shops, although it is mostly dominated by young fashion. The eastern side has seen an extension to the shopping centres with a spire (hence its nickname: The Cathedral of Shopping). Festival Place is anchored by Marks and Spencers, BHS and Debenhams (as well as Woolworths outside in St. John's Square) and there are over 160 shops. There is a large (if a bit confusing) car park above it. Festival Square is the restaurant area between Festival Place and Eastrop Park. It also has a Vue Cinema (formerly Ster Century), and is linked to the bus station. There is also a large nightclub at the southern end of the bus station.

The Malls

The Malls was built after the first phase (which is now developed into Festival Place), but has not changed much in comparison. This is a particular problem considering its design dates from the 1960s (it was built later). It has been in continued decline, after its only anchor (Allders) closed and Festival Place opened. It should be noted that St. John's Square (outside Woolworths) dates from the same time but is actually part of Festival Place. However, Primark has recently been moving in, and there are continued discussions on how The Malls could be regenerated. Part of this includes building shops to front the north side of it - the first view of Basingstoke you see from the train station.

Top of Town

The Top of Town is the original town centre, and is a lot quieter than the newer shopping centres. It still has a weekly farmer's market every Wednesday. This area of town is restricted to pedestrians only, and many of the shops here are not owned by chains.

On Wote Street, there is an abstract sculpture near the entrance to Festival Place, but it has been mistaken for depicting a human penis. It weighs 7 tonnes and is often known as 'The Wote Street Willy'. There are 12 CCTV Cameras in London Street alone. Sadly, this does not stop London Street from being sometimes being on the rough side at night.

Basing View

Basing View is best described as several concrete office blocks on a hill overlooking Churchill Way, making it a rather unattractive gateway to the town. Some of them are occupied with companies such as accountants, others are empty. One notable one is the AA building, which is known as the tallest building between London and New York - perhaps not that much of an achievement really considering most of this distance is sea. In addition, a flats development in the town centre will be slightly taller than it.

Suburbs

The oldest suburbs of Brookvale, Fairfields and parts of King's Furlong date from before the new town expansion. After the new town expansion, many new suburbs were built. This included:

• Oakridge - now rebuilt
• Popley
• South Ham
• King's Furlong
• Brighton Hill - now regenerated
• Winklebury
• Norn Hill
• Eastrop (Middle Section)
• Buckskin

Although some are healthy after some regeneration work, quite a few of them have declined and some of them are now 'problem areas'. The newer and larger suburbs have fared better. These include:

• Chineham
• Kempshott
• Hatch Warren
• Lychpit
• Rooksdown
• Parts of Eastrop and Winklebury

The eastern part of Old Basing has some old houses on the high street, although there are many new houses to the south, mostly Bungalows. In addition, there are 4 business areas: Houndmills, Viables, Daneshill and Chineham Business Park.

Drinking in Basingstoke

Nearly every suburb has its own pub. These pubs have guides on h2g2:

• The Winton, Sarum Hill
• The Queens Arms, Bunian Place, Nr. the train station
• The White Hart, London Road

Other pubs include:

• The Chineham Arms, Chineham
• The Winkle, Winklebury (a rarity: a pub building which dates from the 1960s, if not a photogenic one)
• The Lamb Inn, Fairfields
• The Millstone, Bartons Mill, outside Lychpit
• King of Wessex, King's Furlong
• The Oak, Oakridge
• The Bounty, Fairfields
• The Castle, Nr. Basing View
• The Popinjay, Popley
• The Portsmouth Arms, Hatch Warren
• The Kestral, Kempshott
• The Bolton Arms, Old Basing

Eating in Basingstoke

There are restaurants and coffee shops scattered around Festival Place. The classy restaurant district, Festival Square, is located outside Festival Place and has Chinese, Italian and American restaurants. The link in Festival Place to Festival Square has fast food restaurants along it - if you can withstand the food. There are others scattered around the town centre and the suburbs, as well as the pubs which of course serve meals.

Entertainment in Basingstoke

Although the sport of fighting off armed chavs on the Number 100-and-something bus has mostly died out, Basingstoke still has all the leisure facilities expected of a town. The main place to find them is the out-of-town leisure park, which includes:

• The Aquadrome, a large swimming pool, with three large flumes, an indoor pool, a 20m pool and a 25m competition pool.
• A Bowling Alley
• A 10-screen Cinema, currently owned by Odeon
• An Ice Rink
• Indoor Bowls
• Milestones Museum, which contains reconstructions of Victorian and Edwardian Streets (the 'munching' post box in the post office is always a highlight with children)
• The inevitable Fast Food restaurants, another which sells proper food

The town centre has an extensive sports centre over Festival Place with a swimming pool (on the lower floor!), and a Cinema (this time Vue) near Festival Square which also has 10 screens. At Down Grange, there are various pitches as well as a golf centre off Worting Road.

There are two theatres: The Anvil and The Haymarket. The main difference is that the Anvil (near The Malls) organises concerts, shows and some plays whereas the older Haymarket (at The Top of Town) mostly does plays. The Anvil is modern and about 15 years old, and is famed for acoustics. It has a good reputation and many people on nationwide tours stop here. The Haymarket is now managed by The Anvil Trust, and has recently been refurbished (which led to a controversial temporary closure). The Anvil has a smaller hall called The Forge.

Transport in Basingstoke

Along with its Surrey counterpart Woking, it was often said that one of the best things about Basingstoke is that it is so easy to get out of it! That may not be as true today, but Basingstoke does have good transport links

Roads

If you live in an area such as Slough where there aren't many roundabouts, Basingstoke can be a bit of a shock with about 44 roundabouts, 18 of which are on the main roads. The roundabout has proven very effective as a junction, and the roundabouts and dual carriageways ensure that congestion in the town is not a major problem.

The town is served by the M3 motorway, with the main junction being Junction 6. If you are traveling to or from the Winchester direction, Junction 7 will take you to the western side of the town via the A30. Basingstoke is also signposted from the M4, and can be reached from here and Reading via the A33.

The ringroad encircles the town centre and the inner suburbs, and is linked to the major roads out. It has a circumference of 6 miles counter-clockwise and 6.3 miles clockwise. From here, there are several radial roads: The A33 to Reading, A339 to Alton (southbound) or Newbury (northbound), the A30 to Old Basing (eastbound) and the M3 J7 (westbound), the A340 to Tadley and a B road to Whitchurch.

When entering the town, there are boards to show parking spaces. The largest car park is over Festival Place: be warned as it has a bit of a confusing layout, but you should be okay if you follow the signs. There are many car parks around the Top of Town if you can't find a place there. Alternatively, you can park in the Leisure Park and take a shuttle bus to Festival Place.

Railways

The '60s planners only cared about roads, but railways have also played and important part in the towns history. After all, the London and South Western Railway only chose their route to Southampton to go via Basingstoke as it could be a good place to build extra lines from to the West Country.

Today, Basingstoke has a single train station and is served mostly by South West Trains who provide services to London Waterloo. The station won an award as the Best Medium Station a couple of years ago. The buildings are Victorian, and the station is staffed throughout the day. Basingstoke has very little fare dodgers - although only due to the ticket barriers.

The fast services to London depart on Platform 3 (sometimes Platform 4), although after harvesting commuters from Southampton and Winchester they are likely to be crowded. Groups of travellers may prefer the slow train which departs on Platform 1 - you probably will get a seat, although they stop at up to 10 stations on the way (one of which, Winchfield, is in a village of about 500 people).

Westbound trains leave on Platform 2, and head to Winchester, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Salisbury, Weymouth and Exeter. Long distance trains to Birmingham leave on Platform 4, while First Great Western have local service to Reading (Platform 5).

Buses

All the local bus services are operated by Stagecoach, apart from the Central Shuttle 'Park and Ride' service between the Leisure Park, the Town Centre and Basing View. There are longer distance routes between London and elsewhere in Hampshire (be warned: some of them go all over the place).

Basingstoke has a modern bus station adjacent to Festival Place. It is located outdoors although the stands are sheltered, and there is a bridge to the opposite side of the train station forecourt. The local bus routes include:

• 1: Chineham-Daneshill-Town Centre-King's Furlong-Hatch Warren
• 2: Taldey/Baughurst-Hospital-Houndmills-Tow Centre-Cranbourne-Brighton Hill
• 3: Popley-Norn Hill-Town Centre-King's Furlong-South Ham
• 4: Town Centre-Lychpit-Chineham Centre
• 5: Town Centre-Brookvale-Buckskin-Kempshott-Beggarwood
• 6: Town Centre-Houndmills-Winklebury
• 7: Town Centre-Eastrop-Black Dam
• 8: Old Basing-Town Centre-Brookvale-Worting-Oakley
• 9: Town Centre-Brookvale-South Ham-Buckskin-Worting-Winklebury-Rooksdown-Hospital-Popley-Chineham Centre-Lychpit
• 11: Town Centre-South View
• 44: Town Centre-Chineham Centre-Sherfield Park-Bramley

Media in Basingstoke

The local radio channel is Kestral FM, who deal with local news and play music, mostly from the '80s, though some from recent times. 2-Ten FM in Reading also covers the town, and if you live in the right place you can hear London and South Hampshire radio stations.

At many shops and places you will see a copy of the free Basingstoke Observer - a local newspaper. The other local newspaper is the Gazette which is delivered on Mondays and Thursdays with a free paper on Wednesdays called the Extra.

Education in Basingstoke

It would be pointless going through the lengthly list of primary and secondary schools in the town, but rest be assured that every suburb in the town has a school within walking distance. There are two sixth form colleges - BCOT and Queen Mary's and others in nearby towns.

More Information

Two great sites have more information:
Wikipedia has a formal article on Basingstoke.
"It's Basingstoke NOT Boringstoke" is an informal site devoted to the good, bad and the weird, but never boring, facts about Basingstoke.

Finally, Poet Laureate John Betjeman, looking back at the old town, can give us the last word:

"God bless Basingstoke in these pictures and in this text, may it bask in an eternal summer day."

...which is a lot better than what he said for Slough!