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Basingstoke is a large town in the county of Hampshire in the south of England. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 152,573. Basingstoke is a prosperous town with an above-average standard of living and low unemployment. It is a financial centre, and the location of the headquarters of the Automobile Association and Sun Life Financial of Canada (not to be confused with AXA Sun Life) in the UK. Other industries include drug manufacture, insurance and electronics.
Basingstoke's expansion has absorbed many smaller villages in its wake, becoming housing estates or local districts. Many of these new estates are designed as almost self contained communities, such as Chineham, Popley, Winklebury, Kempshott and Hatch Warren. The M3 acts as a buffer zone to the south of the town, and the South Western Main Line constrains the western expansion, with green belt to the north and north-east, making Basingstoke almost triangular in shape. As a result, the villages of Cliddesden, Dummer, Sherborne and Oakley, although being very close to the town limits, are considered distinct entities.
Basingstoke parlimentary constituency is served by Conservative Mrs Maria Miller MP, who was elected in 2005 when the previous MP, Andrew Hunter stepped down. Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, which has its offices in the town, has no majority control, and indeed is hung between the Conservative group, with 30 seats, and the Lib-Lab and Independent coalition, also with 30 seats. Basingstoke is part of a Two-Tier Local Government structure, and returns county councillors to Hampshire.
View from Basingstoke railway station forecourt; the chrome yellow buildings stand on the site of older office buildings that have been demolished to build apartments.
Facilities
Town Centre
A new shopping centre - Festival Place opened in autumn 2002, adding a huge boost to the town centre, transforming the former The Walks Shopping Centre and the New Market Square . Aside from a wide range of shops, including department stores Bhs, Debenhams and Marks and Spencer, there is also a range of cafés and restaurants as well as a large multi-screen Vue cinema (formerly Ster Century until their takeover in 2005).
Basingstoke has two further shopping areas: The Malls and Top of Town. The Malls houses big names such as WHSmith, Boots, and Sainsburys, and there are now plans for regeneration of this area following the dominance of Festival Place. Top of Town is the historic heart of Basingstoke, housing the town's Willis museum and the Haymarket Theatre. There are also several locally run shops, as well as the post office, and market square.
The town's nightlife is split fairly evenly between the new Festival Square, and the traditional hostelries at the Top of Town, with a few local community pubs outside the central area. The town has 4 nightclubs, 2 in the town itself, one on the east side and one 2 miles out to the west.
In Porchester Square is the Basingstoke Sports Centre which has a subterranean swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi and steam room. Above ground there is a gym, aerobics studios, squash courts and main hall. There is also a playden for young children. Basingstoke town centre is also home to a modern concert hall: The Anvil.
Leisure Centre
Outside of the town centre there is a leisure park featuring the Aquadrome swimming pool, an ice rink, Bowling Alley, and a Vue cinema. The leisure park is home to the Milestones Museum which contains a network of streets and buildings based on the history of Hampshire.
Sport
Basingstoke has its own football team, Basingstoke Town F.C. who currently play in the Nationwide Conference South. The rugby club play in Rugby Football Union's National 3 South League, and the Basingstoke Bison ice hockey team play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. Basingstoke also has a swimming team, known as the Basingstoke Bluefins.
Education
Basingstoke has two large further education colleges: a sixth form college, Queen Mary's College (QMC) and Basingstoke College of Technology (BCOT). There are many large secondary schools in the area that are included in the list of schools in Hampshire.
Media
Basingstoke recently gained its own radio station: Kestrel FM. 2-Ten FM, broadcast from Reading also provides local radio coverage. The town also has good coverage from digital radio; the BBC, Independent National and Now Reading multiplexes can be received in the town, and the outskirts can receive London and South Hampshire stations as well.
There are two local newspapers: the Basingstoke Gazette and the Basingstoke Observer, and the town is also covered by the Hampshire Chronicle.
Pirate radio appears to have found a foothold in parts of Basingstoke, with 2 recent weekend broadcasts having been quickly halted by Ofcom.
Geographical location
Basingstoke is situated in the north of Hampshire, in the district of Basingstoke and Deane. It is 72km (45miles) west-southwest of London. It has excellent road and rail links, making it popular with commuters: London Waterloo can be accessed in roughly 45 minutes by train, and there is easy access to the M3 and M4 motorways. Basingstoke has very good bus services, both local town services and more long-distant stage routes to Andover, Newbury and Winchester.
Position: Grid reference SU637523
Nearby towns and cities: Alton, Andover, Hook, Newbury, Overton, Reading, Tadley, Whitchurch, Winchester
Nearby villages: Aldermaston, Baughurst, Bramley, Kingsclere, Oakley, Old Basing, Silchester.
History of the town
Basingstoke has held a Charter Market since before 1203, and is recorded as being a market site in the Domesday Book. The ruins of the Tudor palace of Basing House can be found two miles east of the town centre, in Old Basing. Population growth has been rapid since its designation as a London overspill town (often confused with new town status) in 1961: in 1951 there were only 16,000 inhabitants. Today it is famous for having a large number of roundabouts.
The name Basingstoke (Domesday; Basingestoches) is believed to have been derived from the town's location, the western settlement of the people of Baze. Basing, a village a few miles to the east, is normally considered to have the same etymology, but is believed to be the older settlement. Basingstoke had a market by 1203 and, for most of its life, it remained a small market town. In the 18th century, it prospered as a major brewing centre, after the brothers Thomas and William May set up the May Brewery around 1755. When the Salvation Army arrived in Basingstoke preaching abstinence in 1881, the people were severely worried about the effect this would have on the brewing industry and local jobs. There were even armed clashes in Church Square. The May family were mayors and prominent benefactors of the town well into the 20th century.
In the late 1960s, Basingstoke town centre was completely rebuilt. At this time many buildings of historic interest were replaced by a large concrete shopping centre. The brutalism of the town's architecture, and its perceived status as a new town and haven for accountants and those with other occupations considered "boring", have led to Basingstoke becoming a comedic archetype for the soullessness of many modern British towns. It remains to be seen whether the opening of the new Festival Place shopping centre will do anything to soften this image and part the town with its "Boringstoke", "Basingjoke" and "Basingrad" nicknames. Although more recently, the younger generation have surprisingly adopted a more positive name of "Amazingstoke" for this once boring town.
The Basingstoke Gazette has recently launched "A Town to be Proud of" to raise the community awareness in the town - though with each new "community estate" being fairly self-sufficient, it is often easier to consider Basingstoke as a city-structure with separate community districts.
Basingstoke railway station is the junction between the South Western Main Line railway, built by the London and South Western Railway, and the Reading to Basingstoke line, built by the Great Western Railway.
References to Basingstoke
In the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Ruddigore, the word Basingstoke is a sort of soothing charm which Sir Despard Murgatroyd intones to Mad Margaret when she seems in danger of getting agitated. Although she says the word is "teeming with hidden meaning", the joke lies in the town's utter unremarkability. It has been suggested that Gilbert had in mind the mental asylum at Park Prewett, northwest of the town centre, although this was not built until 1912, some 25 years after the opera was written.
Basingstoke also gets a mention in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "How did we get here?" he (Arthur) asked, shivering slightly. "We hitched a lift," said Ford. "Excuse me?" said Arthur. "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?".
Vauxhall promoted their Vectra car by demonstrating how well it handles Basingstoke's fictitious Mitchell's Bush roundabout, which had only 2 exits.
Even Shakespeare pokes mild fun at Basingstoke, with a line in "Henry IV" (part 2). From act 2 scene 1:
Lord Chief-Justice: "I have heard better news."
Falstaffe: "What's the news, my good Lord?"
Ch-Just: "Where lay the King last night?"
Gower: "At Basingstoke, my Lord"
Fal: "I hope, my Lord, all's well: what is the news, my Lord?"
In the hugely popular British sitcom "Only Fools And Horses", the character Rodney Trotter attended art college in Basingstoke before being thrown out after three weeks for smoking marijuana. Blessed, another British sitcom, also made reference to Basingstoke in an episode which aired during the last quarter of 2005. When the main charater meets a posh couple that have named their two children "India" and "Ireland" to reflect their supposed mystical nature, he ironically replies the he has named his own two children Basingstoke and Milton Keynes.
Although not referenced, Channel 4's hit comedy 'Green Wing' filmed scenes at Basingstoke hospital.
Twinned towns
Basingstoke is twinned with
Famous people
Famous people who were born in, or lived in, the Basingstoke area:
- John Arlott, cricket journalist, writer and commentator
- Jane Austen, author (born in nearby Steventon and lived in nearby Chawton)
- Carl Barat, lead singer and guitarist with rock band The Libertines
- Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Great Britain
- Elizabeth Hurley, actress and model
- Sir James Lancaster, 16th century navigator and statesman
- Robert Steadman, composer and conductor
- Tanita Tikaram, singer-songwriter
- Thomas Warton, academic and poet, holder of the title of Poet Laureate from 1785.
See also
External links
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