Basingstoke - good or bad?

[RacerMDR]

Ok - found a house - its near Basingstoke (North)

Currently live in Bristol, sometimes live in Farnham, work in London.

I have lived in Guildford, Farnham, Camberley etc etc - so i know that area.

I don't know Basingstoke though.

What is the general consensus of the place? I won't be looking for nights out in Basingstoke itself (much). I'm more of a country pub kind of guy.

Normally wouldn't have picked Basingstoke - but the house is a particularly good (rented) fit for me at the moment.

all advice, comments gratefully received.

ta

[RacerMDR]

can't believe i spelt Basingstoke wrong!!! That'll teach me for watching Charlize Theron whilst i type.

[RacerMDR]

actually - this should be in Pie and Piston i guess

How do i get it moved.....?

think i'll give up for the day!

[Altrezia]

I live about 8 miles from basingstoke. I wouldn't want to live there, but there's some nice areas. What area are you looking at?

[LC23]

Amazingstoke? I personally wouldnt want to live there, but I think some of the areas outside The Stoke itself are OK.

[TIS]

There are loads of good quality country pubs near basingstoke and around it. Old basing is a nice please to live, along with hazlemere and chinem. Is your house anywhere near there or right slap bang is blazingstoke?

[alfa daley]

I live in Basingstoke and have done for the last year or so:

If you end up in a nice area (not Popley) it's ok. For commuting it's close to the M3, if you need the M4 it's not so good as the A33 is a terrible road with few overtaking spots unless your packing 250 plus horsepower or on a bike you will get stuck behind tractors, horseboxes and other such vehicles.

Festival place shopping centre isn't bad at all, in fact I think the shops are almost on par with Reading but without the riverside ambiance. There are two cinemas and the ring road is great for hooning on (plenty of roundabouts).

The night life is a bit of a low point, seems the town is crawling with chavs and the pubs are targeted to suit, as is Basingstoke's own nightclub 'Liquid'. I have found it lacks the sort of decent bars/pubs that you would get in London. However, one of the nicest things about Basingstoke is that in just 5 minutes drive you can be totally lost in the countryside where there are some nice pubs, good roads, and good mountain biking tracks.

Plus London Waterloo is only 45min on train.

[911Dreamer]

LC23 said:

Amazingstoke? I personally wouldnt want to live there, but I think some of the areas outside The Stoke itself are OK.

How can you not want to live where BOB lives?????

Balloons Over Basingstoke

[spikeyhead]

Most of Basingstoke makes Luton look sophisticated, Could be worse though, could be Portsmouth.

[muppets_mate]

There's a reason is known locally as Basingrad...

[ALawson]

I personally wouldn't live there, Old Basing looks nice as does chinam (sp), what about Hook?

[TheEnd]

a certain area, or Basingstoke as a hole?

now there's an idea....

[schmalex]

No matter what you are told, there is nowhere good to live in Basingstoke. The whole town is a complete sthole that really should be avoided at all costs. It is a truly hateful place to spend any amount of time.

Having spent 3 years living there (Chineham, Sherborne St John & Up Nately), we finally escaped during late 2007. I would rather cut my balls off than comtemplate living there again.

• Town Centre: Chav infested sthole with more 14 year old mothers than you have ever wish to see. Totally ruined by the soulless shopping centre, Festival Place.
• Popley: Utterly awful cahncil estate
• Chineham "village" (pah!): The most twee place going. People here are "executives", as they might have made it to the dizzying heights of a Vectra 2.2
• Lychpit: Otherwise known as stpit. Nasty legoland housing estate
• Old Basing: The original part of the town. Would be quite nice, if it weren't utterly spoiled by having a main line railway cutting right through the middle. Oh & it's a rat run of epic proportions, so clogs up easily in the mornings
• Winlkebury: Makes Popley look like utopia
• Hatchwarren: If they can't quite afford Chineham, the execs go here. Charachterised by Astra diesels
• Kempshot / Buckskin: On a par wtih Lychpit

However, there are some nice areas within a few miles of the town that will stem the depression associated with living there. These are, namely: Odiham, Kingsclere, Greywell, Upton Grey.

Really, avoid the place like the plague. It is truly awful.

Edited by schmalex on Saturday 13th September 22:00

[ALawson]

schmalex; you got a jpeg of that Tokio photo.

I think its safe to say that Basingstoke should be avoided, I think I shall stay in Church Crookham!

[schmalex]

ALawson said:

schmalex; you got a jpeg of that Tokio photo.

I think its safe to say that Basingstoke should be avoided, I think I shall stay in Church Crookham!

It's A3 sized, so I'll try & dig it out tomorrow (my wife packed it with all the other photos when we moved last) & get it scanned in.

ETA. Just popped upstairs to the study & have found it. I took it myself, so probably not as well framed as a Beken / Tomlinson, but it is an epic photo. To give you some sense of perspective:

Tokio is coming through Hurst narrows at full chat with 1 tuck in the main & the 1.5oz acer up with a Bertram 30 or something struggling to keep up with her. Blue sky, green sea, loads of white-caps!

I'll ask my neighbour tomorrow to scan it in on Monday, as she owns a marketing company so has all the gizmos to ensure we don't lose the resolution. As soon as I get it back, I'll email it to you. I have sent you a PM - can you reply to me so that I have your email address?

Edited by schmalex on Saturday 13th September 21:45

Edited by schmalex on Saturday 13th September 21:49

[_daveR]

Some of the villages north of Basingrad are very very nice. Just stay away from the 'grad and Tadley.

[318isplumber]

im working in basingstoke at the moment, ive just finished the new school building in chineham and ive just started a new one in chiltern way which is in buchkin ( i think thats how you spell it) and it does look rough, i havent seen anywhere that i would want to live. its just proper dreary, that said there are some nice long roads that my vr6 would like to tackle.

[ALawson]

I remember a couple of photos of Tokio, one is from behind the boat; must be from a chopper, all the crew are on the back of the boat as it smoked it down southampton water.

As you said main had one reef in it, head and spinny, I cannot remember but its an epic photo!

I will PM you know.

Cheers

Alex.

You in Panama now?

[RacerMDR]

thanks everyone - i had a feeling Basingstoke (Blazingjoke) itself could be a bit of a dump.

The place i'm looking at is Monk Sherbourne - its pretty out of the way.

I guess i'd be going to visit my mates in Farnham etc rather than them coming to visit me.

Funny you should mention Hook. Had a fantastic place lined up but it fell through last week. Hence looking around the areas.

The issue I have is i want to keep the cost reasonable - and yet i need space for 3 cars, 1 motorbike and a big van. (merc lwb)

ideally i'd live in a big Barn with 1 bedroom, but i can't find any!!

My other option from today is LIPHOOK. That seems nice, but house not as good

[schmalex]

RacerMDR said:

thanks everyone - i had a feeling Basingstoke (Blazingjoke) itself could be a bit of a dump.

The place i'm looking at is Monk Sherbourne - its pretty out of the way.

I guess i'd be going to visit my mates in Farnham etc rather than them coming to visit me.

Funny you should mention Hook. Had a fantastic place lined up but it fell through last week. Hence looking around the areas.

The issue I have is i want to keep the cost reasonable - and yet i need space for 3 cars, 1 motorbike and a big van. (merc lwb)

ideally i'd live in a big Barn with 1 bedroom, but i can't find any!!

My other option from today is LIPHOOK. That seems nice, but house not as good

Monk Sherborne is nice & rural. The Mole is a good pub. You also have The Wellington Arms not too far from there, which is a lovely place to eat