Looking at a job in Basingstoke at the moment, this would mean moving to that area, so what’s it like?

And, where would be a nice place to move to in that area, preferably within a 10 to 15 mile radius? I like quiet, nice boring places to live but hope for a nice cafe, pub etc, nice small town or village would be good but depends on prices? What’s it like for biking (off road) around there too?

Had a job near Andover 4 years ago, I lived in Basingstoke for 3 months before I moved out. Soulless place, couldn’t recommend to anyone – called Boringstoke for a very good reason.

Moved to Winchester, which is very nice with lots of nice villages around if you want to live out of town. Winchester is not a going out destination city – generally quiet and one of the UK’s smallest cities

Edit: Winchester is closer to the New Forest where there is a bit of biking

I lived there for a couple of years. Overall, I quite liked it. Yes the town centre is pretty grim / dull and it’s not a great place for bars / restaurants but it has lots of green space and housing is reasonably affordable. It’s very well served by trains and motorways so it’s easy to get far away quickly!

The local riding is actually OK. Heading south there are lots of nice bridleways and back roads for road riding. There’s some woodland singletrack (semi-cheeky) if you know where to look. The surrounding area has some really nice country pubs and stuff like that. The bridleways can be a bit grim in winter but I have some great memories of sumemr riding around there.

Oh and it’s referred to as either Amizingstoke of Basingrad (reference to the soviet-esque arcitecture!)

Edit: with respect to nice places to live within 10-15 miles. I also lived in Winchester and the surrounding villages and they’re very nice (try somewhere like Kingsworthy). There are loads of villages around basingstoke that are nice. Prices are moderate to high I’d say, depending on proximity to transport links. Basingstoke itself is on the cheap side for the South, although there are nice areas.

Edit: Winchester is closer to the New Forest where there is a bit of biking

I’m not sure why you’d go to the New Forest, there are miles and miles of better tracks around Winchester. The South Downs Way even starts there! On thing Winchester does not lack is local offroad riding.

Basingstoke itself isn’t great, but there are plenty of really nice villages in all directions.

Riding-wise you are looking at mostly bridleways but there are a few woods with bits of single track in the area. Swinley is only about a half hour drive away, as well as public access army land such as Tunnel Hill etc (Venues for the Gorrick events).

I live in winchester, lots of good riding when it’s not flooded. pricey place to live though.

to be fair to basingstoke, it does have a couple of decent cinemas, all the usual food chains (wagamamas, GBK etc), an ice rink, decent swimming pools and swinley and the surrey hills are within an hours drive.

I lived and worked in Amazingstoke for a year and it was the most depressing year of my life

Thanks, good info. It’s been about 10 years since I’ve been to Basingstoke and that was only a quick visit and I just remember a big ring road going around it and a normal town centre. Liking the idea of Winchester or around there somewhere and checking maps it’s only about 18 miles away, and I live the east end of the South Downs so would be good the be riding the other end. Swinley’s half hour away, that’d be good, haven’t been there since my MTB was fully rigid with canti brakes and I’ve been meaning to go there.

I used to have clients down there so used to have to go down there quite a bit. Its the most utterly soulless, characterless, depressing place I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit. Its like a vacuum, that sucks the life out of you. Its living embodyment of how easily satisfied and devoid of spirit some people in this country actually are. To be satisfied with living in such a huge spirit-crushing void of a place. It genuinely has not a single solitary feature to redeem itself

If I was faced with the prospect of living there, then frankly a bottle of vodka and a shitload of sleeping pills would be looking like a better alternative

The ‘Stoke is a hole. Never get any closer than going through the station or the Sainsbury’s at Hatch Warren (And only then if we’re not in either Salisbury or Newbury for Waitrose!)

That said, the surrounding villages and countryside is lovely! Most of the local riding is moister than an otter’s pocket at the moment, but some lovely trails to be found, and great road riding on the Bs around the villages.

As others have said, there are some lovely villages both between Basingstoke and Winchester as well as to the other side of the M3.

There are an awful lot of rights of way with some hidden gems. I know the area pretty well for riding, it’s also very popular with the roadies.

If it were me, I’d look to the west to live and Oakley seems quite pleasant. Or the Candovers if you’re rich.

Traffic-wise, it’s busy particularly for the M3.

Edit: beware of proposals for turbines and solar farms, such bad news.

My wife used to work there when we lived in Reading. If Basingstoke seemed like a soulless dump to someone who quite liked Reading, then you know it’s got problems. Bit of a Slough dumped in a field, to be honest.

One of the problems is that it’s a fair way from anywhere else, so you don’t have many affordable alternative options. Winchester is probably the best of those.

Some lovely places to the West of the ‘Stoke, as CG suggests.

Be wary of rush hour traffic, though, as everyone drives!

Basingstoke is awful in my limited experience. However as above – Winchester is really nice, I could easily see myself living there, but if you go east from Basingstoke you get towards Surrey Hills and Swinley and surrounding area. So there’s bags of riding there which you could have available from your door if you pitch it right. I rather liked Farnham, but it may be expensive 🙂

Its the most utterly soulless, characterless, depressing place I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit. Its like a vacuum, that sucks the life out of you. Its living embodiment of how easily satisfied and devoid of spirit some people in this country actually are.

Glad it’s not just me! Sums up my experience perfectly.

I live 15 miles north of Basingstoke in fleet.
About 6 years ago I worked in Basingstoke for Motorola. It’s a bit of a hole with no personality or any really reason to visit or go shopping there.

M3 traffic is a nightmare so I’d suggest anywhere along the A30 is worth a look.

Fleet, hartney Whitney etc possible elvertham Heath is you don’t mind new mega estates or possibly church crookham.
Loads of other small villages in between.

Lots of good road riding and mountain biking on the doorstep too 🙂

Hart – best place to live in uk

Basingstoke and Winchester are only 15 miles apart and are surrounded by the same sort of countryside. So the riding is pretty much the same: quiet minor roads, long unbroken green lanes and the very odd technical bit on bridleways. Its possible to go for long days out and hardly meet another person.

If you want to live in a big town,Winchester centre is prettier but there are some nice parts in Basingstoke (eg. Old Basing)

There are lots of nice small towns and villages within 10/15 miles of Basingstoke. Some are really pricey but others are quite reasonable.

I used to have clients down there so used to have to go down there quite a bit. Its the most utterly soulless, characterless, depressing place I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit. Its like a vacuum, that sucks the life out of you. Its living embodyment of how easily satisfied and devoid of spirit some people in this country actually are. To be satisfied with living in such a huge spirit-crushing void of a place. It genuinely has not a single solitary feature to redeem itself

Wow, what happened to you in Basingstoke!? It’s only spirit crushing if you’re weak of spirit I guess? Still, good to know that all the great people I met down there were all actually dead inside.

Its the most utterly soulless, characterless, depressing place I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit. Its like a vacuum, that sucks the life out of you. Its living embodyment of how easily satisfied and devoid of spirit some people in this country actually are. To be satisfied with living in such a huge spirit-crushing void of a place. It genuinely has not a single solitary feature to redeem itself

Hang on – don’t you live in Manchester?

as southern towns and cities go I rank Manchester and Basingstoke about the same.

as southern towns and cities go I rank Manchester and Basingstoke about the same.

People may have been taking you seriously until then. It’s like comparing Glasgow to Cumbernauld.

Yeah they’re different but I can think of as many positives about both. They each have big downsides though.

Basingstoke, Bracknell, Swindon, Harlow etc are all ‘new towns’ that Lahnduners were exported to.

I’d agree with the “ignore the New Forest” comment. There is obviously lots of bridleway riding in the nearby in South downs and if you looking for woody/heathy/sandy(ish) singletrack, there plenty to the east ie Swinley,MOD land, Tunnell hill, porridgepot hill, Minely Manor, Ceasar’s Camp (near Fleet) etc etc

QECP is a bit of a drive away but is always improving and there are also 2 mini downhill venues ie Rogate + that one in the old quarry near Froyle which is very close (forgotten the name of it now).

Tell me about Basingstoke … or thereroundabouts?
Loads of ’em!

On the plus side the ‘Nokia Roundabout’ is perfect for hours of knee down sparky slider fun. Well, if you live in there I guess endlessly circling a roundabout is going to be the closest thing to fun 🙂

Amazingstoke ? . its a great place. Best thing to come out of there was the A340……..
Depends what you want. We have friends who live there and have done for a long time. Wife used to go to College there, but lived in Silchester. Personally, its not for us. Other than visiting friends, I cant see a reason for going there.

Hard to make any recommendations without knowing your budget and requirements. We lived in Fleet until very recently, it’s eye wateringly expensive now, and have just moved to Crowthorne, which is slightly less eye watering. There are lots of lovely places to live round these parts, with plenty of OK riding.

If you can get down over Fleet way there’s quite a bit of half decent riding on MOD land. Though you may be better off with a cross or road bike.

+1 for it being a soul crushing place, even Milton Keynes has more to recomend it.

Plenty of good riding, Tunnel Hill Trolls, Swinely, etc, and easy access to Wales.

Wierdly Reading Cycling Club does Sunday club runs to the cafe in Sainbury’s. A Propper WTF? moment when we arrived there compared to the usual charity shop or garden center type places we end up.

beware of proposals for turbines and solar farms, such bad news.

Alterntively, haggle the price down and rejoice that you’re not a nimby and have a view over some windmills.

I was in Bazinghell last week visiting a friend who unfortunately lives there.

Eventually she tired of my constant pining to get as far away from the area as possible.

The epitomy of everything I hate about ‘new’ English towns/cities.

Utterly devoid of anything postive to say about it, other than the cinema queues are very short on a Friday night. I counted literally 7 people in the entire complex for the entire time I was there (prime time Friday).

Clearly the locals prefer not to leave their houses.

Cant blame them.

Are you getting that I dont like the place?..

Its the most utterly soulless, characterless, depressing place I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit. Its like a vacuum, that sucks the life out of you. Its living embodyment of how easily satisfied and devoid of spirit some people in this country actually are. To be satisfied with living in such a huge spirit-crushing void of a place.

YES!!

Nail. Head. Obliterated.

I was in Bazinghell last week visiting a friend who unfortunately lives there.

Eventually she tired of my constant pining to get as far away from the area as possible.

The epitomy of everything I hate about ‘new’ English towns/cities.

Utterly devoid of anything postive to say about it, other than the cinema queues are very short on a Friday night. I counted literally 7 people in the entire complex for the entire time I was there (prime time Friday).

Clearly the locals prefer not to leave their houses.

Cant blame them.

Are you getting that I dont like the place?..

This is utter crap really… I’m not a youff but when ever I’ve been into town of an evening the complex around the cinema is always very busy as is the old town which offers a fair few pubs and restaurants. Seem to be a lot of snobs on this thread if you ask me. Basingstoke and its surrounds are fine. Lots of lovely villages around with some very expensive real estate due to their short commute time to the smoke. The op should take a look for himself imo.

but if you go east from Basingstoke you get towards Surrey Hills and Swinley and surrounding area

I thought about a similar response, however, I live in the Surrey hills and by car at least, travelling between these two locations takes a lot longer than you’d imagine.

As soon as you reach the Hogs Back area in Guildford you may start to experience a good ride out. But then you’d always have to turn around and head home..

‘shudders’

This is utter crap really… I’m not a youff but when ever I’ve been into town of an evening the complex around the cinema is always very busy

I was there last week. Witnessed with my own eyes. Teased friend with my own words. Granted, it was raining.

Ive lived in Staines..its an Eden in comparison.

If im a snob then please God may I remain this way forever and ever.

Back in the days of CB radio Basingstoke was known as “doughnut city” due to the number of roundabouts. The centre of Basingstoke and the numerous new housing estates are duller than dishwater, the secret is living out in one of the villages which sounds like what you are after. Dummer isn’t bad and is very close to the city and the M3. Plenty of nice villages around the city but beware traffic is heavy. For riding you are not far from Swinley / Tunnel Hill if you live South/South East and you’re within a hours drive of a lot of good riding on South Downs and Surrey Hills.

The only reason I go to Basingstoke is the Berry Brothers have their warehouse there, if you like wine they have excellent bin end offers 8)

Basingstoke and its surrounds are fine.

Its really, really not, you know. Its unremittingly awful! Actually describing it as awful is lending it too much drama. Its a huge yawning non-entity of a place. A barren, featureless (unless you count roundabouts as features), chain-bar-and-restaurant-infested, cultural wasteland.

Its rarely I’ve ever been accused of being a snob, but if demanding more than Basingrad offers makes me one, then it seems like theres a lot of us around. To live in a place like that would be like waving a white flag, and surrendering to a life of spirit-crushing banality, sat in your identikit house, doomed to listen to Coldplay on Radio 2 for the rest of your days.

Its weird how your mind makes associations, isn’t it? Having been unfortunate enough to spend a bit of time down there, when someone mentions the place, I automatically think of this….

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jBVjRMAgYg[/video]

I love you Binners

Ah blazingsmoke. Lived there from about 1993-2000 in Chineham, Winklebury and hatch warren. Worked for the big drugs company there. Chineham was your standard soulless 80s housing estate but they built a pub and that made us happy. Bought my first house in Winkelbury (it’s all 60s ex council housing) and while it wasn’t very salubrious, it was a really great neighbourhood. And we lived next to the pub. Then moved in with GF in Hatch Warren. Which was both a new house on a soulless estate and not near a pub 😉

The middle of BS is pretty grim, the riding was fun (back on the fully rigid then), the pubs around and about I really liked and bits of hampshire (especially further south to Winchester) are really extremely pleasant places to live.

It wasn’t a great town in terms of charm or amenities, but I do have some good memories of the place. I wouldn’t go back tho.

To live in a place like that would be like waving a white flag, and surrendering to a life of spirit-crushing banality, sat in your identikit house, doomed to listen to Coldplay on Radio 2 for the rest of your days.

Binners, you don’t have to identify yourself with the town in which you live. You can, if you want, but it’s not a requirement. You can just treat your town as a place to sleep and work and get your kicks elsewhere. The town may be dull but it’s surrounded by beautiful countryside and there’s plenty of great riding.