Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in Hampshire in southern England. The administrative headquarters of the district of Basingstoke and Deane is, together with the surrounding villages 155,400 inhabitants ( 2004 estimate ) and is a prosperous city with low unemployment. Here are the headquarters of the British Automobile Association and the company Sun Life Financial of Canada. In addition, Basingstoke location of pharmacy ( Shire Pharmaceuticals ), insurance and electronics companies.

Location

Basingstoke is located in the north of Hampshire in the North Downs, 72 km to the west of London on the River Loddon.

The M3 motorway from London to Southampton leads past the city to the south. The city has rail links to London, Reading, Exeter and Southampton (South Western Main Line). In the north and north-east of the city has a green belt. Due to the growth of the city has a number of villages were absorbed into the environment and districts of Basingstoke, including Chineham, Winklebury, Kempshott and Hatch Warren.

Basingstoke is also a constituency of the British House of Commons, where it is currently (2006) represented by Conservative MP Maria Miller. Within Hampshire Basingstoke and Deane Basingstoke is part of the district.

Attractions

In the fall of 2002 with the Festival Place Basingstoke received a new center, which is caused by the transformation of the former The Walks Shopping Centre and the New Market Square. Here, various shops, cafes and a cinema are popular today next to a branch of Marks and Spencer. With The malls and Top of Town, there are in the city's two other shopping centers.

In the old town you will find the Willis Museum, the Haymarket Theatre, the Marquet Square and the main post office in town. The nightlife is mainly concentrated around the Festival Place. Basingstoke has a number of pubs and four nightclubs.

At Porchester Square is a large sports center with gym and swimming pool. In the city center is also the Anvil to find a concert hall.

Just outside the city center there is an amusement park with a Aquadrome, a skating rink and a cinema as well as the Milestones Museum which deals with the history of Hampshire.

Approximately 2.5 kilometers north of Basingstoke, the Tudor manor house, The Vyne is also famous for its portico and staircase.

Sports

Basingstoke is home of the football club Basingstoke Town FC, who played in the English Southern League. Besides which has a swimming squad, the Basingstoke Bluefins city a rugby club, a hockey team and. 1989 Basingstoke hosted the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. There is also still the Basingstoke Gymcenter, a gym with professional equipment.

Education

The Queen Mary's College and Basingstoke College of Technology, the city has two universities. There also exist a number of other schools.

Media

Basingstoke has its own radio station: Kestrel FM. In addition, here are two daily newspapers are published, the Basingstoke Gazette and the Basingstoke Observer.

History

Basingstoke was mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Basingestoches as a market town and has received the market privileges before 1203. In Old Basing, about three miles east of the present city center, was built in 1535 Basing House as a residence for William Paulet, Marquess of Winchester and the royal treasurer. Today protrude from the building, only the foundation walls. 1755 founded the Brothers May in the city of the May- brewery and made Basingstoke as a center for the production of beer. When the Salvation Army the end of the 19th century became active in the city to preach against alcohol, it came into the city again and again to violent clashes between prohibitionists and their opponents. After the Second World War, Basingstoke underwent a modernization of its city image by concrete buildings, which came to the part of the population to criticism.

Twin Cities

Basingstoke is twinned with

• Alençon, France
• Euskirchen, Germany
• Braine -l'Alleud, Belgium

Personalities

In the city lived or were born:

• Mike Sparks, singer of the rock group Canterbury
• John Arlott, sports journalist
• Jane Austen, writer ( born in nearby Steventon )
• Nora Stanton Blatch Barney, a civil engineer, architect and suffragist
• Jason Dunlop, Paleontologist
• Tom Croft, rugby players
• Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain
• Les Humphries, Pop
• Elizabeth Hurley, actress and model
• Sir James Lancaster, politicians and sailors of the 16th century.
• Ian McNeice, British actor
• Denis Nowell Pritt, Labour politician
• Robert Steadman, composer and conductor
• Sarah Sutton, Actress
• Tanita Tikaram, pop singer
• Thomas Warton, poet, Poet Laureate of the Year 1785
• Bob Young, musicians, music managers and writers (including unofficial member of the rock band Status Quo )

• Place in Hampshire