Basingstoke is not "Boringstoke"

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Balloons over Basingstoke

When Jay told me in June that we were actually going to spend the Summer in Basingstoke, Hampshire rather than in London, I researched the city on the Internet. What I found was not encouraging. On the Yahoo travel website there were reviewers who said that the city was ugly and boring - shop till you drop and then there's nothing to do. I read further that Basingstoke is actually an old town whose Medieval picturesque buildings were razed to make way for an ugly shopping center. To make matters worse, a friend sent us an article from the New York Times in which an Englishman said that Basingstoke was one of the most boring towns he'd ever been to.

I decided that living in Basingstoke would be bearable if I could go to London frequently. It turned out that train fares (and everything else) in England are very expensive. The exchange rate from dollars to pounds is painful. It's wonderful if you are British and changing your pounds to dollars (that's why so many English people are spending their holiday in the sunbelt states of the U.S.) Since I couldn't go to London as much as I'd hoped, I took my camera and have been exploring Basingstoke. Shakespeare said that "nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." That is definitely true here. I'm posting some photos so you can see for yourself.

Last weekend was the annual "Balloons over Basingstoke" festival. Before we left for Bath I photographed the men inflating three hot air balloons and made a video of it. Hope you enjoy it. Click on the icon to the right of the little black and white photo of Jay and me to see it.

The great majority of the people here are quite nice. They have totally accepted us as Americans, unlike the Germans, who were always critical of "Amis" and sometimes resentful. I feel a kinship with the people here that I can't quite explain. When I look around me there is no doubt about my Northern European ancestry. Two Irish people I met in passing have stared at me hard in the face and asked if I'm Irish. We'll I guess my maternal grandmother, who is a pathological liar, wasn't lying about that!

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Photos

Haymarket Theatre molding
These painted plaster moldings surround the doorways

Red Lion hotel
This sculpture is in the window above the Red Lion hotel on London St.

Ushers the Bounty
This is the pub just up the hill from our apartment house

Church yard
This is the graveyard by the old church next to the train station

Anvil passageway
This is one side of the walkway to the Anvil performance hall. I really had to stare at this one to see the beauty. It made a great composition

Comments

[Ron S]

Greetings!
Just a quick note - I've enjoyed reading your blog (I finally have read them all). Your writings and photography are most excellent. Continued fun and happiness on the other side of the pond.

[Tracey]

Very interesting
Maybe this is where the word 'eclectic' was derived. One thing for sure is you don't have to go far to see a different style. And, I loved the quote from Shakespeare. Absolutely correct..