new town by katharine eastman

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one of those gloopy keyboard ones mixing randomness and security - it might be good, it might not, must admit I'm not in the mood for it right now - but that's more me than the music
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I've lived in this area all my life and there are still nearby bits I've never visited - until a few weeks ago I'd never been to Andover, and today I visited Basingstoke for the very first time. Yes I once drove round part of its ring road. And I've often gone walking in the nearby countryside and seen it on the horizon. And of course I've often been on the train to London when it's stopped at Basingstoke and you look out and the town looks like it might be a miniature New York.

Nothing like it of course. I parked in beautiful countryside about two miles south of the town/M3 and robustly headed along footpaths to today's destiny. I have heard only bad things about Basingstoke - it is a bit of a byword for a dull soulless new town. But I am of course delighted to retain my contrary persona and report that today at least Basingstoke shone like a welcoming star - warm and friendly - I arrived in the centre of town just as the sun broke through for good and all the charity shops opened.

I'm being a bit generous with the "all the charity shops" bit - because as people frequently told me today, Basingstoke has very few in the centre of town, and none are much cop. In fact, what Basingstoke wins on the friendliness-ometer it loses on the whole shopping-experience-agasm - the bulk of the shops seem to be inside this awful mall-thing.

Never mind, I have given up shopping really. Just can't resist charity shop jumpers and chamber music CDs. And boots. I got a pair today. All of Basingstoke rests like a poached egg on the northern side of the M3, and the walker to the south of the motorway gets to town over a nice long-winded footbridge. The countryside to the south of the M3/Basingstoke is beautiful - really narrow lanes with no traffic and no fences/hedges so you feel like you're driving properly, and wonderful footpaths with nearly ditto effect.

There's no "if" about it, but I'll use the word anyway - if the government get their way all this land - everything you see in the photograph, will soon be turned into a huge adjunct to Basingstoke, thousands of houses. I'm old and it's not for me to say what sort of country you youngsters want for yourselves. I'm just glad that I know this countryside so well now, and if I'm still alive when it's all gone then I'll have my edge-of-dementia beautiful green memories.
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(recorded today, photo a mile or two south of Basingstoke today)
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