Basingstoke Town Hall

A Memory of Basingstoke.

I remember the Town Hall from the late 1950's - 1960's. My father, the late Dr Frank Foden MBE, used to be a lecturer at what was then Basinstoke Technical College. He used to write a pantomime each year for staff and students to perform at Basingstoke Town Hall. Some of early planning rehearsals used to take place in a coffee bar just round the corner from the Town Hall. I think it was called The Majorca?
I also remember the market stalls outside the Town Hall each Saturday, when we would come into town. We lived in, what was then, the village of Chineham. I went to school in Old Basing. Shopping in Basingstoke was a regular Saturday event. I went to RAD Ballet classes in town, while my mother did the weekly shopping and placed her weekly shopping order at Oady's, near my ballet school. The shopping order would be delivered to our village home on Monday or Tuesday.
Many of the shops were close to the Town Hall, such as M &S. Shopping was always a joy. I used to love the smell of Oady's Grocery Shop and the samples of food Mr Oady always used to give his customers. Basingstoke used to be a lovely market town. We have many happy memories of the place.