The Village of Hook in the County of Hampshire

Used to be a village but now is more like a suburb of Basingstoke. The village centre is rundown and dilapidated.

Antisocial behaviour and vandalism is a problem as is drug abuse.

A few years ago there were a few community police officers but now there is hardly any police presence..

I moved to Hook just before the millennium. In that time the village has gone through many changes. Some good and some bad. One feature that remains the same is Hook’s transport links (but with a reduced bus and train service) and its access to countryside, (likewise the countryside is shrinking).
Hook has grown over the years with new housing estates being added every few years. What was once a village is now a small town, even though the centre is still referred to as the ‘village’.

Like neighbouring Odiham and Hartley Wintney, Hook has seen a process of gentrification. Where new residents move in from London and house prices and rents increase and force those on lower incomes to move elsewhere. This has created a disjoint between the rich and poor of the village with the majority being comfortably well off while those not earning megabucks struggle to afford rents of around one and a half thousand a month.

The village infrastructure is creaking under the pressure of austerity and increased population. The health centre is called Whitewater health. Expect long call waiting times to book an appointment which can be same day for emergencies or over two weeks for non-emergency appointments.
Both Whitewater and Boots Pharmacies seem to struggle with preparing prescriptions. They now close between one and two on weekdays. A peak time for people on lunch breaks.

The village school is split between Hook Juniors and Hook Infants. The Infants has an entrance on Ravenscroft and the Juniors onto Church View. This causes traffic and parking problems during school opening and closing times despite being within walking distance of most of Hook.

Like most schools bullying can be a problem and in my experience as a parent they are quick to deny that there is a problem.

Hook has two village halls, the Elizabeth Hall and the Community Centre. These are linked to the parish council.

Over the past decade Hook has taken a turn for the worse. Buildings look tired and dirty. The paint is peeling off signs and the roads are full of potholes.

Driving in Hook is dreadful. Is this because of the elderly population or the sheer entitlement of residents. Expect to have cars pull out with no warning. Tailgate you in a 30mph zone. Some drivers think stopping at traffic lights or pedestrian crossings are optional. Despite camera signs, it is a common sight to see cars speeding. Maybe the police should install actual cameras or start to have speed traps again.

Pavement parking is common. Another pet hate is commuters parking badly on residential roads near the station and then hopping on a train to their well-paid London jobs.

A lot of Hook’s woes can be linked to over development. Poorly thought-out developments increase traffic and put a strain of facilities without contributing to improvements.

An example is the new Sainsburys store that is lacking in safe pedestrian access and creates a traffic bottleneck at the roundabout. Also there is a new housing development where the only way to walk to school or the village is over a wooden boardwalk over a swamp or a muddy footpath along Reading Road.

A recent trend is to convert office buildings into flats or to create high density new build blocks of flats in areas where parking is limited.

Residents can be sorted into two camps. Those who give each other the time of day and those who are too (self) important and busy to acknowledge anyone else’s existence. Sadly, it seems the latter is increasing in number, and this is reflected in the political party the polling district votes for.