Blackwater, Hampshire
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Blackwater and Hawley Town Council logo |
Blackwater is a small town in the northeastern corner of
Hampshire, lying in the county's
Hart District. It is situated on the borders of both
Berkshire and
Surrey about 5 km (3 miles) north of
Farnborough, 3 km ( 2 miles) west of the adjoining town of
Camberley and 25 km (16 miles) east of
Basingstoke on the
A30 national route. Blackwater is situated 49 km (31 miles) southwest of London. An old stone signpost near the Agincourt club on the A30, in western Camberley marks 30 miles, and an old stone on the A30 London Road, near the Hawley Hill roundabout marks 32 miles. Blackwater centre is situated directly halfway between these. This relative proximity to the capital (the nearest point in Hampshire, and closer than much of Berkshire) has made the town popular with commuters. Blackwater is part of the
Blackwater Valley conurbation which includes the towns of Farnborough,
Aldershot, Camberley,
Sandhurst,
Yateley,
Frimley and
Farnham. The River Blackwater flows through the length of this urban area.
The town lies at the point where the
A30 trunk road from
London to
Land's End crosses the
River Blackwater. It is served by
Blackwater railway station which is on the main line almost precisely mid-way between
Reading and
Guildford.
Due to its postal location, it is commonly perceived that the town lies in Surrey, as a western suburb of neighbouring Camberley. It is in fact just within Hampshire, the boundary being marked by a road bridge crossing both the River Blackwater and a main rail line (near Blackwater rail station), and the Hampshire county sign. The town is somewhat unusual in that it is covered by two separate STD dialling codes, the 01252 (Farnborough area) and 01276 (Camberley area) prefixes. Furthermore, televisions on the north side of the town (around the
Frogmore and
Darby Green districts) are set-up to receive the Meridian broadcasting signal (for central-southern England) whilst the south side of the town, plus the adjacent sub-village of
Hawley, receives a Carlton signal (covering southeastern England and London).
Blackwater has often received a bad press for the look of its built environment, especially given that it is a 'gateway' town into Hampshire on a main national route (the A30) and is deemed not to give a good first impression of the county. The 'high street' area (the A30) is a dual-carriageway lined by a unkempt 1960s shopping parade and a large, unsightly brick building which is now an
Aldi supermarket. A new
Lidl supermarket was built opposite Aldi in 2003, cementing residents' fears that the town was only attracting 'cheap and cheerful' (or even 'downmarket') retail outlets. However, given the fact major shopping complexes such as The Meadows (less than 1km away in Sandhurst) and The Main Square (in Camberley) are in very close proximity to the town, this is perhaps not surprising. Rush-hour traffic is also a considerable problem as the town is situated on a major traffic intersection. It is just 2 km north of the M3 motorway (at junction 4) with the A30, which is effectively the town's 'high street', resembling a car park for at least three hours of every day. However, much of Blackwater consists of several highly desirable housing areas covering many different styles, interspersed with larger swathes of 1960s housing.
There are two sub-villages to the north,
Frogmore and
Darby Green, which are generally considered as districts of Blackwater (as they are within the same GU17 postcode), however, these technically fall within the auspices of the larger town of
Yateley to the west (under Yateley Town Council), even though they merge with the Blackwater urban area rather than with Yateley. Frogmore has its own modern village hall, village green, church, pub and small shopping parade. Darby Green has a shopping parade (including a Tesco Express), a pub and small youth centre.
The sub-village of
Hawley, which has its own village hall, primary school, church, private leisure centre, cricket ground and equestrian centre, lies less than 1 km to the south, on the road towards
Farnborough and is regarded as one of the most affluent communities within the entire
Blackwater Valley area.
External links
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Blackwater and Hawley Town Council website
