100 British Bus Routes: Route 76
Andover to Basingstoke
2 March 2025
ABOVE: Stagecoach South 27652 (GX10 KZE), an ADL/TransBus Enviro300, calls in at the Fire Station stop on Church Street in Whitchurch, on a journey on route 76 from Basingstoke to Andover. All photographs in this article were taken on Saturday 15 February 2025.
Runs: Daily (no late evening service on Sundays)
Operator: Stagecoach South
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 30 minutes
Weekday Vehicle Requirement: Five buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 58 minutes
Estimated route length: 20-23 miles
Operator: Stagecoach South
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 30 minutes
Weekday Vehicle Requirement: Five buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 58 minutes
Estimated route length: 20-23 miles
"When I am lying awake at night, and the pale moonlight streams through the latticed casement, strange fancies crowd upon my poor mad brain, and I sometimes think that if we could hit upon some word for you to use whenever I am about to relapse – some word that teems with hidden meaning – like – "Basingstoke" – it might recall me to my saner self ... Basingstoke it is."
Mad Margaret, from "Ruddigore" by Gilbert and Sullivan (1887)
(Libretto by William S. Gilbert)
"Basingstoke it is," agrees Mad Margaret in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Ruddigore (or The Witch's Curse), when choosing a word to calm any suspected oncoming episode of madness. Perhaps I should have said "Basingstoke", or at least checked the weather forecast, before setting out on this little trip across Hampshire on Stagecoach South route 76! The coincidence of a single-decker bus and a sudden downpour makes for a very challenging photographic experience as I head out of the aforementioned town...
ABOVE: Stagecoach South 36919 (YX63 GYB), an ADL Enviro200, stands in Basingstoke Bus Station, awaiting the start of a run to Andover on route 76, as an ADL Enviro400 MMC arrives on local route 5.
But I'm picking up this story from the opposite end of route 76 - Andover. Still in Hampshire but close to the Wiltshire border (less than four miles to the north-west), and 65 miles from London, we're on the eastern edge of the Salisbury Plain. The town developed as a centre for grain milling and wool processing, and, in the 20th century it took on a significant Armed Forces presence.
Right in the middle of the High Street is the Grade-II listed Guildhall, which served as the Headquarters of Andover Borough Council for much of the 20th Century.
Walk through the Chantry (shopping) Centre and you will come to Andover Bus Station at the other end. This modern facility was opened in 2014.
A sea of Stagecoach buses is broken only by the presence of the "Activ8" service from Salisbury Reds (a Go-Ahead company). And Stagecoach runs part of this one as well - it's one of the last handful of jointly-operated bus services in Britain.
ABOVE: Salisbury Reds 1506 (HF59 FAU), an ADL Enviro400, reverses out of Andover Bus Station with the 1200 departure on route "Activ8" to Salisbury, as Stagecoach South 48410 (YJ24 BAU), an Optare Solo SR, manoeuvres around the bus station.
There are a number of almost-new (24-reg) Stagecoach South Optare Solo SRs in the Bus Station. There has obviously been some recent investment in buses in this area. The effect of the "newness" is slightly lost, though, when a Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400 of 2004 vintage pulls in to form my return journey on route 76.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 18193 (MX54 LRA), a Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400, pulls into Andover Bus Station on route 76 from Basingstoke, where it will join two 24-reg Optare Solos, a similar 14-reg version, and an ADL Enviro400 MMC. The peculiar "coffee bean" symbols at the bottom of the picture are from Costa Coffee, which gives this marvellous overview of the Bus Station; it was their premises that I was sitting in when I took this picture. You didn't think I was out in the rain, did you?
At least this one has two decks, though, so I'm looking forward to making the return trip. But I'm going to have to wait a while...
Some operators might try to run a half-hourly service, that has a running time of 58 minutes each way, withfour buses, allowing two minutes turnaround time at each end. This of course leaves the service at the mercy of the stray roadworks or the individual trying to buy that little-known ticket (the latter might be me, of course)!
But Stagecoach has been pragmatic. It uses five buses, giving a nice 12-minute layover at Basingstoke, and a 22-minute stand at Andover - this is presumably where the service is based, so there may not be a driver being paid during that long stand. All in all, the extra investment in the extra bus means a much more reliable service.
My bus may be 20-plus years old, but it comes fitted with audio "next stop" announcements. At 1210 we are finally on our way.
But maybe not for long? At the very first stop, "College Lay-by", the engine stops. Surely we can't be ahead of schedule after one stop? And this isn't a bus that's going to have "stop-start" technology fitted - that's a much more recent innovation than 2004. After a moment the engine starts, then stops for a second time. Not looking promising...
The engine then starts again, and we're on our way. Perhaps the driver stopped the engine to clear a fault? There are no further incidents, but I'm nervous for the rest of the journey that the vehicle might be about to break down.
FInally, it looks like we're making headway. Just on the edge of Andover Town Centre stands "The Folly" public house:
There's a small detour on the edge of town to serve the Walworth Business Park, a 200-acre site offering factory, distribution, retail and office facilities. It's a worthwhile diversion as there are customers both boarding and alighting in this area.
Once out of the business park, we leave the built-up town behind and move into open countryside.
ABOVE: London Road, between Andover Down and Hurstbourne Priors, passing the entrance to Apsley Farms.
We're on the edge of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape as we approach Whitchurch, a Royal Charter Town since the 13th-Century. We pass under an old railway bridge that belonged, as far as I can tell (and I may be wrong here as I have struggled to find anything definitive), to the former Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, which served a station at Whitchurch Town until closure in 1960.
Much of Whitchurch is a conservation area. Because of the amount of wildlife in and near the River Test, which flows through the town, its course and banks are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Richard Adams (1920-2016), the author of Watership Down, lived in Whitchurch, and Watership Down is a real location, about six miles north-north-east of the town.
ABOVE: Church Street, Whitchurch
Standing majestically in the centre of town is the White Hart Hotel & Restaurant, first built in 1461:
We are noticeably climbing as we head out of town on the eastern road. The River Test flows at a lower level to our right, whilst the northern side of town climbs to our left:
ABOVE: London Road, Whitchurch
We pass a sign proclaiming our entry into Wells-in-the-Field, a tiny settlement of around a dozen houses as far as I can see. A remote hamlet location that happens to be served by a half-hourly bus service - not bad! (And there are other buses through here as well!)
Next is the village of Freefolk, which lies directly alongside the separate village of Laverstoke; the two are separated by the river.
The second key intermediate traffic objective on route 76 is the village of Overton. The area around Overton has been inhabited for millennia, with evidence of Stone Age, Bronze Age and Celtic occupation scattered across the parish and the surrounding countryside.
Though a village, the 2011 Census put the population of Overton at 4,315 people. Papermaking was undertaken within the village at the Overton Mill, which at one time produced banknote paper for the Bank of England, and high-security paper for over 150 other national currencies.
By this point, the rain is moving in again and the scope for good quality photography is reducing (click here for Google Streetview's much better image of the scene below).
ABOVE: The centre of Overton, highlighting No. 1 George Street, an independent boutique
From a quiet start in Andover, the journey has been getting steadily busier as we have progressed, and no fewer than 10 passengers join at the next stop, including a family of six.
We have a last-gasp stretch of open countryside, but we're getting close to Basingstoke now. There's a brief detour through a residential area just off the main road (starts as Oakley, and becomes Newfound).
As we reach the Roman Road roundabout, I have a real sense that we're leaving the countryside behind and venturing towwards journey's end. Indeed, we have just crossed into Basingstoke itself.
The railway crosses over us - a real live railway this time. The bridge clearance is only 14' 3". My single-decker earlier had no problem, but this double-decker needs to use the centre of the road to pass through safely.
ABOVE: The railway bridge at Worting Road
This is the main rail route from Basingstoke to the south and west. Four tracks cross here, heading north-east, towards London Waterloo, and south-west. The latter will divide about a mile further on, to form the routes towards Southampton (which is electrified), and Salisbury (via Andover, which is not electrified).
ABOVE: Stagecoach South 36919 again, seen on Worting Road, having just traversed the Worting Road Roundabout (behind in the distance).
Basingstoke feels to me like one of the New Towns that sprang up everywhere in the 1950s. It's modern and spacious, with several high-rise office and residential blocks, and there are plenty of wide roads to allow cars to move about freely (at least on a Saturday afternoon).
But it's not a New Town. In fact, Basingstoke Market is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was, however, developed substantially after the Second World War as part of the Greater London Plan of 1944, to accommodate part of the "London overspill". At the start of the Second World War, the population was only 13,000 - in 2016 it was estimated at 113,716, making it the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status.
So the New Town feel is probably understandable. There's a Leisure Park on the outskirts of town, which includes a Sports Arena and an indoor skydiving centre. And of course, a massive car park...
We take a trip past the railway station, where trains whisk people to London Waterloo in as little as 42 minutes (hence its suitability, and success, as a "London overspill" location). Buses must then navigate the huge Eastrop Roundabout in the centre of town. There are other towns (like Hemel Hempstead and Swindon) where a roundabout of this size would have been turned into a series of mini-roundabouts, but this one big one here flows freely. Good town planning...
ABOVE: Stagecoach South 26324 (SN69 ZKU), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, navigates the Eastrop Roundabout on local route 3 to South Ham, in the shadow of the Churchill Place Luxury Apartment block
And finally we reach Basingstoke Bus Station, which sits next to the main shopping mall. My bus has arrived two minutes late, at 1310 (just as well that the fifth bus is allocated). It's only brought a handful of us here, as the vast majority have left at the railway station. We have probably brought 30-plus people into the town, though - justifying a double-decker.
ABOVE: Another view of Stagecoach 18193, this time at Basingstoke Bus Station. To the right is Stagecoach 10436 (SK15 HCY), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, awaiting its next departure on local route 5.
Stagecoach seems to have a firm grip on Basingstoke, if the Bus Station is anything to go by...
ABOVE: Stagecoach buses in Basingstoke Bus Station - old and new designs, old and new liveries. Nearest is 10431 (SK15 HCN), an ADL Enviro400 MMC. After that is a Dennis Trident, followed by a selection of single-deckers.
The 76 ends here, but there's a tight route out of the Bus Station for the start of the next trip:
ABOVE: Buses leaving Basingstoke Bus Station must take this tight left turn to exit.
The 76 is a route of contrasts. Important towns at each end, and lovely countryside in between, with a selection of historical points and geographical features along the way.
The route is well worth a ride, especially if you can get a double-decker (and evidence suggests that the odds are about 50:50 that you will, as the allocation seems to be mixed most days).
What would Mad Margaret make of it? Basingstoke it is ... unless it's Andover, of course!