This explore has been on my list for nearly a year now. After finding no one to go with me I decided to wing it solo and ended up being very rewarding.
History:
The Camrose ground was built for Basingstoke Town football club in 1946 and a covenant was signed by Lord William Berry, the Viscount Camrose. The stadium's original name was Winchester road as a result of its location, however Lord Camrose's large investments allowed him to rename the grounds after himself.
The stadium held a very successful lifetime, with thousands of games being played within the grounds. A new clubhouse was constructed in 1969 with a following main stand in 1970 to upgrade its old architecture. A roof was later installed over the terracing, with another terrace built next to the stand. This enabled the ground's record levels of fans at 5,085, set in 1997 for a game against Wycombe in the FA cup. The stadium's actual capacity was later revealed to be 6,000.
In 2016, a new owner to the Camrose stadium was announced as Mr. Razzak, owner of the IT company Centerprise. His intentions were to build a new stadium and relocate the team.
In 2019 he successfully moved Basingstoke FC from the Camrose ground out to a newly built stadium across town, with plans to knock the old stomping ground into a housing estate.
Five years on, and nothing has been done!
The explore:
I'm glad to have covered this stadium as it seems no one has in quite a while.
Access to the site was easy, as the grounds are large enough to enter undetected, although I'll keep entry details low. Just try not to get seen by the traffic on the main road when entering.
The stadium itself is easy enough to find as the main stand from the 70s is still fully intact and is extremely visible to the road next to it.
I was amazed at how the grounds looked so well considering its 5 years of disuse. The pitch was obviously overgrown with all kinds of wildlife but the metal roofs and concrete layout had taken minimal damage.
I spent a good 30-45 minutes wondering around the site, as impressive as it its there isn't alot to see. Very fun spot to come and chill in if you're a bored guy like me. 10/10.
Security:
I was surprised at the easy entry, so it took me by surprise when I saw cameras scattered around the main stand of the grounds. They took me a while to notice but triggering an alarm round the back got my attention.
I tested my luck to see how long I could stick around before anyone showed up. I'd say nearly 20 minutes after my ordeal some off-site security van showed up and I could see a guy unlocking the doors into the stadium, so I packed my bag and legged it over the fence.
Me and the guard made eye contact, but I could tell the consequences of me talking to him wouldn't have been good.
The stadium before:
The stadium now:
History:
The Camrose ground was built for Basingstoke Town football club in 1946 and a covenant was signed by Lord William Berry, the Viscount Camrose. The stadium's original name was Winchester road as a result of its location, however Lord Camrose's large investments allowed him to rename the grounds after himself.
The stadium held a very successful lifetime, with thousands of games being played within the grounds. A new clubhouse was constructed in 1969 with a following main stand in 1970 to upgrade its old architecture. A roof was later installed over the terracing, with another terrace built next to the stand. This enabled the ground's record levels of fans at 5,085, set in 1997 for a game against Wycombe in the FA cup. The stadium's actual capacity was later revealed to be 6,000.
In 2016, a new owner to the Camrose stadium was announced as Mr. Razzak, owner of the IT company Centerprise. His intentions were to build a new stadium and relocate the team.
In 2019 he successfully moved Basingstoke FC from the Camrose ground out to a newly built stadium across town, with plans to knock the old stomping ground into a housing estate.
Five years on, and nothing has been done!
The explore:
I'm glad to have covered this stadium as it seems no one has in quite a while.
Access to the site was easy, as the grounds are large enough to enter undetected, although I'll keep entry details low. Just try not to get seen by the traffic on the main road when entering.
The stadium itself is easy enough to find as the main stand from the 70s is still fully intact and is extremely visible to the road next to it.
I was amazed at how the grounds looked so well considering its 5 years of disuse. The pitch was obviously overgrown with all kinds of wildlife but the metal roofs and concrete layout had taken minimal damage.
I spent a good 30-45 minutes wondering around the site, as impressive as it its there isn't alot to see. Very fun spot to come and chill in if you're a bored guy like me. 10/10.
Security:
I was surprised at the easy entry, so it took me by surprise when I saw cameras scattered around the main stand of the grounds. They took me a while to notice but triggering an alarm round the back got my attention.
I tested my luck to see how long I could stick around before anyone showed up. I'd say nearly 20 minutes after my ordeal some off-site security van showed up and I could see a guy unlocking the doors into the stadium, so I packed my bag and legged it over the fence.
Me and the guard made eye contact, but I could tell the consequences of me talking to him wouldn't have been good.
The stadium before:
The stadium now:
I was surprised at how intact the stand's seating and structure turned out to be.
Here's a shot of me trying to be some influencer 😂
This part of the stand is easy to spot from the main road.
Cheers for reading through this.
