How to find us
Although Alton Community Centre is located fairly centrally to Alton town centre, the layout of Alton's roads and the one-way system makes it hard to find if you're new to Alton. This page contains the following information (click on titles to scroll down to the relevant part of the page):
Parking Your Car
Directions from London & Farnham
Directions from Winchester & Selborne
Directions from Basingstoke
Walking Directions
Taxis based in Alton
Train Services to Alton
Bus Services to Alton
Map of Alton, with a detailed inset map of the town centre
How to Contact Us (link to Contact page)
Downloadable PDF with a map and the directions (link opens PDF)
Parking your car
Alton has quite a few car parks and fortunately the 'Bank' car park is next to Alton Community Centre. Although the centre has a few of its own spaces, these are for permit holders only, so we ask that visitors and room hirers/event organisers use the main car park. The District Council do charge for car parking in the Bank car park: 8am-6pm, Mon-Sat / 10am-4pm Sun - at other times it is free. The car park has spaces for motorcycles and cycles, but if you need to park a coach, the only official spaces are in the Turk Street car park which is not far to walk from the centre. For more details about Alton's car parks see: www.havant.gov.uk/parksafe-shared-parking-service/ehdc-parking-charges
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Road directions from London & Farnham
Turn off A31 at the roundabout at north end (Holybourne) and follow road for one mile. On route you will go through traffic lights at Holybourne and cross a mini roundabout by the cinema. Not far beyond this you will reach a second mini-roundabout (by Crown Hotel) - turn right into Church Street. Shortly after, turn left at next mini roundabout down Vicarage Hill. This road leads into Bank car park which is adjacent to Community Centre.
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Road directions from Winchester / Selborne
If on A31, turn off onto Selborne Road, bringing you to a double roundabout. Take the second exit off the first larger roundabout and turn left under the arched bridge into Whitedown Lane (A339). At the tee junction, turn right onto the Basingstoke Road (B3349). Half a mile on, cross the mini roundabout and continue along Lenten Street. You will reach a point where you are obliged to turn left into Amery Street. Follow this round and to the right. Just before the road bears left up the hill, turn right into Bank car park which is adjacent to Alton Community Centre.
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Road directions from Basingstoke
The A339 from Basingstoke will bring you to a mini roundabout (at the junction with the New Odiham Road ). Continue straight across into Lenten Street - this will take you to a point where you are obliged to turn left into Amery Street. Follow this round and to the right. Just before the road bears left up the hill, turn right into Bank car park which is adjacent to Alton Community Centre.
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Walking directions
Assuming that you have reached Alton town centre, there are several ways to reach the centre, none of them obvious! If you look at the map at the bottom of the page, many of the alleyways are marked. These are the walking routes to the centre:
Alley by Outdoor Scene - alley with no name along the side of the closed Wey Bridge pub
Bakers Alley - next to Baker's Arms and Sandford Bros Jewellers in High Street, at bottom of the hill
The Mall - a very hidden and twisty indoor passage that starts in 'Café Plus' in the High Street
Alley from Market Street - alley with no name that passes the Balti Tandoori and Masonic Hall
Alley from Amery Street - alley with no name next to the Old Leathern Bottle
Amery Street - if you miss the alley above, the road passes down the side of the Community Centre
Vicarage Hill - the continuation of Amery Street, the other end meets Church Street at the top of the hill
Amery Hill - a small road that is a useful cut-through from St Lawrence churchyard and Alton College
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Taxis based in Alton
Alton 8's Taxis 01420 88888 www.alton8staxis.co.uk
Alton Taxis 01420 210004 www.altontaxis.co.uk
Altonian Taxis 01420 83666
Wilson Taxis 01420 87777 www.wilsontaxis.co.uk
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Train Services to Alton
Alton has a direct train service from London Waterloo provided by South Western Railway. The journey takes between 1hr 14min and 1hr 17min, depending on the particular train you select. It is usually possible to reduce this further by catching the Portsmouth train at Waterloo and changing at Woking to get the Alton train, reducing the journey time to 1hr 7min. Woking is a good interchange for trains to the south coast, the west country and for the Railair bus service (National Express) from Heathrow airport.
It is also possible to reach Alton by train from Guildford, but you are required to change trains. Although Aldershot is the logical place to change, online railway timetables direct you to change trains by alighting at North Camp station and then walking to Ash Vale station to catch the Alton service. Although this allows more time for the interchange, it is a half-mile walk and Ash Vale station is only accessible by two flights of steps. The reason this route is recommended is because the interchange time at Aldershot is usually only five minutes, but thanks to the good timekeeping of South Western Railway, this is normally perfectly feasible. If you do decide to change at Aldershot, the trains to Alton leave from the same island platform that you arrive at, but be aware that the journey back to Guildford requires the use of the pedestrian underpass or footbridge.
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Bus services to Alton (Information updated March 2018)
13 / 13X: Basingstoke - Alton - Liphook (Stagecoach)
18X: Haslemere - Alton (Stagecoach) - only operates when Alton College is open
37 / 38: Havant - Petersfield - Alton (Stagecoach) - during week, service number changes in Petersfield
37X: Clanfield - Petersfield - Alton (Stagecoach) - only operates when Alton College is open
38: Petersfield - Alton (Stagecoach) - only operates when Alton College is open
613: Basingstoke - Lasham - Bentworth - Alton (Stagecoach) - only operates when Alton College is open
64: Winchester - Alton (Stagecoach) - Continues to Guildford as service number 65
65: Alton - Farnham - Guildford (Stagecoach) - Starts in Winchester as service number 64
65X: Phoenix Green - Hartley Wintney - Fleet - Alton (Stagecoach) - only operates when Alton College is open
206: Alton - Froyle - Bentley - Binstead - Alton (Cresta Coaches) - circular service, Tuesdays & Fridays only
208: Alton - Beech - Medstead - Bentworth (Cresta Coaches) Tuesdays and Fridays only
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How to Contact us
See our Contact page, including our street address, phone number and a form if you need to send us a message.
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