RG23

Oakley, Worting, Winklebury and Wootton St Lawrence

Where Basingstoke stops and the fields start. A small district, and one of the furthest points we drive to.

Winklebury and Worting are edge-of-town estates: kerbside parking, dropped kerbs worn uneven, and the slow leaks that come from years of the same wheel hitting the same lip. Move west and Oakley and Wootton St Lawrence turn into farm country on the B3400 and the lanes off it. Mud on the road from field entrances is constant through winter and it carries flint with it. The lanes here have no lighting and no footway, so a stopped car is a hazard to itself. Verges are soft and drop away sharply into a ditch.

If a wheel is already off the tarmac and into the verge, say so. That is often a recovery rather than a tyre change.