[Last updated Dec 2023]
Introduction to the Town
The town of Ashford is centrally located in Kent and twinned with Hopewell in the USA, Fougères in France and Bad Münstereifel in Germany. The latter two have link roads to motorway junctions named after them so perhaps the recently added A2070 link to junction 10A should be named after Hopewell.
In 2005 the town was voted the fourth best place to live in the UK. The cathedral-like parish church of St Mary the Virgin, and indeed the town centre around it, occupies a higher area of land to the west of the River Stour, overlooking the flatter ground which surrounds the town. Ashford is sandwiched between the North Downs, England's second longest hill range, and the Greensand Ridge which is more visible west of Pluckley and east of Aldington.
In 2005 the town was voted the fourth best place to live in the UK. The cathedral-like parish church of St Mary the Virgin, and indeed the town centre around it, occupies a higher area of land to the west of the River Stour, overlooking the flatter ground which surrounds the town. Ashford is sandwiched between the North Downs, England's second longest hill range, and the Greensand Ridge which is more visible west of Pluckley and east of Aldington.
The church's tower shares the skyline with the Panorama (formerly Charter House), currently Ashford's tallest building, as well as International House, another imposing block located near the railway station. A new block dubbed 'The Ashford Shard' has been granted planning permission. The Great Stour, East Stour and South Stour rivers all join in Ashford to flow through the North Downs to Canterbury and Sandwich. The former H.S. Pledge & Sons mill is Ashford's main river feature. It was later used for the nightclubs Dusty's, Cales & Flatfoot Sam's and finally Liquid & Envy.
The town was originally known as Essetesford and is recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086. A residential road in South Ashford uses a variation of this name. The town's cattle market was moved to an out-of-town site in the 1990s and Ashford has many modern buildings, such as the college and the new office block in Station Road. However, a haven of tranquillity can be found around the churchyard where you will also find Ashford Museum. The Gateway Centre which houses the tourist information centre and the library is nearby.
Middle Row offers a quaint pedestrian approach to the High Street, which is completely pedestrianised. It is hard to imagine that the high street was once the main A20 road from London to the Channel ports of Folkestone and Dover. Ashford was bypassed in the late 50s and this was upgraded to motorway in the early 80s. A ringway was constructed around the town centre in the early 70s. This gained a reputation as a racetrack (see the video on YouTube) and has since been broken up into a main thoroughfare for the A292 on the north of the town centre and a series of 'shared space' streets to the south. This was the first scheme of its kind in England and Wales, prompting a humorous comment from TV's Jeremy Clarkson.
And while we are on the subject of roads, in 1914 the London to Folkestone road in Ashford was the first road in Britain (and arguably the world) to be adorned with central white lines. This was possibly in the vicinity of Maidstone Road but this needs verifying. Surely there should be a plaque or something commemorating this?
Middle Row offers a quaint pedestrian approach to the High Street, which is completely pedestrianised. It is hard to imagine that the high street was once the main A20 road from London to the Channel ports of Folkestone and Dover. Ashford was bypassed in the late 50s and this was upgraded to motorway in the early 80s. A ringway was constructed around the town centre in the early 70s. This gained a reputation as a racetrack (see the video on YouTube) and has since been broken up into a main thoroughfare for the A292 on the north of the town centre and a series of 'shared space' streets to the south. This was the first scheme of its kind in England and Wales, prompting a humorous comment from TV's Jeremy Clarkson.
And while we are on the subject of roads, in 1914 the London to Folkestone road in Ashford was the first road in Britain (and arguably the world) to be adorned with central white lines. This was possibly in the vicinity of Maidstone Road but this needs verifying. Surely there should be a plaque or something commemorating this?
Also worth visiting are the windmill in a quaint corner of Willesborough, the ornamental fountain in Victoria Park and the World War I tank in St George's Square which had its mechanics removed and replaced with an electricity sub-station in 1929, ensuring its survival as a feature.
Claims to Fame & Development
It has often been rumoured that 'Bond' star Roger Moore once lived in the town. Disappointingly online research reveals that his parents once considered buying a property at the junction of Canterbury Road and Faversham Road but didn't follow through. However, one famous name who did play James Bond in a radio adaptation of 'Moonraker' is Bob Holness who grew up in the town and attended the grammar school. Bob Holness was perhaps most famous in the 1980s as the presenter of the TV quiz, 'Blockbusters.' Ashford itself was the setting for the ITV drama series 'Stolen' in the early 1990s.
The Tour de France passed through Ashford during its British leg in 1994 and again in 2007. Famed author Frederick Forsyth was born in the town. Philosopher Simone Weil and conductor Malcolm Sargent also lived in the town and have roads named after them. The mathematician John Wallis, who tutored Isaac Newton and has been credited with inventing the infinity symbol, was born in Ashford and has a pub and a school in the town named after him. How about some plaques or statues of Ashford's famous residents for tourists?
The town's William Harvey Hospital, named after the physician from Folkestone who discovered the circulation of the blood, is well located near the motorway to provide an A&E service, especially with the rapid expansion of the town to the south which includes Finberry, Park Farm and Chilmington. When considering Ashford's urban population it is important that these parished estates are included, so that businesses and services can assess the full potential of locating in the town. The 2021 census gave an urban population of 83,000.
Development seems to be spreading ever further out to the south whilst fields between the M20 and the Willesborough to Kennington road (much closer to the town centre) remain completely rural. Whilst actual flood plain land should clearly not be built upon, this lop-sided approach to growth seems very peculiar.
Fun and Festivals
The annual Create music festival in Victoria Park attracts big names, with the Lightning Seeds headlining in 2019. There is also a regular music festival in North Park (near the Stour Centre), and the Farriers Arms beer festival just outside the town in Mersham is well worth a visit too. There is a path that can be walked or cycled to Mersham from Church Road, Sevington to Kingsford Street, using a bridge over the A2070.
Trains & Planes
Ashford International is a railway station with six platforms located between London and the Channel crossings of Dover and Eurotunnel. The station has a domestic entrance to the north and an international entrance to the south, with lines diverging to the following destinations clockwise:
NE) Canterbury, Ramsgate and Margate.
E) Folkestone, Dover, Deal and Sandwich.
SE) Eurostar services to Paris or Brussels via Lille (currently suspended)
S) Rye, Hastings and Eastbourne.
W) Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and London Charing Cross.
NW) Maidstone and London Victoria.
NNW) High Speed services to Ebbsfleet, Stratford and London St Pancras.
The villages of Wye, Chilham, Hamstreet and Charing (all within the borough) have reasonably central stations too. Appledore and Pluckley also have stations which are some distance from the villages.
Remarkably a rail halt to serve Park Farm and the estates to the south of the town which has been proposed since the 1990s still hasn't got off the drawing board.
London-Ashford Airport is located at Lydd. A former airport at Lympne was known as Ashford Airport prior to this.
The town is well served by main roads, but how far would you have to travel in each direction before there are no signs back? Perversely, signage for Ashford has been reduced in recent years in spite of its rapid expansion as a regional centre. Notifying the various councils and the local MP has so far resulted in no change. Let's go round the compass again...
N) Ashford is signed pretty much as far as you can go, on the A251 from Faversham (13 miles)
NE) On the A28 the town is confirmed as a destination from Sarre, 22 miles away. Consistent signage starts at Canterbury.
E) The town is not signed beyond Hawkinge / Folkestone on the M20/A20 from the coast (14 miles). The furthest sign for the town on the old A20 used to be near Hougham at around 19 miles. Route confirmation for the town from Dover would improve the situation.
SE) There is signage from Lydd on the B2075 (17 miles)
S) Surprisingly Ashford is not signed beyond the A2070 at Brenzett (11 miles). It has been argued that the town should be signed alongside Folkestone on the A259 from Rye / Hastings especially now that the South Coast trunk route ends at M20 junction 10A.
SW) Signage for the town is pretty good from northern Hastings on the A21/A28 (30 miles)
W) The town was once signed for 31 miles from Royal Tunbridge Wells via the A21 and A262. Although there is a route confirmation near Pembury (29 miles), the town isn't signed at the pivotal A21/A262 junction now.
WNW) There is a route confirmation sign at the start of the M26 (40 miles)
NW) Ashford is not mentioned beyond the route confirmation sign at Wrotham (29 miles) on the M20 from London. The town used to be confirmed as a destination at the start of the M20, 37 miles away.
My own 'Ashford and Shepway Roads Database' blog details other routes around the wider area. And while we're on the subject of signs, the current entry signs on main roads into Ashford could do with moving further out to reflect the current extent of the urban area which has expanded significantly. Some are completely missing almost two years after this being reported to the council and later the local MP (A28 NE, A2070 S and A20 NW).
On Your Bike
For cyclists, Route 18 heads southwest to Tenterden and Tunbridge Wells via Shadoxhurst, and in the opposite direction it runs northeast to Canterbury via Wye and Chartham. Meanwhile Route 17 heads northwest towards Maidstone and the Medway towns via Charing and uses the Pilgrims Way, an ancient trackway which runs along the bottom of the North Downs. There is also a local route numbered 11 to Lydd via the villages of Appledore and Woodchurch.
Another useful cycle route, which has been suggested to the borough council and the local MP for proper blue-signing, can be followed south from the railway station, past the designer outlet, beside the railway to Park Farm, and passing through the estate to Church Hill, Kingsnorth, where lanes can be picked up to reach Hamstreet via Bond Lane / past Homelands Stadium or via Bliby / Brisley. Another radial route could easily be created via Willesborough, over the A2070 bridge to Sevington Church, Mersham and Brabourne Lees, as well as one from Route 18 at Singleton to Great Chart and along lanes to Daniel's Water, Bethersden, Smarden and Headcorn. Three new links the for cost of a bunch of blue signs!
Another useful cycle route, which has been suggested to the borough council and the local MP for proper blue-signing, can be followed south from the railway station, past the designer outlet, beside the railway to Park Farm, and passing through the estate to Church Hill, Kingsnorth, where lanes can be picked up to reach Hamstreet via Bond Lane / past Homelands Stadium or via Bliby / Brisley. Another radial route could easily be created via Willesborough, over the A2070 bridge to Sevington Church, Mersham and Brabourne Lees, as well as one from Route 18 at Singleton to Great Chart and along lanes to Daniel's Water, Bethersden, Smarden and Headcorn. Three new links the for cost of a bunch of blue signs!
There are two lakes in the town. Singleton Lake can be found along Route 18 towards Tenterden, and the larger Conningbrook Lake can be found off of Route 18 towards Canterbury. It is possible to ride the unsurfaced path around 2/3 of the lake and use a bridge over the River Stour and a bridleway to reach the lane from Willesborough Lees to Wye (Route 18).
Pub Crawl?
If you've ever wondered how many establishments you'd need to visit to say you had been to every pub in Ashford the general answer would be 'Not as many as a few years ago.' Whilst this is sadly true, let's see how many we can tally up. I've included traditional venues that now include restaurants and hotel facilities as long as they remain venues where customers can merely go for a drink:
Town Centre (13): The County Hotel (Wetherspoons), the Glass House, Valerie's Wine Bar, Itaca's Cocktail Bar, the George, the Old Golden Magpie (Ashford Music Shop site), Durbar (formerly the Auction House), the Phoenix, the Taproom, Matches Sports Bar, Cappadocia (restaurant and jazz bar - formerly Platform Five), Made Inn (at the Coachworks) and the Star.
Willesborough axis (7): The New Fox (formerly the Windmill), the Alfred Arms, the Albion, the William Harvey, the Blacksmith's Arms, Hooden Smokehouse, the French Connection.
If we include the contiguous settlements of Kingsnorth and Great Chart and broaden the definition of 'pub / bar' a bit, the tally can be cranked up to 40, with the Queen's Head, the Swan & Dog, Cameo nightclub, the Ashford Club, Frankie & Benny's and Curious Brewery. The New Prince of Wales is now Jay’s Soul Food restaurant.
Currently closed are the John Wallis (formerly the Man of Kent) and the Little Black Dog. This site’s author is unable to establish the current status of the Swan.
Dining, Shopping & Entertainment
As far as dining goes there are many quality restaurants in the town centre including Beunos Aries Nights (Argentinian), Aspendos and Cappadocia (Turkish), Jay's Soul Food (Caribbean) and Amici (Italian). There are numerous Indian, Chinese and Nepalese restaurants in the town centre as well as Pizza Express which also has an outlet at the designer outlet, a twenty-minute stroll away. Other 'outlet outlets' include Wagamama, Five Guys and YO! Sushi. A twenty-minute walk in the opposite direction via Quantock Estate and the Eureka bridge will bring you to Eureka Park (this 'quickest walking route' should surely be signed?). Here you'll find restaurants including Nando's, Frankie & Benny's and Beefeater.
Dining, Shopping & Entertainment
As far as dining goes there are many quality restaurants in the town centre including Beunos Aries Nights (Argentinian), Aspendos and Cappadocia (Turkish), Jay's Soul Food (Caribbean) and Amici (Italian). There are numerous Indian, Chinese and Nepalese restaurants in the town centre as well as Pizza Express which also has an outlet at the designer outlet, a twenty-minute stroll away. Other 'outlet outlets' include Wagamama, Five Guys and YO! Sushi. A twenty-minute walk in the opposite direction via Quantock Estate and the Eureka bridge will bring you to Eureka Park (this 'quickest walking route' should surely be signed?). Here you'll find restaurants including Nando's, Frankie & Benny's and Beefeater.
Perhaps the crux of why Ashford is sometimes incorrectly perceived as somewhat lacking is that its restaurants and big stores are dissipated all over the urban area, leaving the town centre increasingly facing an uphill battle, while pedestrians struggle to reach the outlying attractions which have clearly been designed around the car. Perhaps a map in the town centre listing all the stores and their locations around the town would be useful, rather than having visitors think that Ashford doesn't have chains like Argos (branches in Sainsbury's and at Sevington) and M&S (now split into two halves at the designer outlet and the food hall).
The designer outlet attracts shoppers from all over the Southeast and is the largest tented structure in Europe, even eclipsing the O2 arena (formerly the Millennium Dome). Meanwhile the town centre has two shopping centres, these being Park Mall and County Square. Ashford's former John Lewis store has reopened as the Range, but with several big names following Debenhams out of the County Square shopping centre it seems that more needs doing to make the town centre as attractive to big names as out-of-town sites. The loss of Wilko also leaves a large unit empty. The borough council has announced plans to consolidate the town centre by effectively shifting the focus slightly to the south to rejuvenate Bank Street. The jury's out as to whether or not this will prove successful.
The designer outlet attracts shoppers from all over the Southeast and is the largest tented structure in Europe, even eclipsing the O2 arena (formerly the Millennium Dome). Meanwhile the town centre has two shopping centres, these being Park Mall and County Square. Ashford's former John Lewis store has reopened as the Range, but with several big names following Debenhams out of the County Square shopping centre it seems that more needs doing to make the town centre as attractive to big names as out-of-town sites. The loss of Wilko also leaves a large unit empty. The borough council has announced plans to consolidate the town centre by effectively shifting the focus slightly to the south to rejuvenate Bank Street. The jury's out as to whether or not this will prove successful.
For entertainment the town has two cinemas. The larger of these is at Eureka Park and the newer cinema is in Elwick Place. Sensibly, the town centre population is being increased with modern flats along Victoria Way, in Park Street and elsewhere, but is this potential market being used as a lure to businesses? Answers on a postcard!
Ashford also has a modern ten-pin bowling alley, the Stour Centre for sports and swimming, the Julie Rose Stadium and 'Revelation at St Mary's' which stages music concerts and performances at the parish church, with some big names such as Fairport Convention and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Whilst this is a great innovation, residents have routinely expressed a wish for an actual theatre in the town which seems to be an unacknowledged anomaly when Ashford is larger in population than Folkestone, Canterbury and Margate, all of which are well-served theatrically.
Conclusion
This is not the one of the routine 'Ashford bashing' blogs that make local headlines from time to time, but one written by a lifelong resident of the borough who would like to see the town flourish, preferring the slightly tongue in cheek nickname of 'Ash Vegas' to the ubiquitous (and dated) 'Trashford,' which was actually originally used in a headline concerning littering.
The town is likely to be the third largest in Kent (after Maidstone and Gillingham) when the 2021 census data is released. In the 1990s everything from Ashford becoming an economic powerhouse to having its own cable-car system was mooted. Progress has been a long time coming, and now the pieces are again in flux, to paraphrase a former prime minister. A railway museum would also be a huge draw, capitalising on the town's industrial heritage. The town's future sits on a knife-edge. Let's hope our representatives can deliver the goods.
Credits
This page has been put together by Adam Colton, a local author of UK travel and psychological fiction. Please visit the author page on the Amazon website, Smashwords, iBooks, etc. for details of available books. Adam is also one half of the musical duo Adam Colton & Teresa Colton. Check out their songs on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes and other music sites.
This page may omit other aspects of the town which might deserve attention. I am happy to correct any errors and will consider any glaring omissions. For all else, you can always produce your own blog!
School report for Ashford: has potential; just needs more focus.
There is sister-page on this blog about the nearby village of Hamstreet
