Ten reasons to visit...Ashford
Above: The Stour Centre
Shared space
Following the break up of the old ring road to make it two-way, an exciting scheme to transform a significant part of Ashford into a ‘shared space’ area is underway. It’s all part of the drive to establish Ashford’s future as one of the best places in Britain to live, work and play, and to open up new opportunities to develop a more inclusive and accessible environment.
Bank Street
is being opened up to give shoppers more freedom to walk about and it has been made more attractive with the use of high-quality paving materials and street furniture.
Over the next six months, the next phase will give shoppers much easier access and make the town centre more attractive for business. Work also started last month on a bold new look for Elwick Road, including repaving, imaginative design and lighting, and converting the roundabout in Victoria Way into a traffic signal-controlled junction.
The Lost ‘O’
As a memorial to Ashford’s lost ring road or ‘concrete collar’, artist Michael Pinsky has created a concentric circle of signs made from redundant signage recovered from the Shared Space scheme. As the scheme progressively thinned out the signs, street and traffic lights around Ashford, they have found a new home in this sculptural form. As the artist says: “The sculpture is not defined through construction, but through dislocation.”
The Stour Centre
The Stour Centre opened in Ashford this September. Built in the early 1970s, the £14.6m new centre has been remodelled by Ashford Borough Council to serve the sport and leisure needs of Ashford’s rapidly-expanding population.
As well as iconic architecture, the impressive landmark provides visitors with much-needed facilities, including three new pools, a 100-station health club and a luxury spa.
Among the main attractions is the new leisure pool, which boasts two flumes and one of the UK’s longest ‘raging river’ features. At around 50 metres, the flumes are the longest in the south east and one is also the fastest.
The centre has a low carbon footprint and many eco-friendly features, including exercise machines which generate their own power, state-of-the-art energy recycling features and a design which maximises natural light.
The management of the centre will now transfer from the council to the newly-formed Ashford Leisure Trust, a voluntary body and a registered charity. The centre was design by Holder Mathias architects and built by Carillion.
Tel: 01233 625801.
Rail links
Ashford is unrivalled in the south east for its superb rail connections. Its busy international railway station not only offers Eurostar high-speed rail services to Paris and Brussels (independent research has shown that a Eurostar journey emits 10 times less carbon dioxide than flying), but also regular trains to Charing Cross, Cannon Street and Victoria, plus direct links to Maidstone, Tonbridge, Dover, Folkestone, Canterbury, Ramsgate, Hastings, Eastbourne and Brighton.
Eurostar links with Waterloo until 13 November, then moves its London terminal to the wonderfully restored St Pancras from 14 November and its new station at Ebbsfleet International from 19 November. It will be travelling on High Speed 1, the new line that connects the UK to Europe’s fast-expanding high-speed rail network.
Ashford will also benefit from the launch of high-speed domestic rail services from Ashford to London in 2009, set to slash journey times to London by almost half, from 70 minutes to just 37.
Ashford Borough Museum
The town museum is situated in Ashford’s historic churchyard, right next to the town’s tourist information centre and opposite St Mary’s Parish Church.
Built in 1635 to house Ashford Grammar School, it retains many of the original features of a 17th-century schoolroom. On show is a wide range of memorabilia of this old market town, as well as many exhibits that remind the visitor Ashford was a frontline town in the Second World War.
There are also displays of an old chemist’s shop and other local traders and organisations, while new displays include ‘Then and Now’ photographs of Ashford, information about the town’s carnivals and 150 years of the Ashford Choral Society.
Tel: 01233 631511.
County Square
County Square shopping centre already boasts 42 retail outlets, including household names such as Marks and Spencer, Waterstones, BHS and HMV. A £60m, 2000,000 sq ft extension incorporating a further 22 shops, including a new Debenhams, Next and H&M, will enhance the town’s retail offer when it opens on 13 March 2008. See artist’s impression above.
Ashford Designer Outlet
Opened in March 2000, Ashford Designer Outlet was designed by Millennium Dome and Pompidou Centre architect, Lord Richard Rogers. The award-winning shopping centre houses over 70 designer and high street brands offering permanent discounts of up to 50 per cent. Brands include Next Clearance, Marks and Spencer Outlet, Gap Outlet, Toshiba and Nike Factory Store.
Godinton House and Gardens
Godinton House and Gardens is set in a beautiful 18th-century landscaped park. The fascinating house, home to the Toke family who, over 400 years carefully added to the original house, is an intriguing blend of 17th and 18th century architecture and design with the medieval Great Hall at its centre.
The rooms of contrasting styles and decor are fully furnished with magnificent carving, panelling, furniture, pictures and porcelain. The great yew hedge encloses contrasting formal, wild, Italian and walled gardens.
Tel: 01233 620773
Eastwell Manor
On the outskirts of Ashford, in Boughton Lees, stands the luxury four-star hotel, Eastwell Manor set in beautiful landscaped gardens. The ivy-clad, grey stone mansion with its huge open fires, oak-panelled walls, antiques and leather Chesterfields is the perfect place for a winter break. There is an excellent choice of 23 individually designed and named rooms in the manor, plus cottages or courtyard apartments in the luxuriously converted Victorian stables. The manor Restaurant offers first-class dining, and as a guest, you will have automatic access to The Pavilion, Eastwell’s luxury leisure and spa experience.
Tel: 01233 213000.
Great to live and work in
House prices in Ashford are 30 per cent less than in London and seven per cent cheaper than the south east average – and there are plans to create 31,000 new homes and 28,000 jobs by 2031.
There’s easy access to the beautiful surrounding countryside, including part of the Kent Downs, areas of outstanding natural beauty and extensive areas of woodland. Not surprisingly, 85 per cent of residents say they value the quality of life in Ashford.
Next town feature - coming soon
Previous town feature (West Malling
What do you want to do next?