Mourning loss of market town of old

Excuse me, Tim Arnold (‘More progress than in other Kent towns’, KE Points of View , September 1).

Please do not tell us Ashfordians to step off the train at another stop when we voice our opinions on how our market town has been torn apart by the likes of yourself and our past and present councillors.

Now aged 73, I was once proud of our well documented oldest market town in England title and Ashford should still be promoted as such to generate the footfall to the town, not as a culture, art and business centre.

Strolling along the banks of the River Medway in Maidstone is a pure delight. I suggest you walk along the so-called Ashford river walk. You cannot see the water and wildlife for overgrown foliage on both banks.

Ashford is being forced to lose its traditional shops, such as ironmongers,wet-fish shops, butchers, bakers, drapers, grocers and fruiterers to name a few that could be housed in an indoor market within the old BHS site.

What we have now is umpteen hairdressers, estate agents, tattoo and nail parlours, foreign takeaways, a cafe where you can sit and smoke, a restaurant in Middle Street that advertises Ashford as having a bus station in Bank Street, so people obviously do not know where our bus station used to be.

Our parish church has been decimated internally to accommodate a so-called arts organisation.

So before you start telling us old Ashfordians where to get off, find us a seat to sit on in the town centre,.

That done, follow the route via the Flume back to the station and your original roots, and think about the hidden treasures you have missed in our historic town centre. Barry Lawrance Ashford

Despite viewing the various bushes to the left, I ran back towards town and into Cafe Nero, where – although the toilets were closed for cleaning – a friendly member of staff very kindly let me in (no purchase needed).

My next encounter with ABC was to report a fridge dumped on the roadside.

I ring up, I get the usual ‘in a queue’ message, I hang on for several minutes then get told “we are closed”. The time was 4pm.

What I would like to do to that large poster “I love Ashford” is probably unprintable. Stop wasting our money on feeble platitudes Cllr Gerry Clarkson. We are not stupid.

Attend to the basics, it is what you are paid for. Third World Ashford – no toilets! How about that for a poster. Mrs J Hayward Cale Hill Park, Little Chart

‘Buildings attract a variety of responses for their aesthetic qualities, but nothing looks worse than a neglected set on a derelict site’

An overflowing dog-poo bin in Lodge Wood Drive, Ashford, and horse droppings on a pavement near the John Lewis at Home store by the Drovers roundabout