Schoolboys (not celebs)led festivities

With the festivities almost over, this last nostalgic Remember When adventure for 2016 looks back at the community Christmas spirit back in 1953, where both the Salvation Army musicians and boys in school uniform are seen performing Christmas carols to an enthusiastic crowd in the town centre.

With the pomp and celebration of the festive celebrations now coming to an end for another year and a New Year dawning, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a very happy New Year for 2017, and also to once again thank readers of my Remember When feature for taking the trouble to send in pictures and material.

I am always looking for images of old Ashford to feature in Remember When and for possibly to be featured in a future book.

I am constantly in search of colour slides from the 1960s and 1970s showing the town during some intense changes.

I can scan 35mm slides and most other formats including 120 slides and negatives, 35mm negatives, 5 x 4 negatives and glass plate negatives.

I can also of course scan actual photographs in any quantity with my fast linear scanner. You don’t have to donate the material to me, but if you are willing to let me take a scan of your material, I can let you have your originals back.

Any such material can be left with details at the Kentish Express offices in North Street, or if you so wish leave a message for me using the details below, I am always willing to meet and have a chat.

It’s your snapshots pictures and slides that make Remember When so nostalgic and popular, so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you think you may be able to help.

You may have some old Kentish Express/Kent Messenger press photographs showing the town or a local event from yesteryear – these are welcome too as our picture archive for the town isn’t as complete as you might think. Your assistance is always so much appreciated, and makes my research just that much more pleasurable. Thanks again for your kind words and support of my new book - I’m humbled by its immense success. Stay safe and see you in 2017!

Do you have any photographs or slides that you would be willing to lend me, to enable them to be scanned and featured in the Kentish Express? Write to me, Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, 34-36 North Street, Ashford TN24 8JR, email me at rememberwhen_ kmash@hotmail.co.uk or follow me on Twitter @ SteveKMAshford. You can also leave a telephone message for me with brief details by calling 01233 623232.

Another view of the carol concert that year, showing the Salvation Army band together with their conductor facing the schoolboys and others. The public address system in those days was supplied by one-time specialist Burnages, which had a presence in...

Lower High Street, December 1953, and a splendid view showing schoolboys and church members singing to the crowds gathered in the Lower High Street, once the venue for all things celebratory, especially involving Christmas. Such events now are much...