Town centre needs to thrive once more

Over the decades, Ashford has been one of many towns and cities up and down the country to be lucky enough to have had a wide cross-section of splendid shops and stores dealing in all the everyday needs of the individual – but equally unlucky to lose so many in recent years. If you are of a certain age and you were born in the area, you will appreciate that for Ashford, this has been a progressive thing for the town. With the many new developments both underway and planned for the town centre, one hopes that this new blood revives the town centre and brings back some of the much-missed shopping facilities in the town.

The authorities too, need to pull their socks up to make the town an attractive place to set up in business, as opposed to crippling them with some of the most extortionate overheads in East Kent.

We cannot allow the town centre to become largely converted for residential use – that would be wrong and a huge nail in the coffin that Ashford does not need.

Not everybody has the internet, not everybody wants to buy online and nor do we all have vehicles to travel out of town. Ashford town centre was a thriving and sustainable shopping hub and not even that long ago. With a bit of careful adjustment, the town can blossom once more.

Sitting around waiting for things to happen and with no apparent urgency is not the way forward to a better Ashford.

This week’s trio of pictures range from the 1950’s to the 1970’s and show some of the featured business that once graced the town’s heart.

Have you any photographs or slides that you would be willing to loan to me, to enable them to be scanned for possible feature in the Kentish Express? Please don’t delay, get in touch!

Write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, Unit 4, Park Mall Shopping Centre, Ashford, Kent. TN24 8RY.

E-mail me: rememberwhen_ kmash@hotmail.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter @ SteveKMAshford

Or you can also leave a telephone message for me with brief details by calling 01233 623232.