Kentish Express Ashford & District
Rare look inside town’s Railway Works
The Ashford Railway Works was a huge part of the town’s infrastructure for more than 100 years.
But when the key employer of Ashford folk pulled out of the town in the 1970s, the departure left a huge void, not just for the town, but mainly for those skilled individuals who worked there and were reliant on a regular wage in order to survive.
Today, apart from a small section of the former works sheds off Newtown Road being utilised by Balfour Beatty among other businesses, the remainder of the once thriving works buildings has lain derelict for years.
There are still many Ashfordians who worked at the Railway Works, either in a skilled capacity or an office, stores or other department that once existed at the site, and often ask to see pictures of a particular department that they worked in.
Pictures of these departments are rare and few and far between, but a haul of images turned up recently, illustrating some of these departments and workplace features that many former staff will recall.
This week’s trio of images hail back to 1965 and show some of the aforementioned features of the Ashford Railway Works in Newtown in a largely forgotten era.
■ Do you have any photographs or slides of old Ashford you would be willing to loan me to enable them to be scanned for possible feature in the Kentish Express?
Please don’t delay, feel free to get in touch.
Write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, Unit 4, Park Mall Shopping Centre, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8RY.
Email 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 the Kentish Express office in Park Mall on 01233 623232.