Business as usual in post-war years

The calm of the post-war years didn’t come without recovery and rebuild and Ashford was one of many widely damaged targets where things had to be put right before people could move on with their lives.

The scarred fabric of the town had to be put right, but when loved ones were lost during the bombing raids in the Second World War, it took years, decades even, before those left behind came to terms with their loss.

As far as the town was concerned, it was business as usual in a demonstration that it would pick itself up to fight another day.

Many of us have seen the dramatic and horrific sights of war-torn Ashford and the similar picture seen up and down the country, and one wonders how any town can pull itself back from the brink of such devastation and loss.

It has been heavily documented over the years that in Ashford’s case, the enemy’s target was the Railway Works which was hit, but bombing raids were severely off target with everything from businesses, residences and even a school taking direct hits.

When looking at post-war Ashford, in many respects, you would never have thought there had been a war, resulting in such heartache and bloodshed.

A lot can be gleaned from photography, but one would never guess there had been conflict barely three years earlier in these photos.

This week’s trio of images illustrate the town of Ashford in 1948 where a real tranquillity and calm is apparent.

The street scenes look distinctly normal, with not even a hint of what the town endured only a few years earlier.

■ 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.

Ashford’s Lower High Street in the post-war year of 1948, when things were gradually getting back to some sort of normality