Kentish Express Ashford & District
Rare photos of town in historian’s latest book
A historian is set to unveil his latest book, chronicling the development of the town from its postwar years through to the 1970s.
Steve Salter has penned Ashford: A Rare Insight with DestinWorld Publishing, which will be available from bookstores in early November.
Mr Salter, who also compiles the Remember When? page in the Kentish Express, says it has been a lifelong passion to unearth the history of the town since he was 10 years old.
He said: “The book has a lot of photography which shows the changing face of Ashford, with many of the images not having seen the light of day and haven’t been published before.
“It’s an unrivalled collection and there are a lot of people who have been kind enough to allow me to use the images in the book.
“I have built a strong rapport with people over the decades and residents have been very kind. I’ve got 300,000 pictures, so I’m surprised how much material I have acquired.”
It will be Mr Salter’s seventh book, and he praised the influence of Ashford historian Richard Filmer, who first encouraged him to take an interest in the history of the town.
Mr Salter added: “Richard’s work was extensive and went right up to the town in the 1920s and 1930s, with many people from that era remembering it.
“My work carries on and focuses on the 1940s through to the 1970s. I try to use material within living memory because it becomes a talking point.
“There are still many readers who will remember Ashford in the way it was in the pictures which will be published.
“Ashford suffered greatly during the Second World War with bombing raids and a great loss of life.
“Then in the post-war period whole swathes of the town’s heritage was destroyed in favour of controversial projects. The council’s planners were very unsym- pathetic, it was a war on planning.”
The book cover shows the former corner of North Street and the High Street, where the Boots store now stands.
It will cost £12.99 and will soon be available in bookshops including Waterstones in County Square, where Mr Salter hopes to organise book signings later next month, WH Smith Ashford High Street and online from Amazon.