Kentish Express Ashford & District
Scents of town pride with floral displays
Blooming marvellous – that’s got to be the reaction to the amazing floral displays around the town this spring.
Ashford Borough Council should be congratulated on the shows in places like the Memorial Gardens and venues like the tubs outside the KE offices on the ring road.
The colourful display in the gardens is captured splendidly in this photograph taken by Adam Aylward, which shows St Mary’s parish church in the town centre peeking out behind the flowers.
A member of the Nuts and Bolts team who walked through the gardens the other day said: “As well as looking great the displays also smell great.
“There are hyacinths in the displays which give off a really pleasant aroma.
“The gardens are a real oasis so close to the town centre and at this time of year a great place to sit enjoying a sandwich at lunchtime.”
For more pictures on the town centre floral delights this spring see page 29. And talking of things floral, regular contributor Ted Prangnell of Kennington has contacted us with a query he’d like answered.
Ted asked: “Among the plants in my garden are some rhododendrons.
“This year the leaves have been covered with some blackish looking deposit, as the attached picture clearly illustrates. Other plants don’t seem to be affected.
“This coating is cracking off in some cases (as can be seen in the picture). Could this deposit be vehicle exhaust material?
“Our home is located on the A28, a very busy road. This year we have experienced a rather dry lead up to spring, with no heavy rain that might have washed it off.”
At the risk of becoming a written version of Gardeners’ Question Time, is there anyone out there who can advise Ted as to what the problem is and what action he can take to cure it? Ashford doesn’t have that many landmarks but it’s quite nice to have the opportunity of seeing familiar sights like the Eureka Skyway Bridge and Ashford International Station in a different light.
And that’s the offer from artist Gregory Daines at Ashford illustrators Circa1990.
Circa1990 has been highlighting the beauty of various Ashford landmarks with adapted images.
So far, the station and the Skyway footpath over the M20 have caught their attention as well as the John Wallis pub (formerly the Man of Kent) in the High Street.
Gregory said: “Ashford has many fantastic buildings and structures, the addition of the library (Ashford Gateway) and the new Ashford college building adds to the unique skyline, giving the town something to shout about.”
For more information email info@circa1990.co.uk or log on to www.circa1990.co.uk or pop into Made in Ashford located in the Park Mall shopping centre. So next week the KE relocates from its current base in North Street to new offices in the Park Mall shopping centre.
From your point of view it will make very little difference as we’ll still be producing the paper in the same way and keeping you regularly updated online with what’s happening in and around the Ashford area and across Kent too.
But for us it will be a big change of working in new and unfamiliar surroundings and so on.
We’ve been having a clear-out in recent weeks and come across some really intriguing things in the process. But we can’t say too much. All will be revealed in next week’s Nuts and Bolts!