Kirjahaku

The past fifty years have seen many important changes for Ashford. It was once a quaint and sleepy market town, but for many people recent developments have changed it beyond all recognition. It would be unfair to say that this Kentish town has changed for the worse because it is now one of the fastest-growing key towns in the South-East, and still retains much of its historical character. The developments of the last half-century, especially those in the 1970s, divided local opinion.Large construction projects such as the infamous Ringway, the building of Charter House and the development of Hempsted Street for the Tufton Shopping Centre (later County Square) produced mixed feelings in the town. The 1970s were indeed a controversial time for Ashford but it is now bracing itself for more redevelopment due to be completed by 2005. Changing Ashford is a trip down memory lane featuring over 200 (many previously unpublished) local views from a collection that has been built up over the last seventeen years.

Steve Salter guides us through Old Ashford, as it used to be, illustrating long-lost landmarks and reminding us of what has gone - as well as pointing out historic features that still remain.

A selection of images featuring the town of Ashford along with many of its surrounding villages. Around Ashford provides a glimpse of what life was like in the area in a bygone age.

This is the fifth in the series of old photographs books on Ashford compiled by well-known local author Steve Salter. He has meticulously researched the town and its surroundings yet again to produce another fantastic selection of images. Featured here are the long-forgotten streets and buildings which made way for various developments in the town over the years. Over 300 stunning black and white images, many never published before, are gathered together here to provide an invaluable window onto the Ashford of yesteryear.

While monochrome images depicting the town of Ashford entice us to venture down memory lane, those in full colour, for many, illustrate the town within living memory and provide an excellent insight into how Ashford used to look. Ashford in the 1960s & ’70s delves into the town’s more recent past, showcasing a superb selection of archive colour images from Steve Salter's extensive photograph collection. Who could possibly have guessed what was going to happen to our beloved market town during a period of great change and regeneration.