Ashford - A Rare Insight

Discover the history of Ashford, Kent, in this book of rare and unseen old photographs from renowned local author Steve Salter.

From a quaint and sleepy market town, to one of the south-east s key development towns, the ever changing face of Ashford has not been without its turbulent periods. From the trials and tribulations of wartime through to a war on planning , the popular Kent town has had many a rollercoaster ride when it comes to planning. Many needless sacrifices have been made over the decades and whilst a town needs to develop, many question the motives and set precedence of decision makers past and present that have allowed a substantial cross-section of the town s rich heritage to be destroyed. Even today experts conclude that the town is often dismissive against heritage and rather more celebratory over new projects that await the town. Many fear that the town is becoming more and more of an architectural wilderness. Those long term residents still hanker after the town that was once dominated by the individual independent trader a town that had everything.

Ashford A Rare Insight takes an unrivalled look back at the way things used to be for many within living memory. From the difficult war years through to the post war 1950 s and 60 s and onto the 1970 s, this rare photographic record charts the changes and reminisces over the once familiar features of the historic market town. With over 200 rare and unseen images of the town from Steve Salter s substantial archive, it is guaranteed that many memories of Old Ashford will be revived. The book includes clear and informative captions and also recently discovered imagery that has lay undiscovered for years.

Steve Salter is an acknowledged authority on the History of Ashford. With over 32 years of experience, he has already compiled and published 7 hugely successful titles about the town. His interest in the town started at the age of 10 after receiving praise for a school project, after which he proceeded to photograph the town and collect substantially unrivaled imagery depicting Ashford over the decades. Today his personal archive totals over 200,000 images of the town and surrounding villages. His knowledge and expertise has led him to assist both local authority and national organisations such as Historic England and The Planning Inspectorate. In recent years, he has represented the town of Ashford for a number of mayoral events upon the request of reigning mayors and even travelled in the mayoral car!
Ashford born and bred, Steve is a keen photographer and has already spent time digitising a large percentage of his archive with the aid of recently donated equipment. He has a particular interest in planning issues and enforcement, compulsory purchase and also local maps and aerial photography. Through his intense passion of saving the town s heritage, in recent times, he has also been involved in saving a local heritage asset by submitting his representations officially. For a number of years, Steve has compiled the ever-popular Remember When page for the Kentish Express newspaper, part of the KM Group.