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| Ashford |
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International Passenger Station, with its Eurostar service, has helped to
transform Ashford
into the Channel Tunnel's boom town. No other British town can claim to
one hour from London and two hours from Paris by train. The town's skyline, viewed from the south, altered dramatically in 2000 when the tented McArthurGlen designer outlet, with 100 factory shops, opened. So far it has outperformed its targets and has assured Ashford a place on the tourist destination map.  Yet
it retains a centre of calm beauty, its market town heritage lying under
the red roofs and timbers of Middle Row in the shadow of the Church of St
Mary the Virgin. North Street contains many historic properties. Ashford, with its claim to be at the heart of the Garden of England, is surrounded by unspoilt villages in the tranquil countryside of the Pilgrims Way, the North Downs and the edge of Romney Marsh to the south. But modern Ashford has thriving new industrial estates which attract American, Japanese and French firms in particular because of their proximity and good links with, the Continent. It also boasts the new Eureka Leisure park with its 12-screen cinema, top-class health club, a hotel and restaurants. Future developments include a new hotel and conference centre opposite the international station and a new retail centre on the former cattle market site, now the headquarters of the new Channel rail link builders. The livestock market, one of the largest in the country is on the outskirts of the town and also boasts a stall market on Saturday and a boot fair and stall market on Sundays. In common with other towns the central shopping area has faced tough competition but there is a determined campaign to make the High Street more consumer-friendly. Cafe culture is beginning to take hold and the Town Centre Partnership has published a guide to shopping and eating out in the town centre which is available at the borough's tourist offices in the churchyard, at the designer outlet and at Tenterden. The town is growing rapidly and is set to mushroom even faster now that the government has decided it should be one of the South East's major centres of population growth. Every housing estate on its boundaries is expanding and the borough council has received planning applications for major new estates on its south-eastern boundaries. A new motorway junction is on the cards to cope with all this extra activity. |
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Ashford
Council |
