Ashford - Word on the street
What is it really like to live in Ashford?
FindaProperty.com presents a selection of local residents reviews and reports, detailing their own experiences of living in Ashford.
Do you live in an area of Ashford? Let us know your thoughts about the area using the form below.
Word On The Street: Ashford
24 October 2007
I have lived in Ashford now for a total of 13 years. I moved out of the area when I got married and then moved back here three years ago with my young family ...
... No other area seemed to suit: one that provides the link to the main towns while remaining quaint. The schools are great and there is still a community feel in the High street, where local people seem to know each other. It was affordable for us and we are very happy here.
Mrs Shamilla Mirza-Patel
Word On The Street: Ashford
16 May 2006
We have been amazed by people's personality in Ashford - it's just absolutely brilliant!
Word On The Street: Ashford
14 September 2005
I love it!...
Been on Park Farm since 1996 after moving from London borders. Would never go back. Close to the countryside, coast and continent.
Word On The Street: Ashford
23 August 2005
We moved from London to Ashford 3 years ago and have never looked back since!...
It's nice to know that our property will retain (and probably gain) its value, as Ashford has great links to Europe and central London. Surrounded by beautiful countryside, and only 15 mins from the coast - now I know why it's called the Garden of England!
Word On The Street: Ashford
22 August 2005
Ashford is a good place to live....
Fresh air, good road links, good value property prices, nice town, nice people, lovely countryside and coast on the doorstep.
Word On The Street: Ashford
20 June 2005
Ashford is a beautiful town in the heart of Kent (the garden of England)...
It has a vibrant cafe culture by day & and plenty of nightlife to suit all tastes.
The town is 10 miles from the coast, and the beautiful surrounding countryside is just 5 mins away.
Word on the Street: Ashford
22 March 2001
Clean, tidy, no crime...
...safe to walk around after dark unlike London. Plenty of good shops at cheaper than London prices;
only 1 hour by train to London Cannon St or less than 1 hour and you are in France.
{whoever said shopping here is poor has obviously never been to the shopping mall just outside the station).
Word on the Street: Ashford
27 June 2000
A fast expanding market town in the heart of east Kent, Ashford is Britain's Channel Tunnel gateway...
Situated only 12 miles from the Eurotunnel car shuttle terminal, Ashford is served from the huge modern international station by direct Eurostar links to Brussels (1hour 40mins) and Paris (2hours) as well as extensive domestic rail links (London Bridge is just 1hour 10mins away). The town is also linked to the M20 London-Folkestone motorway.
Ashford itself is largely based on service and light manufacturing industry while the borough as a whole is Kent's most rural, with a sizeable farming industry (especially in arable and fruit) and was synonymous with the TV series, The Darling Buds of May. The nearby village of Wye at the base of the North Downs is home to the University of London's Agricultural College.
Ashford has an ever-increasing amount of leisure facilities, most notably the Stour Leisure Centre, Cales nightclub and in the last couple of years, a ten-pin bowling alley and a multiplex cinema.
The town's shopping area has traditionally been squeezed by the larger centres of Canterbury (14 miles away) and Maidstone (18 miles) but this is now changing and the opening of a Designer Outlet village near the station in 2000 is evidence of this.
The town is keen to retain some of its rural traditions however and there are regular farmers markets as well as occasional French markets in the High Street, building on the ever-increasing links with the nearby continent.
