No 4 Middle Row stands out.  On one side is the John Wallis pub; on the other the ‘Mobile Cottage’, with its vivid orange shop signage.  They all have the Kent Peg tiles on their roofs, but No 4 draws your attention for a number of reasons.  First, its gable faces the street, facing west … More No 4 Middle Row, Ashford Town

It was a beautiful, balmy early-summer evening, last Friday: perfect for watching the sun set over the North Downs.  But not before listening to some ethereal, Elysian music inside All Saints Church, Boughton Aluph, in the borough of Ashford.  I had taken my two sons there for the annual Stour Early Music Festival, to listen … More Stour Early Music Festival, Boughton Aluph

At first sight, Ashford’s County Hotel on the lower High Street is a conventional 18th century building.   It is three storeys tall, originally red brick but the top floor and the parapet are now hung with Kentish peg tiles.  It has its original sash windows above street level and the entrance doorcase has classical … More Sharp-Shootin’ Annie at Ashford’s County Hotel

For the second time in as many months, we went to the Dering Arms in Pluckley, Ashford, last weekend.  Yes, the food there is fantastic but, importantly, even my usually purely-cheese-pasta youngest will eat a slab of locally-shot venison or a rump of Kentish spring lamb if cooked by Jim Buss, Dering’s owner.  In fact, … More The Dering Arms, Pluckley, Ashford

A year after we moved to Ashford, I decided to tackle our garden – 2 minutes from the town centre.  It had changed little since the house was built in 1906.  There had been an Edwardian summer house in the right hand corner, but it was throughly rotten and had to be dismantled.  The removal … More Napoleon III and Ashford International

As it is just days away until the European Referendum, some of my posts this week will be on Ashford’s links with the wider world. Twinning really began after the Second World War as a means of fostering friendships: finding commonality and celebrating peace and reconciliation, particularly with former foes.  But, as one might expect … More Ashford’s Twin and Triplet

It’s been a wet June, but it’s warming up, and I’ve been investigating someone known as the ‘Laureate of Spring’. Alfred Austin (1835-1913) was born in Headingly near Leeds.  After a Roman Catholic upbringing, he joined the Inner Temple in London, and then went on to practise as a barrister on the Northern Circuit in … More Ashford’s Poet Laureate