Ash
Ash maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Ash books (11 available)
- 1 photos on Ash appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Ash
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Ash and Kent
Ash memories
Read and share memories of Ash and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Be the first to add a memory of Ash.
You can also read memories of nearby places in Kent below.
Kent memories
Sandwich Rope Walk
I used to visit my great uncles & aunts in Sandwich as a child. They lived at The Butts in those days (long dead now though). My grandmother would put me on the bus all alone at Upper Deal where we lived, (quite safe as the conductor used to look out for me), and my uncle would meet me at the Market Square in Sandwich. (I can still recall the smell of the abattoir in the summer). They had a dike at the bottom of their garden, which I used to be forbidden to go anywhere near - but they had fruit trees in the garden and the most wonderful flowerbeds that have given me a love of gardening ever since. ...read more here
A memory of Sandwich contributed by Margaret Geoge
Toll Money
Sandwich Town relied on its toll money taken on the bridge, which was used purely for the town's benefit alone and it became wealthy over the years because of it. During the 1960s I think it was, Sandwich came under the jurisdiction of Dover and was asked to hand over the money in its coffers at the turnover.
The Town Councillors decided that this was not to be and put it to the townspeople what they wanted them to do with the money they had.
Everyone got very excited, us kids wanted an ice-rink, or a swimming pool and our parents duly put these suggestions along with theirs.
As was to be expected we got neither - we got a ...read more here
Ladd Family 1878
My grandfather Ernest Ladd, born Eastry 1878, is buried in the churchyard. Although as a child when visiting my grandmother we would tend the grave and put flowers on it, I only have a vague recollection of its location. My mother and father were married at the church in 1938 (at that time the family lived next to the Andrews family in the High Street), as were her brothers and sister. All Ernest Ladd's children were baptised there, as were 9 of his 10 grandchildren; 1 grandchild was married there and 2 great-grandchildren were baptised there in the 1960s (one coming from USA especially), and another 3 great-grandchildren were baptised there in 1980s.
Ernest Ladd came from a family of ten ...read more here
A memory of Eastry contributed by Carole Jewett
my Dad's childhood
My Dad was a member of the church choir here when he was a child. Gerald Fuller is his name but he left the village around the age of 16. His parents continued to live in Eastry with their other children, Hazel, Brian and Chris. Dad immigrated to Melbourne, Australia were he met my mother and had my sister Amanda and I. Amanda and I were fortunate enough to visit Eastry in 1985 and the feeling of family and belonging was very overwhelming. I remember one night Nan(Nancy) took us to bingo in the town hall and a woman came and introduced herself to us.......aparently she was a second cousin. As far as I know I have alot of relatives in ...read more here
A memory of Eastry contributed by Emma Fox
Extracts From Ash & Kent books
Who can fault this lovely view of typical rural Kent? Oast houses like these can be seen in the east and middle of the county; they were used for storing hops, which were dried before being despatched to the local brewery. The windmill grinding corn provided an essential part of agricultural life - an example is just visible in the background.
An extract from from"Kent Revisited Photographic Memories".
On the right is the old Belle Vue Tavern
dating back to the 1760s, which was an
earlier haunt for smugglers. In 1831,
the landlord Mr John Cramp received
a visit from the Duchess of Kent and
her daughter Princess Victoria; they
dined on potted shrimp paste. Later,
Mr Cramp received the Royal
Appointment of Purveyor of Essence
of Shrimps in Ordinary to Her Majesty
the Queen. On the left are the Floral
Tea Gardens followed by the Pear Tree
Inn, later Samuel Banger’s potted
shrimp paste factory. His small paste
pots had highly decorated lids
depicting scenes of Pegwell; today
they are valuable antiques.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".
Work on building this
elegant square started in
1802 after James Townley
bought the ground. The
buildings on the left were
officers’ quarters during the
Napoleonic Wars. The
square was a large parade
ground, and nearby
Addington Street was a
military camp. Frith’s
photographer was standing
outside No 6 Royal Road,
where Vincent Van Gogh
had stayed.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".
Here we see three of eight classical-style statues holding lanterns which stood at the
junction of the High Street and George Street outside Sangers Amphitheatre and
Hotel between 1911 and 1913. Six statues were removed and erected outside the
Hall by the sea in Margate; the other two remained until 1939. There was
controversy surrounding these figures: in 1908, Alderman Gwyn called them ‘an
eyesore and a disfigurement’. Lord George Sanger had seen the originals of the
statues in Paris outside the Grand Opera House in 1883, and had eight replicas cast,
paying £50 per figure for the transport and erection of these statues. Opposite is
Lloyds Bank, which moved to new premises in 1928, renting the building to the
NatWest Bank. The piano sign next door denotes Golden & Wind’s premises.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".
Here we have a tranquil view at low water of the inner basin. On the extreme right is the Clock House. To its left in
Smeaton’s dry dock is a sailing vessel being repaired. The fishing smacks in the foreground have RE numbers, denoting that
they are registered in Ramsgate; later the E was dropped and only the letter R used.
An extract from from"Ramsgate Old and New Photographic Memories".