Hidden gems could lie beneath surface

Following on from the recent demolition of the former Joe Fagg Pop Inn Centre at the corner of St John’s Lane and Station Road, it makes those of a certain age wonder ‘what lies beneath’, realising there were other buildings previously on sites such as Vicarage Lane car park, which fronts Station Road.

In previous eras, and if sites around the town were destined to not be built on immediately, often sites were flattened, cellars backfilled and sites tarmaced to become a temporary car park – or in the case of Vicarage Lane, a long-term car park.

It was at the corner of St John’s Lane and Station Road that the St John’s Hospital stood on the site and following its disuse as a medical institution, it was used for shops and businesses.

Prior to the demise of the aforementioned properties, they were used by Bucknells tobacconist and confectioner, Betty’s hairstylists and Universal Service photographers in the years prior to their demolition.

While the council has plans for the top end of the site, where it wants to partially demolish the former Odeon cinema and Mecca Bingo building in the high street, one wonders what the masterplan will be on the Station Road frontage.

It would be so interesting to see exactly what has survived beneath the tarmac.

This week’s Remember When takes a look back at the said buildings in 1962 and 1972 just prior to them vanishing completely.

■ Do you have any photographs or slides of old Ashford you would be willing to loan me to enable them to be scanned for possible feature in the Kentish Express?

Please don’t delay, feel free to get in touch.

Write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, Unit 4, Park Mall Shopping Centre, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8RY.

Email me: rememberwhen_ kmash@hotmail.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter: @SteveKMAshford.

Or you can also leave a telephone message for me with brief details by calling the Kentish Express office on 01233 623232.