Great Chart resident Marjorie Brissenden told us about her family connections with the Godinton Estate. Her great grandfather was gamekeeper there, living at 'Fir Lodge', now called 'Keeper's Cottage'. He would accompany Godinton's owner, Ashley Dodd, on hunting trips to Scotland. Marjorie's aunt was a maid at Godinton House.

Donald Wooley, now a resident of Brabourne Lees, spent his childhood in Great Chart and recalls being taken on the front of his father's bicycle to collect wild flowers from the local area. He is pleased to see the return of wild flowers in the Green Corridor's new meadows

Marjorie Brissenden and another Great Chart resident, John Baker, told us that during the war, trains carrying servicemen home would stop at the signal box near Great Chart, so that they could pick ox-eye daisies for their wives and sweethearts. John Baker's father was gardener at nearby Buxford Manor.

Council Member for Beaver Ward, Alan Allcock, recalls the peaceful horse pastures that stood where the lake is today. After his daily commute from London they were a restful antidote to his busy work life.

Sylvia Roberts told us about the philanthropic work of Elizabeth Strouts of Singleton Manor during WWI. She organised a project to send parcels and letters to men in the Armed Forces, funded by local gift sales and garden shows. The Strouts family also pioneered the Romney Marsh sheep breed.

The current owner of Singleton Manor, Mrs Olympitis, told us a great deal about the history of the house; for example, the ceiling in the banqueting hall was created in the 1560s, by an Italian artist who also worked on a ceiling at Hampton Court. She told us that it survived an earthquake in Great Chart in 1580.

Tenant farmer at Godinton, Jim Kerr, told us that a farmer from Scotland rented Watercress Farm for a while at the turn of the 20th century; times were hard for farmers in Scotland at this time and many made their way to the south-east of England looking for tenancies, including Jim's father. The farm had a herd of cattle but Jim doesn't recall any watercress growing. He does remember when the ford at Watercress Fields was the main crossing of the Stour in this area.

Jack Edwards from South Willesborough remembers going to firework displays in the Victoria Park just after WWII. He told us the park was completely enclosed by wrought iron fencing and was closed at night. Kennington resident Norman Ibbotson remembers being ejected by the park keeper at closing time.

John Baker recalls the park being the site of a large anti-aircraft gun during WWII.

South Willesborough resident Peter, told us that the water for the lido next to Bowen's Field was pumped from the Great Stour, and you often found yourself swimming with frogs and grass snakes!

Tithe maps of the mid-19th century show that this land was once pasture, belonging to a Richard Greenhill and one George Maude.

This park was formerly known as Henwood Nature Park, this name in turn deriving from the small settlement of Henwood that once stood close to here. Local resident, Heather Silk, volunteered with the Ashford branch of what was then the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation in the early 1980s, and worked on improving habitats here.

Little Burton Farm was once owned by the Earl of Thanet, and in the 1840s was tenanted to a Walter Murton.

South Willesborough resident Peter remembers the Spinney in the 1950s, when it was rough grassland with dense bramble. Another resident, John Flisher, told is it was used as allotments at one time.

Unsurprisingly for such a low lying, flood plain area, there are many stories about flooding associated with South Willesborough. Local resident Anne is a flood warden, her official duties including warning local people about potential floods and distributing sand bags; her unofficial duties in the past have included helping the milkman with his delivery when he arrived in the area without Wellingtons!

Not so long ago, South Willesborough was still quite a rural area. Theresa Partington, who first moved into the area in the 1980s, recalls having to keep her garden gate shut to stop the sheep on their way to market from coming in.

John Flisher remembers that the large recreation ground here was once an arable field. After it became a sports ground, he recalls the South Willesborough Invicta football team using an old railway carriage as a changing room.

Many memories of this waterway revolve around childhood play. Jack Edwards remembers a rope swing over the river from an oak tree called 'Oaky'. Peter Staples recalls paddling and fishing for tiddlers and tadpoles.

Other recollections are of the threat of flooding. Dave Gower remembers how he and other local children would watch the water levels at times of heavy rain and give warning if they rose too high. There followed the routine of moving as much as possible of the downstairs house contents upstairs. Larger furniture was raised up on apple boxes. At times as much as a foot of water came into the house, and when it receded, a sludgy mess was left behind that the family then had to clear up.

The current owner of Boys Hall, Marcus Collings, told us a great deal about the house and its mediaeval predecessor. He says that the original house that stood within the nearby Boys Hall Moat was knocked down after a child drowned in the moat. He also revealed that the Boys family were heavily involved in smuggling and that there are stories of a smuggler's tunnel linking Boys Hall with the moated site.

Willesborough resident Mary Bingham remembers this area looking very different - with huge horse chestnuts under which she would gather conkers in autumn and arable fields.

Ashford's local residents and community groups

The residents of Oakleigh House

The pupils and teachers of Oak Tree Primary School

Ashford Library

The owners of Singleton Manor and Boys Hall for inviting us into their homes

The Heritage Lottery Fund