What we know as Associate House was originally known as ‘The Garth’. The house was built by a gentleman called James Turner Welldon in five acres of ground close to the town. He lived there with his family who remembered a bright happy childhood with dances, music and games. His granddaughter later lived there too.
The house was unused from about 1937 and towards the end of 1944, the Ashford branch of the Royal British legion raised funds to purchase The Garth for the purpose of providing leisure and sporting facilities for the returning servicemen. The house was at this stage renamed ‘Victory House’.
I am unsure when KCC purchased the building and renamed it Associate House. If you have any further detail, I would be most interested to hear, please send via the contact form….
Associate House closed in 2011 and Adult Education moved to the new gateway Plus centre in Church Road. Perhaps it was a move in the right direction, perhaps not?
Do you have a lay out plan of the grounds to Associate House? From the artist’s impression it looks like flower/allotment gardens where my house is located. Both my neighbour and I have come across substantial concrete foundations at the side of our properties and any information you can give will be much appreciated.
Anna,
If you go to Old Maps Online, you can see maps of this area going back to the 1870’s and none of them show any buildings in your area – just trees along Magazine Road. Maybe there were sheds with cement bases, for storage at some time, or maybe there was a ‘cement bag’ gun emplacement put there during WW2 – There was one in the garden of what became No 35 Canterbury Rd, when my father bought it in mid 1950’s. It faced down North St. I think it was subsequently removed by the new owner who built the house there – Mr Huffy.
Iain! Sorry it has taken me nearly 18 months to respond, grateful for your advice, Thank you.