{"product_id":"railway-life-at-ashford-9780999011522","title":"Railway Life at Ashford","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGordon was born on the 25th April 1928 above the family business, jeweller, silversmith and watch-maker at 32 High Street, Ashford.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHe went to the old Willesborough primary school (now converted to houses). He did his secondary years at the North Boys School, was a very bright pupil and did a lot of talking according to his peers who were not surprised when he joined the Young Liberals after his two year National Service in the R.A.F.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 1971 he fought and won the Newtown South Willesborough Ward which he held for twenty-seven years and so began his long association with the railway works and steam trains. At the time he was elected there were many elderly retired gentlemen who were part of two generations born and bred in Newtown and South Willesborough who spent their working lives at the Ashford Works. They had many stories to tell of their own lifetime and their fathers and grandfathers before them since the coming of the Works in 1840. Gordon was a great admirer of their achievements and so began his documentation of people who made the Railway Works and the community of Newtown and South Willesborough.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe first book published in 1984, The Coming Of The Railway. The second book, Railway Life At Ashford, published 2007. At the end \u003c\/span\u003eof his twenty-seven years as Councillor he became Mayor of Ashford and retired from the Council in 1998. He spent his working life in sales until his late-fifties, then ran his own small coffee business until he died in March 2005.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardback with dust jacket, 14x22cm, 230 pages, black \u0026amp; white photographs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: Good\/Very Good\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Betty Turner","offers":[{"title":"Secondhand (275)","offer_id":58117476909439,"sku":"9780999011522","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1910\/7111\/files\/9780999011522.jpg?v=1786201852","url":"https:\/\/rail-books.co.uk\/products\/railway-life-at-ashford-9780999011522","provider":"Rail Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}