Tree Week celebrated with planting

National Tree Week was celebrated in Victoria Park on Saturday (30th November) by the planting of two lime trees by the Mayor of Ashford, Cllr Jenny Webb assisted by the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Land Management, Cllr Andrew Buchanan, and the Portfolio Holder for Culture, Tourism & Leisure, Cllr Peter Feacey.
The tree planting was followed by the planting of hundreds of spring bulbs by the Friends of Victoria Park and other volunteers.
Bring your trowel

To celebrate the funding award from National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Mayor of Ashford will be planting a tree
Saturday 30th November at 12pm
As part of the celebration, the Friends of Victoria Park will be planting bulbs in the park, daffodils and crocus, to create a display for the spring
Bulb planting 12.30 - 2pm
We are looking for volunteers to help with the planting, if you are interested please come along to plant one, ten or 100 bulbs!
We will be near the old park gates
Please bring a trowel!
Updated information on the plans for Victoria Park
Following the walk round led by Ashford Borough Council and Allen Scott on 12th October, we have added information on the Tree Planting and Victoria Park Tree Work under The Plans on the menu.
Whilst it will be some time before most of the tree work is undertaken, the coppicing of trees and removal of invasive shrubs and poor quality trees will be started during the coming winter.
Autumn colours
As we move further into autumn the colours to be seen in the Park continue to change.
See more in our Autumn Gallery
Annual General Meeting
The first Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Victoria Park will take place
- at 7.00pm
- on Thursday 24th October
- at the Riverside Centre
Clockhouse, Ashford, TN23 4YN
The agenda will include:
- Reports from the Chair and treasurer,
- Election of the management committee, and
- a review of the constitution.
We also hope to have an update from Ashford Borough Council on the HLF project.
If anyone wishes to propose additional items for the agenda or nominations for the management committee then please contact us no later than 14th October
Family Fun Run photos
A selection of photographs from the Friends of Victoria Park Family Fun Run on 22nd September 2019.
All of the photos have been posted here
Our thanks to Kalysha Howard-Smith for the photos.
© You are welcome to copy/print photos of yourself and your family members for personal use. You must not copy photos of other participants or publish photos without first contacting us to gain permission.
Big Butterfly Count Results Revealed


This summer saw the biggest Big Butterfly Count to date, with more butterflies counted by more people than ever before. Thank you to everyone who took part - we couldn't have done it without you. Every single one of the 116,009 counts submitted will inform our work to save struggling species. As we suspected, Painted Ladies were the star of the season. Read the full results to see how other butterflies fared.
More than a million butterflies were counted and logged by Big Butterfly Count participants this summer. The full results have been published this week, revealing which species were seen.
The mass migration of Painted Ladies saw this butterfly rise up the ranks to become the most seen species of 2019's count. The iconic Peacock butterfly also had a good year, securing a solid second place.
It wasn't such good news for our blue butterflies, with sightings of the Common and Holly Blue both down on last year.
Discover how what you saw compares with the butterflies spotted by others across the UK.
Family Fun Run

Come and join us for this Fun Run for all the family. There will also be an opportunity to complete the Friends of Victoria Park Phototrail and find out about the planned improvements to Victoria Park.
Sunday 22nd September 2019
11.00 am – 1.00 pm
All runners should check-in by 11.30 am.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Why not bring a picnic and enjoy the park after the run!
Final Summer 5k route
By popular request we are going to repeat the August route for the final Victoria Park Summer Series 5k Run on 4th September. We have had lots of fun at previous runs, and can't wait for this one! Sign up now
Friends respond to the Kentish Express’s Stuart Barton
The Friends of Victoria Park have responded to comments by columnist, Stuart Barton, in the 1st August edition of the Kentish Express:
"I am writing in disgust regarding Mr Barton’s comments about the revamp of Victoria Park, Kentish Express 1st August 2019.
Victoria Park, as is the case with most open public spaces, suffers some problems. Most recently there have been 2 out of the ordinary attacks. Mr Barton's assertion that it is one of Kent's hotspots is unfounded; as would be shown by a quick reference to Kent Police crime statistics, which in recent months show significantly higher figures for both antisocial behaviour, and violent and sexual crime in the area around the Kentish Express offices than in the vicinity of Victoria park.
Mr Barton is also factually incorrect in the assertion that the fountain was white when made. The Hubert fountain is a cast iron structure and whilst it is possible to produce white cast iron, this certainly wasn’t the case for our Hubert Fountain. None of the pictures available from either the 1862 exhibition or from its installation in Victoria Park show the fountain as white. Alongside this the photograph from the presentation souvenir, the fountain colour is clearly shown as darker than the surrounding white wall. The most recent ‘refurbishment’ was not only a couple of years ago, but 12 years ago, with all this information readily available on the internet.
Perhaps rather than throwing around random assertions, Mr Barton would like to visit the park occasionally and enjoy some of the great community spirit which can be experienced in the park with many people enjoying the wildlife, fitness opportunities, and generally creating a sense of community on a daily basis. Not to mention the very successful celebrations which have taken place recently in the park with no incident: Armed Forces Day, Sausage and Cider, Create, Mr Harper’s Birthday and a number of successful running events which have been enjoyed by people of all ages.
Simon Howard-Smith
Chair - Friends of Victoria Park"