Ash Vale is a village in the borough of

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

in Surrey, England and the larger, northern settlement of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Ash. It is 7 miles (11 km) from Guildford but is closer to the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

towns of

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

and Farnborough, the centres of which are each about two miles (4 km) away, immediately across the two crossings of the River Blackwater, to the southwest and northwest.

Geography

Ash Vale's extent is on two sides clearly demarcated, by the river to the west and at a few locks' higher elevation by the parallel Basingstoke Canal to the east – across these boundaries are, respectively, Aldershot Garrison (Military Town) and the large Surrey Heath MoD, mostly UK Army, ranges and training areas. The latter is a co-managed County Wildlife Site, for instance Ash Ranges at and Pirbright Ranges at , with various access days and parts (see the Wildlife's Trust website). The type of soil of the east, the heath is very acidic, sandy and loamy which makes up just 1.9% of English soil and 0.2% of Welsh soil, which gives rise to pines and coniferous landscapes, such as pioneered at Wentworth and Foxhills estate and is good for biodiversity. Two branch railway lines cross in the middle of the village without forming a junction. In the north of the village are Ash Vale railway station and North Camp railway station, on the London-Aldershot-Alton Line and the Reading-Guildford-Gatwick Line respectively. In addition, trains run through Ash Vale from Guildford to Ascot via Aldershot. The village owes its development to the garrison and to the railways.

Environment

Air pollution is very low, with no Air Quality Management Areas in this borough or that immediately adjoining, Rushmoor. Drainage is good, the whole area draining westward by the valley of the upper Blackwater. In eastern parts distant ordnance fire can be heard from Ash ranges and occasional light aircraft on various tracks over the village take off from Farnborough Airport approximately three miles west.

History

See History of Ash, Surrey.

Economy and amenities

Although Ash Vale was a small semi-military community of the post-war era, the village is now largely a

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

settlement, relying on the half-hourly 40-minute railway connection to Waterloo (there are also local services). While 417 employed residents worked at/from home in 2001, the remaining 1306 commuted, of whom 682 responded they commuted less than . Holly Lodge (Primary) School is next to Carrington Park, which has playground facilities and a route between nearby North Camp Station and Mytchett lake and Basingstoke Canal Visitor Centre on the Basingstoke Canal. The canal's towpath runs through the village.

Parks and Nature reserves in Ash Vale

*Carrington Recreation Ground, off Lysons Avenue *Snaky Lane Local Nature Reserve, off Stratford Road *Avondale Park, Avondale *Lakeside Park, Lakeside Road *Park off Hawker Road, Old Farm Place Estate *Park off Beaufort Road, Old Farm Place Estate *Park off Old Farm Place, Old Farm Place Estate South of the village are: *Lakeside Park nature reserve *Willow Park Fishery *Ash Parish Allotments

Youth outreach

The Normandy Youth Centre serves the area by sponsoring community-based programs targeting youth in the area (especially marginal groups and minorities) for the purpose of increasing exposure to educational opportunities and building a stronger

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

.''Award for Mother Who Transformed Her Village''
; 18 October 2010 article; at Get Surrey News; retrieved 30 January 2013.

Notable residents

* Ethel Caterham, supercentenarian, Britain's oldest ever person, and the oldest person in the world as of April 30th 2025. * Samuel Franklin Cody, the first man to achieve powered heavier-than-air flight in Britain. * Darren and Martin Bicknell, professional cricketers.

Notes and references

;notes ;references

External links

Ash Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Surrey Borough of Guildford