From entering Wye near Ashford in Kent from the west, sout and east it seemingly appears to be yet another attractive and well kept Village, in the main it is, the residents seem to care about their homes and the older buildings are well maintained.

Nestled at the bottom of the North Downs on the Pilgrims Way it sports a fine array of old buildings, Public Houses serving fine Kentish Ales, a Market Place and the attractive Parish Church of St. Gregory and St. Martin which dates back to the 13th. Century.

On the top of the Downs above the Village, various viewpoints from challenging footpaths give you wonderful panoramic views accross the Romney Marshes to Fairlight in Sussex and on a clear day, the English Channel.

The main College building

In 1447 Cardinal Kempe founded a College for Secular Priests and the building remains to this day.
A few Centuries past and the building fell into secular hands and in the late 19th. Century the building was taken over as an Agricultural College.

Following WW2, the London University took it over as a centre for Agriculture, it then merged with Imperial College and was renowned throughout the World as a leader in Agricultural and Countryside studies.

And now the bad news..

In 2005, it started to go horribly wrong and left this Village with a less attractive image. The College decided in their wisdom to pull out by 2009 and although they came forward with some amazing plans, as they always do, they left the College to rack and ruin.

Although the old building remains the same and appears in good restorative order, the many typical 1950’s ‘build it quick, build in cheap’ buildings have more or less been left untouched, some still holding Furniture and Office Equipment which could surely be put to good use somewhere else, even if not in this Country.

This has led to the North part of the Village resembling a scene from ‘The Survivers’where the population of a Country has been wiped out by some terrible Virus or a good place for some secret Establishment in a Bond Movie. You can almost imagine large Black Cars driving in and out during moonless nights full of men in Suits and wearing sunglasses.

Two of the many similar buildings to the north of Wye

The sin of this ‘behaviour’ is that Establishments, Business’s or whatever can just close a place down and more or less forget about it. The ‘leave it someone else to clear up’ attitude comes to mind.
Whilst the debates and legalities are being sorted out, the Villagers and people of Kent are left with a blight to the landscape, something they do not deserve.

What’s going to happen in the future is anyone’s guess. Several searches on the Internet seem to draw blanks both from Educational and Political Sources. Residents seem to ask questions and residents get replies of blurred non-commitment it seems.

Wye is still a great centre for all types of outdoor pursuits, especially walking, fishing and if you’re fit enough to conquer some of the local hills, cycling as well.

All I would say is, if you’re coming into the Village from the northern direction, don’t look sideways left or right as you’re approaching the centre.