Ashford, Surrey

Ashford is a town and suburb of London almost entirely in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne, but with a small part in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. Mostly residential, Ashford is 13+1/2mi WSW of Charing Cross, London, forms part of the London commuter belt, with a minor stop on the Waterloo to Reading Line (which has two branch lines) and has a long commercial high street. It is centred 2+1/2mi south of London Heathrow Airport, to which a portion of its economy relates, including business premises relating to aviation and the distribution of air freight – the main cargo depot being next to an adjoining village, Stanwell.More usually referred to as Ashford, Middlesex to distinguish it from the larger town of Ashford, Kent, the town's wards have been part of Surrey since Middlesex County Council was abolished in 1965. The current railway services provider uses the present or past county variously throughout its stations and trains, and the town remains in the Middlesex postal county. A leading gymnastics club, HMP Bronzefield and one of the sites of Brooklands College are in the town. Ashford Hospital is narrowly within Stanwell and began as Ashford's workhouse. Ashford Common has a parade of shops and is a more residential ward that includes part of the Queen Mary Reservoir and all of its related water treatment works, which is contiguous with and subsidiary to the town itself.