Ashford is a small farming community in the New England

New England (Australia)

New England or New England North West is the name given to a generally undefined region about 60 kilometres inland, that includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:The region has been occupied by Indigenous...

 region of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, close to the Queensland border.

History

Frazer's Creek Post Office opened on 1 January 1853 and was renamed Ashford in 1863.

The town was the seat of the Ashford Shire before amalgamation with adjacent shires including Inverell and Macintyre Shire. The tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 farms that were a primary industry in the area have all disappeared and the coalmine has closed. Farms in the area today produce mostly Merino

Merino

The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...

 wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

 and beef cattle.

Today

Ashford has a school, basic shops, churches, and recreation and entertainment facilities provide the essentials. It is the hub of a large agricultural area, an active retirement community, and regional tourism. Local attractions include Pindari Dam

Pindari Dam

Pindari Dam is a reservoir in New South Wales, Australia 22 kilometres east of the town of Ashford and north of Inverell. It is primarily an agricultural storage dam used extensively by the cotton industry....

 on the Severn River, MacIntyre Falls, and Ashford Caves

Ashford Caves

The Ashford Caves Karst Conservation Reserve contains an outcrop of coralline limestone. It is about 8 km west of the former Ashford coal mine, north of Ashford and not far from the Queensland border town of Texas, Queensland. Originally on a private property, the Ashford Limestone caves are...

 at Kwiambal National Park

Kwiambal National Park

Kwiambal is a national park in New South Wales, Australia located about 30 km from the town of Ashford. The Severn River and Macintyre River, both flow through and finally converge in the park below the MacIntyre falls. The park is studded with granite outcrops and also features the Ashford...

.