Ashurst, ENG - Postcode - BN44 3AS

Description of Ashurst, Hampshire

Located close to the city of Southampton, Ashurst is easily accessible through the nearby A35 highway. The population of the parish increased slightly from 2,011 in the 2001 count to 2,093 in the 2011 count.  The parish lies just beyond the official boundaries of the New Forest National Park. The town is home to a campground, a few stores, and a train station. The parish is bounded by the New Forest parish of Denny Lodge to the south, the parish of Netley Marsh to the north, the A326 road and Totton and Eling to the west.

Commuters make up a sizable portion of the population in Ashurst, despite the town's proximity to Southampton City Center.

The "Happy Cheese," "Forest Inn," and "New Forest Hotel" are the three watering holes in Ashurst. Across the street at the current location of The Happy Cheese was a bar called "The Angry Cheese," which later became a hair salon before being torn down to make space for new homes. Michael Leonard's Happy Cheese started out as a modest inn with a cafe. The original Happy Cheese tavern burned down in 1980, but it was rebuilt as it is now. The Forest Inn went bankrupt and closed its doors in June of 2010.

Along the main thoroughfare in Ashurst, you'll find five different dining options. Sandwich shops like Lite Bites and Indian takeout joints like Asha and Chinese restaurants like "The Jumbo House" and "The Little Friar" are also available. There are also two hair salons, an auto parts store, a vehicle dealership, a pet store, an upholstery business, a post office, a newsstand, and a car dealer.

Foxhills Infant School and Foxhills Junior School are the two local schools serving the Ashurst area. As of May 2011, there were 210 students enrolled in Foxhills Infant School, which serves children aged four to seven. Many of the Infant School's students continue on to Foxhills Junior School, which is located on the same campus. Opening as a middle school for students ages 8 through 12, The Junior School made its debut in September 1977 after the original Junior School, founded ten years prior, had its buildings and facilities greatly enlarged and extended to accommodate the growing needs of the community. It reopened in 1993 as a Junior School for students aged 7 to 11, and as of the beginning of the 2010–2011 school year, it was led by Andrew Shore and had an enrollment of about 332. Foxhills Infants School, Eling Infants School, and Hazelwood First School are all feeder schools for this school. It was given a Grade 2 in its most recent Ofsted rating, which was completed in 2010. Both schools have access to a 16-acre campus with many playgrounds, a natural preserve with a pond, and other amenities. A $24,000 Millennium Heritage Fund award has been used over the past three years to build paths and access routes across the reserve so that it can be used year-round. All of the school grounds are monitored by security cameras, and a commercial firm provides patrol services.