« Reply #1 on: Thursday 16 June 11 22:15 BST (UK) »
I don't know the place (although I live in Herts) but wouldn't be at all surprised to hear it pronounced something like Aspden. They shorten things a lot around here, as in Weemsted for Wheathampstead or Snorbens for St. Albans.

Toomebridge, County Antrim: Devlin
Toomebridge and Cavan: McCormick
Glasgow, Wolverhampton, Shropshire: Hill
Lurgan Co. Armagh: Malone, Dumigan, McCourt, McGill
St. Pancras, and Poplar, London: Serjeant, Heald
Brookborough Co. Fermanagh: Carmichael, Tierney
Staffordshire: Cook
Isle of Wight: Parkman
Warwickshire: Kinchin
Cork: Kennedy, Ahern, Deliere
A British Islander, born Dublin of Irish/Anglo roots. Ancestors have crossed and recrossed the Irish sea in every generation.