Ludlow is a delightful historic town in South Shropshire. Ludlow was described by John Betjeman as "the loveliest town in England" and who am I to disagree? Much has been written about how many entries in the Michelin guide are in or near this small market town.There are far more good food shops in Ludlow, than I can think of in Manchester city centre, and I will describe some, in more detail, in later posts.
Ludlow castle (pictured above) is the centre of the Ludlow Food Festival, which takes place every year in September.
I love the mixture of architectural styles in Ludlow, with half-timbered buildings like the Feathers Hotel (pictured at the top of this post), Georgian buildings (pictured at the bottom of this post) and various other styles. Ludlow has nearly 500 listed buildings. It was pouring with rain yesterday, when I took these photos. I thought "well at least it will be quiet" but Ludlow is always busy!
There is a street market in Ludlow on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The market takes place at Castle Square. On the second Thursday of every month there is also a Farmers' market.
There is also the Magnalonga, a walk of about six miles, starting and finishing in Mortimer Forest, about two miles west of Ludlow. A journey where you combine a walk through unspoilt countryside with some of the best food and drink from the Marches.
Ludlow is the first UK member of Cittaslow or "slow food" movement.
For more information on visiting Ludlow try:
http://www.ludlow.org.uk
http://www.shropshiretourism.info/ludlow
http://www.ludlow-shropshire.com/ludlow.htm
Comments
I'm glad you enjoyed Ludlow and I hope you didn't get too wet. It is a very beautiful town and we are lucky with the shops and restaurants.
I think it's also worth mentioning some of the shops and restaurants in the surrounding area too! I run a B&B about 10 miles from Ludlow and if you're keen to escape the crowds of Ludlow it's worth getting out into the surrounding Shropshire Hills.
Strefford Hall Farm Shop of the A49 past Craven Arms is a lovely little shop - you can see their free range pigs, geese and hens outside.
The Jolly Frog restaurant at Leintwardine is wonderful eating place with fantastic views in the Summer form their deck.
Both Church Stretton and Bishops Castle have some great delis and butchers. Bishops Castle has enough pubs to keep you going for a very long weekend.
There is also a farmers market every week in one market town or another locally.
In fact the Shropshire Hills AONB have just launched a new website telling you where to buy local food
http://www.shropshirehills-buylocal.co.uk/
Cheers
Karen
I plan to do Church Stretton and Bishops Castle when the excellent Long Mynd Shuttle hopefully reopens later this year.
Glad you enjoyed Ludlow, it is indeed a beautiful place - shame it was raining when you went though!
The architecture is out of this world and the food shops even more so!
I look forward to your future posts on Ludlow's food shops.
John Betjeman was right Ludlow is quite possibly 'the the loveliest town in England'.
Keep on blogging :)