Shropshire Star

Ludlow's beautiful buildings – and bomb site – feature in new book

From Nelson to Housman, and from the Blitz to Blott on the Landscape, visitors to Ludlow are taken on a walking tour of the town in the latest book written and researched by a Shropshire Blue Badge tourist guide.

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The cast and production staff of Blott on the Landscape in Ludlow.

Dorothy Nicolle has teamed up with publishers Amberley for the book, which is part of its "history tour" series.

Dorothy, who lives in Oswestry and qualified as a Blue Badge tourist guide in 1993, takes readers around places and things of interest, including the expected like Ludlow Castle and The Feathers Hotel, and one or two less familiar on the tourist trail, like College Street where, she says, the only bomb to fall on Ludlow during the war landed, fortunately without fatal results.

As for Ludlow Town Hall, she writes that it was demolished in 1986, having first been destroyed, with permission, by a film crew.

"The BBC was filming Tom Sharpe’s book, Blott on the Landscape, and used the old town hall when they wanted to film a court scene with the courthouse being wrecked. I can’t remember the details of the story – it’s at least 30 years since I read it or saw the television programme. Anyway, the building was about to be demolished so it was ideal for the purpose."

As for the bombing of Ludlow, Dorothy says she is unsure when exactly it happened, but says it fell somewhere near the Linney gate but did not do any damage.

"I think it was around the time that another bomb was dropped on Bridgnorth in Church Street and on that occasion a house was demolished – the site is now a memorial garden – and the occupants killed.

"The general assumption is that they were dropped from planes returning from bombing raids further north when pilots might have seen a light."

The tour follows a walk she has done around Ludlow, and the book includes historic photos of sites of interest, and modern photos she took herself.

Among other places featured are the old Angel Hotel, now converted into apartments, at which she writes that Horatio Nelson was a famous visitor when he came to the town accompanied by his mistress, Emma, along with her husband Lord Hamilton.

And dominating the skyline is the cathedral-like St Laurence's Church, where the ashes of A.E. Housman lie, buried against the north wall.

"Ludlow History Tour" is published by Amberley, is softback, and costs £7.99.