Christmas in Ludlow

The town and castle of Ludlow sit splendidly on top of a cliff overlooking the River Teme. Normans planned the town, making it what the poet, Betjeman, called “The most perfect town in England.” Whether the visitor is a home-grown Briton or a foreign traveller, the town is, magnificently, ‘Olde England’. Ludlow is in the Welsh Marches, that no-go area for the ancients, who preferred a bit of distance between Anglicised gentry and unruly Welsh warriors. The town is still set out as it was in medieval times, with a market square on the edge of the castle. It also has one of the largest parish churches in England, a sign of its former importance.