The end of the Ludlow Arts Festival?
At the beginning of November it was announced that the Ludlow Festival that had been going for 53 years was not to take place in 2013. The finances had seldom been robust but the awful weather last June and July resulted in substantial losses being made. Hardly surprising as no one wants to watch open air Shakespeare in the rain; and the festival, as a whole, was too much at the mercy of the weather. Also, because the auditorium in the castle was comparatively small it was more or less essential that it played to full houses. The festival play concentrated solely on Shakespeare and in order to get full houses the same popular plays tended to come round fairly regularly. A few years ago they tried to intersperse a less well known play with the more popular. Although this was a good way to see a play seldom produced it did not pull in the numbers and this innovation was soon abandoned. Just how much business it actually brought into the town is debatable, particularly after the number of matinees had declined over the years. If the festival is to rise from the ashes it needs to have a wider appeal and not be so weather dependent.

Tricks played by full moon.
It was last year that we first noticed this strange phenomenon when staying at Waterside and saw it again this year in January. After mid night when the full moon is shining on the Horseshoe Weir, the top edge of the weir looks like lights have been installed in it. It is quite magical and lasts for about 20 minutes. We think it is caused by the moon light reflecting off the water as it bubbles over the top of the weir.

Magnalonga.
In our Ludlow accommodation we keep comment sheets so that anyone staying in one of our self catering properties can tell us and any future guests about places they have visited, restaurants they have eaten at or anything of interest. I always read through them but was puzzled by a comment last year from a guest who had stayed in August that said, “We really enjoyed the Magnalonga. It was a great day out.” I had not a clue what they were talking about, what was a Magnalonga? I mentioned this to a Ludlovian friend a few days later who went into rapture about the Magnalonga. So what is the Magnalonga? Well, it’s a walk with an important difference, it’s a food and drink walk that celebrates local food and producers. It is usually between 6 and 7 miles long starting and finishing in Ludlow. During the walk in the countryside that surrounds the town, walkers make several stops to sample local food complemented by local real ale or cider or perry. It is now in its ninth year and is apparently an idea borrowed from Ludlow’s twin town of San Pietro in Italy. I cannot pretend to be a keen walker but cannot wait to join one as the Magnalonga is definitely my kind of a walk.

Ludlow May Fair
There has been a fair in Ludlow for hundreds of years and the poet A E Houseman mentioned it in his poem, A Shropshire Lad, written in 1896