THE VISIT

For these photos I visited Ludlow in February 2020 during the atrocious weather that created widespread flooding at that time.

This was caused by storms coming in from the Atlantic relentlessly. They were named CIARA, DENNIS and JORGE which brought rainfall of between 60 and 80mm and winds with gusts of 50-60 mph, mostly at weekends.
The River Severn, which flows around the town centre in a loop, was so swollen that some of the  town’s flood defences were breached to a large extent causing people to evacuate their homes. They were left to grieve at their loss of precious belongings and the expense of recovery to normal life.

Towns most affected were SHREWSBURY, iRONBRIDGE, BEWDLEY,  IRONBRIDGE and WORCESTER.

THE PHOTO This meant wet scenes for my photos. But, Ludlow’s plethora of splendid ancient buildings shone through the wet streets and gloomy skies!  Temperatures were not too high either for me to wander around in!

As is very often the case in such wonderful towns these days, cars are allowed to decorate the streets rather than the splendid ancient architecture. So annoying and depriving for visitors. So it is up to the photographer to try to minimise these visual aberrations

THE TOWN

Wikipedia summarises the town thus
“Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England, 28 miles (45 km) south of Shrewsbury and 23 miles (37 km) north of Hereford via the main A49 road, which bypasses the town. With a population of approximately 11,000, Ludlow is the largest town in South Shropshire. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and neighbouring Wales.

Ludlow has nearly 500 listed buildings,^[4] including examples of medieval and Tudor-style half-timbered buildings.”