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The Hidden Highway

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Bury Ditches Hill Fort is one of the most formidable Iron Age forts in South Shropshire, with all-embracing views. It dates from the first century BC.
 

The Hidden Highway, Ludlow - Clun

Rugged wilderness and rich farmland, ancient villages and hamlets, hidden valleys overlooked by hillside pastures; South Shropshire offers a landscape of continual surprises and great beauty.

LUDLOW
"Or come you home of Monday when Ludlow market hums..."
AE. Housman, A Shropshire Lad

Encircled by the rivers Corve and Teme, the medieval town of Ludlow breathes history at every turn. Acclaimed by John Betjeman as the loveliest town in England, Ludlow has nearly 500 listed buildings, many of them standing on streets which were laid out when the castle was built. Ludlow also has more than its fair share of Georgian town houses, reflecting its popularity with prosperous county families in the eighteenth century. Modern Ludlow is a thriving market town celebrated for its excellent restaurnats - some of them mentioned in the Micheling Guide.

The Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival is an annual event held in September.

Perched on a cliff above the River Teme, Ludlow Castle has dominated its town and the surrounding countryside for 900 years. The original Norman stronghold was transformed into a medieval palace by Roger Mortimer, the most powerful of all Marcher lords. Later it became a royal palace and was the headquarters of the Council of the Council of the Marches which governed Wales and five English counties. It was the home of the two young princes, sons of Edward IV, who died so tragically in the Tower of London, and of Henry VII's son, Prince Aurthur, who brought his bride Catherine of Aragon here. The castle's atmospheric grounds host Ludlow's annual festival which features a major Shakespearean production and runs for two weeks in June and July.

St Lawrence's is one of the six largest parish churches in the country. The top of its 132-foot (40m) tower is reached by 202 steps and there are beautifully carved misericords. A.E. Housman's ashes ares buried near the north door.

The timber-framed Feathers Hotel was the town house of a lawyer in 1619 and first became an inn c. 1670. The wonderful carving on its black and white facade can only be described as 'exuberant'.

Collectors will enjoy Ludlow's numereous antique shops, bookshops and galleries, as well as the antique and other colourful markets held in the square from March to Christmas.

Stokesay Castle (run by English Heritage), with its half-timbered gatehouse and the church close by, makes a favourite subject for photographers and artists. This fairytale thirteenth-century fortified manor house is the finest and most perfectly preserved of its kid in the UK.

Housed within a unique grass-roofed building, Secret Hills - The Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre invites you to experience the heritage and culture of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A simulated balloon flight reveals the magic of the countryside - the 'Blue Remembered Hills' immortalised by A. E. Housman in A Shropshire Lad.