The Duke of Edinburgh would have been 100 yers old on June 10. Tim Gill, mayor of Ludlow, the deputy mayor Robin Pote and town clerk Gina Wilding took part in a small socially distanced ceremony in the town centre. Because of the period of national mourning the Town Council postponed three meetings although Tenbury Town Council went ahead with its annual residents meeting and town council meeting three days after the Duke died. In Ludlow a meeting of the Representational committee that was to have been on Wednesday, April 21 is now on Wednesday, April 28, The full council meeting that was to have been on Monday, April 19 is now taking place on Monday, April 26 and the annual town residents meeting scheduled for Monday, April 26 will now take place on Monday, June 21, the day that it is planned for all Covid-19 restrictions to be lifted.
The Town Council has agreed its budget for 2021/22. Up to the end of March 2021, it is estimated that Ludlow Town Council will lose in the region of £173,700 which is primarily from loss of fees from the market, street trading, public toilets, and Ludlow Museum at the Buttercross. “During 2020, Ludlow Town Council published a commitment to be mindful of the local economic impact of Covid-19 when setting its budget, to set a sustainable budget, and to safeguard local services,” said Tim Gill, Mayor of Ludlow. “The Town Council has taken a hard look at its running costs and reserves, and agreed a budget figure that means a weekly increase of just 20p on Band D Council Tax.”
LUDLOW’S farmers’ market, the Ludlow Local Produce Market, will be making an appearance on BBC1’s Farmers’ Country Showdown on Wednesday, January 13. The film crew spent many days filming in and around Ludlow having picked out two stallholders who produce their own food and drink. One was Hare Hill Farm, a relatively new grower of local vegetables based in the Shropshire Hills, and Fletchers, which make multiple award-winning cider. Both are regular traders at the farmers market, which runs all year round on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. Tish Dockerty, market manager for the farmers’ market says: “The production company were keen to speak to holders of stalls that are truly ‘field to fork’, who either grow their own and sell it all, or add value by making it into something like cider.”