Ludlow - Part 2

The trouble with a downhill stroll on the outward journey is that it turns into a little of an uphill slog on the way back - I'm not very fit at present and we had been walking for about three hours by the time we  decided it was time to cook tea.

Ludlow was a walled and gated city - strategically built on the top of a hill as the first photo in the last post shows. This house was, according to its plaque, a gatehouse:

set into the town walls:

The river is beautiful - it would once have been a center of activity, with mills and tanneries. Some of the old mill buildings survive. The light was failing us at this point, but the following give you some idea:

If I had to describe Ludlow to someone from my part of North Wales, I would say, in size and feel, it reminds me of a combination of Whitchurch, Oswestry and Ellesmere - local, small, Shropshire market towns which I love; combined with something of Chester (on a smaller scale) - particularly near the river. Setting aside Chester's prominent Roman remains, the black and white facades, the weir - almost beneath a main crossing point, and the resident ducks and swans all felt familiar. This particular duck was absolutely beautiful. I have no idea what he is. He was perfectly visible to the eye, but the failing light has caused him to blend into the river a little too much! I'll have a go at showing you anyway - please let me know if you can identify him:

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I have been stitching a series of felted and embroidered bookmarks - each one is unique in composition and the flowers grow organically out of the felting.

This one - a felted panel with ribbon tails, was listed, and sold, yesterday:

This has just been listed in Lynwoodcrafts' Folksy shop - a larger felted and embroidered panel:

Ludlow

A lovely week-end in Shropshire with good food and lovely views.

Our daughter had embarked on a practice expedition for her Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award on and around the Long Mynd. Not wanting to stay at home, whilst required to be responsibly available to retrieve her in the event of an unexpectedly early finish, we decided to find a campsite fairly close and settled on a new one in Ludlow. She left with a friend at about 6.30 am. We left 'a little later' and called at the Ludlow Food Center on our way to the site.

A quick lunch, grab walking boots and very warm clothing - it was a very pretty but very cold autumn day, and we set off to walk into the town. We spotted this photo opportunity on the way in, but were anxious to catch the market before stalls started to close so this was taken on the way back. I've shown you now since it gives a good flavour of Ludlow for those of you not familiar with the town.

Ludlow is renowned for good food and lovely architecture. We treated ourselves to some venison steaks at the Food Center, we had brought fresh veg and some garden produce with us and were anxious to see what else we could find in the town.

The following are dreadful photos from a technical and composition point of view, but they do show you something more of Ludlow:

One of the main reasons why I like our little motorhome so much is that our kitchen travels with us. I follow a wheat and gluten free diet, but like to shop locally and try local specialities when I can. The ability to cook with suitable flour etc to hand puts the finishing touches to a holiday for me - the only downside is the washing up which also accompanies me on holiday!

We had brought leeks, onions, baby potatoes, green beans and sugarsnap peas from home. Venison and some lovely plump chestnuts had been added at the Food Center. We found a punnet of lovely juicy redcurrants and some mushrooms at the farmers indoor market. The steaks were pan-fried and mushrooms, redcurrants, a good splash of red wine, a little tomato puree and the chestnuts were added - wonderful!

Other market stalls had yielded two local cheeses and some gluten free, hand-made pork and apple sausages for the following day. We need to do plenty of walking during our weekends to balance the amount of eating which we do!!

I must confess that, in the midst of all these culinary delights, the first shop which leapt out at me from the top of the street was the local wool shop.

The lovely background wool for this brooch was too pretty to leave behind!