A temporary repair has now been put in place for the fencing on the Tollgate play area which blew down last October. I raised the lack of repairs at Shropshire Council’s cabinet last Wednesday and was promised temporary repairs. I pressed for these to begin the next day. The temporary repairs began that afternoon and were completed Friday. Permanent repairs, however, will cost £25K according to the response I received, an outrageous amount for around 40 metres of fencing. “Quotes have been sought for permanent repairs to the play area but costs circa £25k are prohibitive in the current financial climate. It is recognised that the condition of the existing fencing is unacceptable and damaged sections will be removed, made safe and temporary repairs instigated so that children can play safely. This will be undertaken shortly.” The repairs will not cost anything like £25K according to Shropshire Council officers and […]
Tag: Ludlow
The leaning phone box of Ludlow was becoming an attraction but it is now fixed
At around 7am yesterday morning, a reversing delivery truck from a convenience store struck a glancing blow to the BT telephone booth on the corner of Upper Galdeford, Lower Galdeford and Tower Street. It’s beside the Ludlow Mural at the former Budgens and directly opposite the Queens. By late morning, the leaning phone box had become an object of wonder. A work of art perhaps. People stood, stared and talked about the new attraction in Ludlow. The “leaning tower of Ludlow” at least one wag called it. There is a part of me that wanted to leave the phone booth as it is. Leaning and artistic. An attraction in its own right. A micro version of the famous tumbling telephone boxes of Kingston-upon-Thames.
Brown and Francis (Peak) pharmacy will be taken over by Lunts
This is not unexpected news. Brown and Francis is too small a store to thrive in an age where pharmacies are underfunded by government and the range of services pharmacies must provide is increasing. A 30% cut in NHS funding in real terms has led to the closure of 1,400 pharmacies in England since 2015. MPs, including Helen Morgan MP, have protested in a letter to the government but to no avail. Ludlow’s three pharmacies handle around 21,000 prescriptions a year, down from 23,000 a year and a half ago. That drop will be down to more patients ordering their prescription through an online delivery service. All Brown and Francis (Peak) patients will be transferred to Lunts though they can as always elect to go elsewhere.
I am asking Shropshire Council why it has not repaired the Tollgate play area after 3 months
The state of the popular play area on Tollgate, Ludlow is a disgrace. More than three months after fencing collapsed in a storm, it still has not been repaired. Safety barriers have also been blown down. The entrance to the children’s play area is a safety hazard. Children must squeeze past the debris to get into the play area. The council is ignoring its responsibilities to protect the health and safety of children that use the play area. On Wednesday, I will be asking the council’s cabinet what safety assessments it conducts on play areas and when the Tollgate play area fencing is going to be repaired.
Rickards building to get a makeover as the store becomes a nostalgic memory
Rickards will be no more and Ludlow will lose one of its most distinctive independent retail shops. Rickards has sold hardware and domestic wares since 1864. Now, the property is up for sale and the vendor is inviting anyone who wants to also buy the business to contact them. An application for planning permission has been made to allow a wider variety of uses for the ground floor. The next use could be anything from a café to a financial adviser. The vendors have a clear preference for “a mixed space which will incorporate retail, spaces for local artisan crafters to utilise, sale of drink and food from local suppliers, spaces to hire for meetings and small events and the display of historic artifacts associated with Rickards and Ludlow.”