The latest episode of anti-social behaviour on Friday evening saw green non-drying green paint painted on a popular walking route from Bromfield Road to the Linney and then around the castle.
These incidents were first reported at on Friday evening. They occurred just before dark when there are few people on this popular route for dog walking. The good news is that the paint is water soluble. The very bad news is the N-word is painted in three places.
Racism is unacceptable anywhere, including in Ludlow which has a Peace Memorial at its heart and has long been a tolerant town.
I will be pressing Shropshire Council to clean this atrocious graffiti as soon as possible tomorrow.
The first incident is in the field north of Boiling Well Field, where long horn cattle sometimes graze. I say it is the first because at this point there is a clear view of the fields, footbridges ahead and it is sufficiently far from Bromfield Road and Burway Bridge to perpetrators are less likely to be noticed. And the graffiti indicates that they walked from the Bromfield Road direction.
This first incidence of graffiti, which is the N-word, is now only visible in close up and barely visible in the photo below.
Walking down the field, the kissing gate is covered with green paint, still wet nearly two days later. This shows that the culprits were deliberately targeting people’s hands, feet and clothing. In the midst of the gate, the N-word has been painted on the ground. It is now slightly obscured by foot traffic and dog poo bags that have been used to cover it.
Beyond is the footbridge with the bent railings over the brook. There the walker is greeted by the N-word sprayed on the ground, in a circular symbol (anyone know if this has a meaning?). The N-word has been smudged over by walkers.
Moving south, the wooden gate has green paint splashed over it, as have the railings that bound the footpath that leads to the Corve Bridge. Beyond the bridge the footpath from Linney has splashes of green paint, one of the worst patches now covered over with chipping by a local property owner.
By the time the perpetrators got on to the footpaths leading up around the castle, they left only a few splashes of paint presumably having run out of supplies.
The same evening, daffodils were trashed in St Lawrence’s churchyard. It is not known if these incidents were connected.
Anti-social behaviour in our town is getting out of control. There was an increase in incidents over last half term, including smashing windows of cars passing under the Fishmore bridge over the A49 bypass. One of the windows in the church was recently broken. This is the worst anti-social behaviour I have seen in the 15 years I have lived here.
This is a town that has Peace Memorial at its centre and has a long history of being tolerant. These incidents are unacceptable and disturbing. We need more police patrols, more youth services and we need to better understand why this sort of racism and anti-social behaviour occurs in a quiet town like Ludlow.
Anyone with information should report it via 101, the West Mercia website or anonymously through Crimestoppers.
The graffiti is a huge worry and unacceptable behaviour. Although not a justification I believe boredom plays a huge part in this behaviour. I am not the only resident within Ludlow who believes that children’s/teenagers activities, have been neglected. Unfortunately most of the younger generation wish to escape Ludlow, this should be a huge concern to councillors. Without investing in the next generation , encouraging new businesses etc into Ludlow , will see the decline of the town.