0:00:04 > 0:00:08I've seen towns explode into cities.
0:00:08 > 0:00:15I've seen towns with their hearts ripped out. Every town has its own tales of triumph and catastrophe.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18All of them face challenges.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23As a geographer, that towns are the communities of the future.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Towns will be the places we want to live.
0:00:27 > 0:00:34By 2030, a staggering 92% of us will be living the urban life.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Congested cities sprawl across our map.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40But cities don't have all the answers.
0:00:40 > 0:00:47I believe we need to fall back in love with the places that first quickened our pulses, towns.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57Smaller than a city, more intimate, much greener, more surprising.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Towns are where we learned to be urban.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03They are the building blocks of our civilisation.
0:01:03 > 0:01:09Coastal towns, market towns, river towns, industrial towns.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Collectively, they bind our land together.
0:01:13 > 0:01:20This is the story of towns, but it's also our story - where we came from,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23how we live and where we might be going.
0:01:24 > 0:01:30This is Ludlow, an English country town on the Welsh border.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Population 10,400, it is land-locked, remote.
0:01:35 > 0:01:42And yet it's a vibrant market town with more listed buildings than anywhere else its size in Britain,
0:01:42 > 0:01:48with not one but two Michelin-starred restaurants, and a fairy-tale castle,
0:01:48 > 0:01:56a town that operated for over 200 years as the capital of Wales.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59I want to discover how such a cut-off town came to be packed
0:01:59 > 0:02:06with so many treasures, to find out how it prospers against the odds, in the 21st century,
0:02:06 > 0:02:13and above all to decide whether Ludlow really is as perfect as it appears.
0:02:43 > 0:02:50To understand any town, you have to understand the landscape that surrounds it.
0:02:50 > 0:02:56This is the beautiful countryside of south Shropshire.
0:02:56 > 0:03:02Remote and unspoilt, it is one of the least populated areas in the whole of England.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08'That's us winding up for take-off.
0:03:08 > 0:03:09'Stick back, full power.'
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Ho-ho! What an amazing sensation!
0:03:25 > 0:03:32Whoa! Whoa! Wow! That's amazing!
0:03:32 > 0:03:35This view is unbelievable!
0:03:35 > 0:03:41This cockpit, this canopy, gives you a fantastic view of the landscape.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49Beneath me is the Long Mynd,
0:03:49 > 0:03:55a forbidding ridge of hills eight-miles-long and nearly 2,000 feet high,
0:03:55 > 0:04:03part of the Marches, the rugged borderland between England and Wales.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09I've hiked over the Long Mynd loads of times, I've never seen it from this angle, right above it.
0:04:09 > 0:04:16It looks completely different, this great breaking wave between the wild rugged uplands of Wales,
0:04:16 > 0:04:23which I can see over to the west, and the low green English pastures.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33As the high, uncultivated ground gives way to lower, tended farmland,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38there are the first hints of what lies ahead.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41When you look down from the sky, you see lines everywhere,
0:04:41 > 0:04:47all over the landscape, rivers, roads, railways,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52and they're all leading in one direction, towards the local market town, Ludlow.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01Beneath me now is some of England's richest farmland.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04When you're flying above a landscape, you can read it like a book.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Brilliant.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14And there it is,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17emerging like a jewel in a sea of green,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22an isolated town of just over 10,000 people.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Fascinating to be flying above Ludlow.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29I've gazed at it so much from maps.
0:05:29 > 0:05:35It's like an urban island surrounded by rolling green countryside.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51This remote urban island, more than 40 miles from the nearest motorway or airport,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55seems unsuited to life in the 21st century.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05And yet it's a busy market town with a thriving local economy,
0:06:05 > 0:06:11a town which acts as a magnet for tourists and shoppers alike,
0:06:11 > 0:06:17a town that painters and writers have adored.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20John Betjeman said...
0:06:25 > 0:06:28On the surface, it has the look of perfection.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33But is it really, I wonder, as perfect as it seems?
0:06:43 > 0:06:49Ludlow is dominated by its castle, one of the largest in any small town in Britain.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55But that's not the only thing that makes it unusual.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00After the Normans invaded England, they subdued the local population
0:07:00 > 0:07:04by building hundreds of castles in settlements both large and small.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11But when they built this castle around 1085,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15there was nothing here, no settlement of any kind.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21So, why build a castle here?
0:07:21 > 0:07:28Well, because out there...was the wild west, a rugged wilderness,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32hiding people the Normans regarded as a war-like enemy.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35These days we call it Wales.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Right from the start, the identity and the purpose of Ludlow
0:07:43 > 0:07:48were defined by its relationship with the surrounding countryside.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56The castle, perched high on cliffs that plunge down to the river,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00was built to dominate both countryside and people.
0:08:02 > 0:08:08But for the Normans, using force to control enemy territory was an expensive business.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11There was, they thought, another way.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Commerce.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Ludlow evolved from a military base into an economic one.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Wales could be brought on side, not by the arrows and spears
0:08:23 > 0:08:28stacked inside this fortress, but by an open space out there.
0:08:33 > 0:08:40If the castle was Ludlow's mailed fist, then the market square soon became its beating heart.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42And it still is.
0:08:46 > 0:08:52Shoppers have been searching for bargains right here for nearly a thousand years.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Talk about connecting with the past, Ludlow's strong on continuity.
0:09:02 > 0:09:08The medieval market was held on a Thursday, just like today's, but it was a much more rowdy affair.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Sellers used to advertise their products by crying their wares,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15shouting advertisements at the top of their voices.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20Sometimes they were even fined for physically grabbing passers-by.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25It's all become...more civilised these days. Ludlow's polite.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31This is Ludlow's twice-monthly produce market.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33It started just over ten years ago,
0:09:33 > 0:09:38not long before Ludlow became the UK's first "Cittaslow" town.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Cittaslow, or "slow city", originated in Orvieto in Italy
0:09:41 > 0:09:49and is all about quality of life and a belief that towns thrive on local produce.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52With its perfect bread-basket location,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Ludlow was the natural birthplace for a foodie renaissance.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Have a taste, try it.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03It's got a very hot afterburn.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07- Oh!- Nice with a glass of white wine, rocket salad,
0:10:07 > 0:10:12- a few pickled gherkins. - I wish I wasn't wearing a scarf, I'm about to catch fire!
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Do you come to every Ludlow market?
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Every first Thursday and last Thursday of the month.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Is this a way of earning money, or is it a hobby?
0:10:19 > 0:10:24My wife's an accountant, so she wouldn't let me do it if we weren't making money.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28- Does the market here make sense to you commercially?- Oh, absolutely.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Commercially and socially if you like, because we enjoy it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35And what's so special about Ludlow market?
0:10:35 > 0:10:39The town is good, the people are good, it's a relaxed market.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41The organisers are pretty wonderful.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So it all gels up to a brilliant market.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53But brilliant markets don't just happen, not in the 21st century.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59Markets were once a defining characteristic of every British town, but now they're a rare breed.
0:11:00 > 0:11:06Shropshire Council is spending £3.5m to revitalise all its market towns.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12In Ludlow today, the market's managers are gathering data
0:11:12 > 0:11:17which will help them keep the market commercially healthy.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Like a good geographer, I'm going to help with the survey.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I've got my questionnaire, I'm ready for action.
0:11:23 > 0:11:29- I've come from Pattingham between Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton. - Shrewsbury postcode, SY3.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33I've come from Clee St Margaret, about 15 minutes away.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37- 15 minutes, you might have walked. - No! Not if you've seen the hills.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39It's a much more fun way to shop.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42You can talk to the producers and get some great stuff here.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46It's a sort of treat, I would say, to come to the market on Thursday.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54People are coming to Ludlow market from far and wide, buyers and sellers alike.
0:11:54 > 0:12:02It's a great day out, it's a lovely atmosphere. It's a place that's doing a roaring trade.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06The information gathered here today will influence how the market is promoted
0:12:06 > 0:12:09and measure its contribution to the town's local economy.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13This programme of revitalisation seems to be working.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Ludlow's a remote town with a small resident population.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23To prosper, it has to draw people in from outside.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28It may be that cut-off places like this have to work harder,
0:12:28 > 0:12:34make themselves more attractive than towns which are perhaps better connected.
0:12:34 > 0:12:40By seeking excellence, perfection even, Ludlow's doing what it's always had to do to survive.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46I think that Ludlow's resilience,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49its ability to prosper through the centuries,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53has a lot to do with a profound sense of place.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59It has deep roots and a long history that's still conspicuous.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04Many of its houses still occupy the same plots, known as "burgages",
0:13:04 > 0:13:08that were laid out in medieval times.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13And the symmetrical grid pattern of streets that still defines
0:13:13 > 0:13:17the heart of modern Ludlow has hardly changed in 800 years.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23In the early 1300s, a special tax was raised
0:13:23 > 0:13:27to pay for a defensive wall that ran around the whole town.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33It defined Ludlow, fixed it on the landscape
0:13:33 > 0:13:37and gave the town its enduring sense of place.
0:13:40 > 0:13:46The wall is now gone, but one of its great gates,
0:13:46 > 0:13:52and one of Ludlow's architectural gems, remains.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Broad Gate welcomed the town's friends,
0:13:55 > 0:14:00incoming traders who paid taxes, and deterred its enemies.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06This is an amazing survival.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11It's been standing here for over 700 years, and it's still one of the major roads into Ludlow.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Most of our towns have lost their medieval walls and gates.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19They've been swept away by modern buildings and road widening.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21But this one is still here.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Whenever the borderlands reverted to a war zone,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27a portcullis would be slammed down this slot,
0:14:27 > 0:14:32sealing the town from the outside world, turning it into an urban fortress.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35It would have been virtually impregnable.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39The cost of building these gates was formidable, and the cost of maintaining them.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41But there's a reason.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45Inside the town were vital assets - not just of population,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47but buildings, goods, and money.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53This was the nerve-centre of a rapidly expanding market economy.
0:15:00 > 0:15:06But one commodity in particular was sucking so much cash through the town's gates
0:15:06 > 0:15:09that work soon began on a major redevelopment project,
0:15:09 > 0:15:17an ambitious rebuild of what has always been a barometer of any medieval town's prosperity,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20the parish church.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52This is spectacular.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57If it seems out of scale for a remote rural town, it is.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01It's one of the largest parish churches in the country.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04It's sometimes known as the Cathedral of the Marches.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09To raise a church this magnificent, you needed faith.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12But you also needed money - lots of it.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Ludlow was enjoying a source of revenue
0:16:18 > 0:16:22that turned its merchants into the oligarchs of the medieval world.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31And here's a fascinating clue hidden amongst these misericords.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34They were installed to take the weight off the legs
0:16:34 > 0:16:39of medieval clergy and choirs during immensely long church services.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41But look at this one here.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46It shows a porter pulling on one of his boots at the start of a long journey by road,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49and on his back a bale of cloth.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Now, at the time, woollen cloth, known as Ludlow white,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55was fetching very good prices in London.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58It's said that this church was built on the backs of sheep,
0:16:58 > 0:17:03because the source of this town's wealth...was wool.
0:17:17 > 0:17:23The super-commodity of the Middle Ages, wool, was England's biggest export,
0:17:23 > 0:17:29and the area round Ludlow was one of the best places in the country for sheep-rearing.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36And today, sheep are still at the heart of Ludlow's economy.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Are you counting, Nick?
0:17:39 > 0:17:42SHEPHERD WHISTLES
0:17:43 > 0:17:47This is the weekly auction at Ludlow livestock market.
0:17:48 > 0:17:54Like all the sellers here today, Bill Wathes needs to maximise the price he'll get for his 150 sheep.
0:17:54 > 0:18:00- If you hold the gate, and when I say open, open it up. - Yeah.- So, we'll have him out.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Livestock markets were once a common sight in British towns,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08but over 500 have closed in the last few decades.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Ludlow's has not only survived, though.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15It's become one of the biggest in the UK.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Nearly 3,000 sheep will be sold here in the next few hours.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Right, 55 kilos to start.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26AUCTIONEER SHOUTS
0:18:31 > 0:18:34What's the secret of a successful livestock market?
0:18:34 > 0:18:38I'm the wrong man to ask. Ask the managing director of the company.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42- Why do you support it? - Because we get good prices.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45There's competition for all the stock you bring, which is good.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50Sellers need competition. It's no good having one or two men to buy your sheep.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52That doesn't become an auction.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04The prices you've heard in the last few minutes, it's looking good for you?
0:19:04 > 0:19:09- Yes, yes, it's acceptable. - You're not smiling yet.- I don't want to let them know too much!
0:19:09 > 0:19:15When they come to my sheep, I'll be shaking my head saying, "This is no good, this is no good."
0:19:21 > 0:19:25This is an amazing experience. I've never been to a livestock market before
0:19:25 > 0:19:28and it says a lot about the health of Ludlow.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33There's a hubbub here of buyers and sellers all desperate for the best price.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36HUBBUB AND SHOUTING
0:19:43 > 0:19:46You had a bidding war going on there.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48That's what you want.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51See the difference between the best pen from then on.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53That's 247 then we're down to 218.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Overall, going down your numbers, is that good?
0:19:56 > 0:19:57Yes, very pleased with that.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Animals have been bought and sold in Ludlow for nearly 1,000 years.
0:20:04 > 0:20:10In recent times, new buyers have opened up surprising new markets.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14These are cull ewes, too old for lambing and,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19until a few years ago, worth almost nothing.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23But buyers like Mohammed Akram, have changed all that.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26He runs one of Europe's biggest halal meat businesses,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29worth over £20 million a year,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33supplying Britain's Asian and West Indian communities with mutton.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Trying to have a conversation with someone who's busy buying sheep with his eyebrows!
0:20:39 > 0:20:43- How many sheep are you buying a year? - 9,000 to 10,000 a week.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47- 9,000 to 10,000?- Nearly half a million a year.- A year?!
0:20:47 > 0:20:54- And what kind of meals will they be made into?- Kebabs, curries.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56OK.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03How long have you been buying mutton for halal meat?
0:21:03 > 0:21:04I started myself in '82.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07MAN SHOUTS OVER CONVERSATION
0:21:07 > 0:21:10ALL SPEAK TOGETHER
0:21:18 > 0:21:20He's a bad man, he is!
0:21:28 > 0:21:33Mohammed Akram, makes the 100-mile round trip from Birmingham every week,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and his halal business contributes significantly
0:21:36 > 0:21:41to Ludlow's flourishing, multi-million-pound livestock trade.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Traditionally, buyers and sellers would have travelled
0:21:51 > 0:21:54only a short distance to their local livestock market.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57But with so many other markets in the region closing down,
0:21:57 > 0:22:02Ludlow is prospering by extending its reach to a much wider orbit.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07I'm going to conduct my own statistical survey,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09to find out where everybody's come from.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12I've got a box of pins and I've got a map.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15So down here is Hereford, up here is Shrewsbury,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18on the right, Birmingham and the Black Country,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22on the left hand side, the uplands of Wales and slap in the middle, Ludlow.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Right, who's first?
0:22:24 > 0:22:27We're trying to find out where everybody's come from today.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Our map gives a 35-mile radius round Ludlow.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37It means the place names are rather small but we'll manage.
0:22:37 > 0:22:38Culmington.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42- Where?- Culmington.- So we've got Ludlow in the middle here.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47I haven't got my glasses. Culmington, up the A49 to Shrewsbury.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49Much Wenlock?
0:22:49 > 0:22:52It's only here somewhere. 36 mile out.
0:22:52 > 0:22:58I come for the Heath, it's only about 10 miles from here.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06By Leominster, not far away. just north from Ludlow.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08So, we've got Ludlow, there's Leominster, isn't it?
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Yeah, roughly there, I would say so.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16- Hi there.- Where have you come from. - Aberystwyth.- Aberystwyth?- Yeah.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17That's not even on my map.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22We've got Ludlow here, Aberystwyth is over on the coast of Wales.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27I'm going to stick this on the edge of the map. Aberystwyth is over by that window.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30I told you the wrong place. It's Craven Arms apparently.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34So where are you really? How long have you been here?
0:23:35 > 0:23:39- I got confused between north and south.- You've forgotten where you come from!
0:23:39 > 0:23:42I come from Cumbria this morning.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45- Cumbria!- That's right, every Monday to the auction.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Well, you've come so far, I can't even put your pin in the map,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52- cos it's up on the second storey of the building.- I know that.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54- Thank you very much indeed. - You're welcome.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58On this scale of map, Cumbria is way above the ceiling,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01so I'm going to have to stick it in the margin instead.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10What's absolutely fascinating, is that people are coming from such enormous distances to Ludlow.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13One guy's driven from Aberystwyth on the west coast of Wales.
0:24:13 > 0:24:14He comes every week.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18The chap I've just met comes from Cumbria every Monday
0:24:18 > 0:24:19to buy here in Ludlow.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24So, although there's a cluster of pins in a radius
0:24:24 > 0:24:26of about 10 miles round Ludlow,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28people I've met this morning,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32there are still people who're coming 100-150 miles to get here.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37Absolutely fascinating that the reach of this relatively small market town,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39is so enormous.
0:24:46 > 0:24:52The key to this success lies in the huge radius of superb farmland around Ludlow,
0:24:52 > 0:24:57farmland that has been nurturing the town since it began.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02In medieval times, the rewards of wool were so immense,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05they gave rise to a new breed of middle-class merchants.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Stokesay Castle was built in the 1290s by Laurence de Ludlow,
0:25:14 > 0:25:19a local wool merchant whose wealth put him on a par with the feudal aristocracy.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24He was so rich, he even lent money to the King.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29He wrote...
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Laurence's showpiece was this spectacular great hall.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59700 years ago, people in the Ludlow area
0:25:59 > 0:26:04would've been utterly astonished by an internal space of this scale.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Back then it was normal practice to hold up roofs this heavy
0:26:08 > 0:26:13using central timber posts, but Laurence went one better.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16He created a self supporting timber roof.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19It was held up on an massive timber crux,
0:26:19 > 0:26:25which curved all the way down and rested on these stone corbels.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28The bottoms of the original timbers have rotted away now
0:26:28 > 0:26:31and been replaced by sections of stone.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33You get the general idea.
0:26:33 > 0:26:38It would've been like standing inside the upturned hull of an ocean-going ship.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Any of Laurence's fellow merchants, courtiers from London,
0:26:42 > 0:26:47politicians walking in here, would've been left in no doubt at all
0:26:47 > 0:26:50that it's architect was stinking rich.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Laurence and his fellow wool merchants transformed Ludlow.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08Behind the facades on one of the towns original thoroughfares, Broad Street,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12are the ghosts of the medieval super homes they built.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15In the time of Laurence de Ludlow and his like,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18one third of the houses on this extraordinary street
0:27:18 > 0:27:22belonged to wool merchants, cloth sellers and drapers.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Wool just didn't build Stokesay Castle,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28it built this street and it built the town.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40Ludlow's wool trade made it into one of the richest towns in Britain.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44But in the 1470s, this town of commerce
0:27:44 > 0:27:47also became a town of political power,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49with a new role on the national stage.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53For as long as anybody could remember,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Wales had been a security problem to the English.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Eventually, the decision was taken to try and control Wales,
0:27:59 > 0:28:00not from London,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03but from a strategic base midway along the border
0:28:03 > 0:28:05between the two countries.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07That place was Ludlow.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Overnight, this country town became a royal town
0:28:11 > 0:28:14and the headquarters of a new institution.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16The Council of the Marches.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Ludlow, in English eyes, became the capital of Wales.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Ludlow's Castle became a sort of grand corporate headquarters
0:28:28 > 0:28:31for the new institution.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35The lavish Judges' Lodgings, completed in the 1580s,
0:28:35 > 0:28:40housed the lawyers who dealt with the court cases of Wales. A nice little earner.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Somehow, it's always the lawyers who prosper.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57One council attorney turned his house, now the Feathers Hotel,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00into a 17th-century gem.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03The lawyer's name was, Rees Jones.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Rees, really wanted to be remembered.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11Look at this personalised lock that he fitted to his house 400 years ago.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15It's got an R and a J. Rees Jones, and below it, IJ.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Isobel Jones, his wife.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20And between the two of them, a tiny little love heart.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23A valentine's note from the distant past.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33What a fantastic room.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39It's oozing with opulence, and just look at this.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43This is the coat of arms of James I with the English lion,
0:29:43 > 0:29:48the Scottish unicorn and down here, the feathers of the Prince of Wales.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52What Rees Jones wanted was for everybody who came in this room
0:29:52 > 0:29:55to know that he was a loyal subject of the crown.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Loyal also to the Council of the Marches.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00What's so fascinating about Rees Jones,
0:30:00 > 0:30:03is that he wasn't a member of the local aristocracy,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05he wasn't an English blow-in either.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09He was as you've guessed from his name, born in Wales.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12He was the second son of a farmer in Pembrokeshire.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Being second, he was never going to inherit the farm,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17so he had to be sent away to make his own fortune.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21He came here, he worked as a clerk to the Council of the Marches,
0:30:21 > 0:30:22then became an attorney.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26After that, became one of the richest men in Ludlow.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31What the Rees Jones story tells us, is that Ludlow's relationship with Wales had changed entirely
0:30:31 > 0:30:35from being a border fortress intended to keep the Welsh at bay,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38it had changed into a centre of government,
0:30:38 > 0:30:43a centre of justice that had opened its gates to folk on both sides of the border.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07The Council of the Marches closed in 1689.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Some predicted disaster after this change of fortune.
0:31:10 > 0:31:15But Ludlow hadn't forgotten its commercial roots.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Even today, the town has managed to preserve an impressive number
0:31:18 > 0:31:20of independent shops.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25Butchers, bakers, veg shops, a traditional hardware shop.
0:31:26 > 0:31:33Even an old-fashioned book binders, harking back to a vanished age.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37With its independent shops, its markets,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39its traditional, old-fashioned town centre,
0:31:39 > 0:31:44you won't be surprised to hear there are almost no chains here in Ludlow.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48There's no McDonald's or Burger King, no Next or Top Shop,
0:31:48 > 0:31:50no Currys or HMV.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54In fact, almost all of those familiar shop signs
0:31:54 > 0:31:57you see repeated from High Street to High Street across the land,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00are absent here in Ludlow.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04So the last thing you expect to see is one of these.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11Now, I'm no fan of supermarkets.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14They're a kind of retailing smart bomb,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18exploding over our town centres, leaving clusters of shops
0:32:18 > 0:32:25apparently undamaged, but emptied of goods, traders and customers.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28But the story of this supermarket is a surprising one,
0:32:28 > 0:32:34a David and Goliath tale of the little town that triumphed over the corporate giant.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39At first, the developers wanted to build a new supermarket on the ring road,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41a move supported by many in the town
0:32:41 > 0:32:44because it would both provide them with the store,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47and yet keep it out of the historic centre.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50But the town's planners saw danger in creating a rival hub
0:32:50 > 0:32:56that could draw shoppers out of town, possibly killing Ludlow stone dead.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00So they gave permission to build the new supermarket right here,
0:33:00 > 0:33:04on Corve Street, one of the historic roads into town.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12And Ludlow's tough stance on getting what it wanted didn't end there.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17Initial designs for the store were rejected because they were too conventional.
0:33:17 > 0:33:24But after a public inquiry and several years of haggling, the town got the design it wanted.
0:33:24 > 0:33:30Steven Cherry led the team from MJP Architects, who were charged
0:33:30 > 0:33:35with delivering a modern building sympathetic to Ludlow's past.
0:33:35 > 0:33:36Ludlow is a historic old town,
0:33:36 > 0:33:42which originally started in the 11th century around the castle here, with its castle wall.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47Then, as the town expanded it grew, in the 13th century, another wall around the town,
0:33:47 > 0:33:49which captured the inhabitants here.
0:33:49 > 0:33:55And then in the 20th century, the local plan boundary, which is this blue chain line here,
0:33:55 > 0:34:00went as far as Station Drive, which is what we're on, and we thought it would be a good idea to then capture
0:34:00 > 0:34:04the end of the High Street and create a new 20th-century town wall.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09This does feel like the edge of a fortified town still.
0:34:09 > 0:34:17- What happens round the corner, where we've got a shopping street? - I'll show you.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22It's not just Ludlow's streets that still follow the original medieval pattern.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26The buildings themselves occupy the same plots that were laid out
0:34:26 > 0:34:30with the birth of the town 900 years ago.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32They're called burgages,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35and they had strict dimensions,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38always 16.5 feet wide.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45The physical memory of these plots creates a kind of architectural rhythm along the street,
0:34:45 > 0:34:50which is key to the town's harmonious character.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57So if we stop here, Nick, and just turn round and look up the High Street,
0:34:57 > 0:35:01the new town wall turns the corner into Corve Street here,
0:35:01 > 0:35:08lowers itself to reveal the store, but then the roof is floating. It's sails up,
0:35:08 > 0:35:13going up the hill, and as the roof floats up, it sits on top of what we call the last burgage plot
0:35:13 > 0:35:20as it cascades down the street, and that burgage plot goes back through into the store.
0:35:20 > 0:35:26You'll also notice on the right hand side that there are exposed gables as the buildings change in scale
0:35:26 > 0:35:31going up and so it was important that we related to that, with the little lantern
0:35:31 > 0:35:37that pops up there - it's like a gable facing us and it has a conversation with the church tower.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Yes, I see that. I like the idea of a supermarket and a church
0:35:41 > 0:35:45having an architectural chat to each other across the rooftops.
0:35:45 > 0:35:53The architectural quest for harmony between supermarket and town extends to the surrounding countryside.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58And you see the shape of the roof, that we talked about rising up Corve Street,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01is also mirroring the landscape in the background.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05- You see the hills, the way that they step down to the rooftops here?- Yes, yes.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09So when you arrive into Ludlow from the train or from the car park,
0:36:09 > 0:36:14you relate the building and the form of the building to the landscape beyond.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16I've never seen anything like it.
0:36:16 > 0:36:23Why, given how many supermarkets there are in British towns, can we not take this much care
0:36:23 > 0:36:28over them all and blend them into the townscape, harmonise them? Why can't we do it with them all?
0:36:28 > 0:36:33I wish I had the answer for that, but the result of this one is because somebody went through
0:36:33 > 0:36:37eight or nine years of pain before they got to this point,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41and we shouldn't have to wait or go through that pain. Lessons should be learned on day one.
0:36:56 > 0:37:03In a town with around 500 listed buildings, you'd expect great architecture at every corner.
0:37:03 > 0:37:08But Ludlow's definitive thoroughfare is Broad Street.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10"It is unforgettable,"
0:37:10 > 0:37:14wrote the architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16"One of the best in England."
0:37:19 > 0:37:23The town's wool merchants had their grand medieval dwellings here.
0:37:23 > 0:37:31But it was the cash-rich gentry of the 18th century who really left their mark.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35In the era of Britain's great spa towns - Bath, Buxton, Cheltenham -
0:37:35 > 0:37:40Ludlow became the high-fashion leisure town of the Marches.
0:37:44 > 0:37:50Here at number 27, two houses were demolished to make way for the largest house on the street.
0:37:50 > 0:37:56A house that today is undergoing the latest makeover in its long history.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03If I'd been here in the early 1740s on exactly the same spot,
0:38:03 > 0:38:07I'd also have been standing on scaffolding.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Not this sturdy steel stuff,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15but a tottering pile of timber.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Everything else would have been the same - the grit, the dust,
0:38:19 > 0:38:24the bustle of busy workmen, and Broad Street would have been a building site, too.
0:38:24 > 0:38:31Any number of houses being extended, remodelled, gentrified for a new moneyed class.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38They had names straight out of Jane Austen.
0:38:38 > 0:38:46The Baldwins of Munslow and Croft, the Dunnes of Gatley Court, the Sprotts of Much Wenlock.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49And they built in style.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54"Gracious" is the word that comes to mind.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58Look as these wonderfully warm, red-brick facades,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01and the symmetrically spaced sash windows,
0:39:01 > 0:39:07the timber door-cases and the half-moon fanlights.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Down here, number 39, has been fitted with Venetian windows, which
0:39:10 > 0:39:13must have let in huge amounts of natural light.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Individually, each of these houses has its own character,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20but they give the street a wonderful harmony.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24A reason it's been called the most beautiful street in England.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34One of the street's gems is Broadgate House, an elegant Georgian residence
0:39:34 > 0:39:39built above the last remaining medieval gate into town.
0:39:40 > 0:39:47The hall and the staircase speak of prosperity and good taste.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52And up these stairs is an extraordinary clue that reveals
0:39:52 > 0:39:58how Ludlow began to construct itself as the perfect country town.
0:39:58 > 0:40:05And here it is, hidden away, painted on a wooden panel in a first-floor bedroom.
0:40:05 > 0:40:11At first glance, it's a charming portrait of Ludlow and the surrounding countryside.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15But look more closely and all is not quite as it seems.
0:40:15 > 0:40:16You've got the castle there
0:40:16 > 0:40:20and balanced symmetrically on the other side of the painting,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23this fantasy construction of masonry and rock.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25The river's a bit odd as well.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29It looks like a religious painting of one of the rivers of Paradise.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34Those villages shining silver in the sun don't exist either.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38They're fantasy objects, so they create the sense that Ludlow,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42the matriarch, is gazing out across this verdant plain,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46populated by its children, the little villages.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51Those gentlemen up there and the lady are wearing 18th-century dress,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54but the peasants down here could be medieval
0:40:54 > 0:40:58or have stepped out of a Bruegel painting in the 16th century.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00It's a composite painting, a fantasy.
0:41:00 > 0:41:05This is Ludlow as Paradise, painted over 200 years ago.
0:41:05 > 0:41:11This is the beginning of the myth of Ludlow as the perfect town.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21With its perfect look and its high-society residents,
0:41:21 > 0:41:29Georgian Ludlow was the right town in the right place, ideally positioned to grab a slice
0:41:29 > 0:41:36of a new emerging business, one that now dominates the global economy - tourism.
0:41:40 > 0:41:48When the writer Daniel Defoe rode by in the early 1700s, he described the castle's situation,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52set back on its grassy lawn, as "most beautiful indeed",
0:41:52 > 0:41:57while the castle itself, he decided, was "the very perfection of decay".
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Defoe's book, A Tour Through The Whole Island Of Great Britain,
0:42:00 > 0:42:07helped to put Ludlow on the tourist trail and the castle was the big attraction.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09How very Ludlow.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Even the ruins reach perfection!
0:42:12 > 0:42:17The town was soon on the painters' circuit, the artists drawn, then as now,
0:42:17 > 0:42:24to the same view so seductively rendered on that wooden panel in Broadgate House.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26But were they painting reality
0:42:26 > 0:42:30or a romantic fantasy of the perfect country town?
0:42:32 > 0:42:38Close to my heart is a painting of this classic Ludlow view from the early 1930s.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42The professional artist who painted it was Freda Marston.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47She was my great-aunt,
0:42:47 > 0:42:53and her painting has hung above my desk at home for the last 30 years.
0:42:53 > 0:42:59But I wonder if she too, idealised the view in the pursuit of perfection?
0:43:05 > 0:43:09I've always wanted to find the precise spot
0:43:09 > 0:43:12that my great-aunt planted her easel,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16partly because it's a painting that has always meant so much to me
0:43:16 > 0:43:22and partly because I've always wondered whether or not it's an imagined view,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25whether she moved things around or embellished it.
0:43:25 > 0:43:31I do know that she can't have been standing here because this path is still too high up.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34The battlements need to poke above the skyline.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45A little bit lower down.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48This is quite steep, so she didn't take the easy option,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51but then she was looking for the perfect composition.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57So, it's about...
0:43:59 > 0:44:03She was about here.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08Very difficult to see, but from here, I can just about make out
0:44:08 > 0:44:11the castle battlements poking above the skyline.
0:44:11 > 0:44:17Down there, the river is receding through the central arch of the bridge.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22So it's not an imagined view.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24This is a real place.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Today, what brings the tourists to Ludlow in their thousands
0:44:43 > 0:44:46is not just its picture-perfect location.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48It's the food.
0:44:50 > 0:44:55In 1995, Ludlow took on yet another new identity.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59A food festival in the castle proved a huge success,
0:44:59 > 0:45:03and the same year the town got its first Michelin-starred restaurant.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08With its fresh-from-the-fields produce, and its architectural charms,
0:45:08 > 0:45:12Ludlow quickly became the foodie capital of the Marches.
0:45:18 > 0:45:24La Becasse is one of two Michelin-star restaurants in the town today.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28There are big cities in Britain - Glasgow, Cardiff and Manchester among them -
0:45:28 > 0:45:31with no Michelin restaurants at all.
0:45:31 > 0:45:36So for an isolated country town to have two is an incredible achievement.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41La Becasse's young head chef, Will Holland,
0:45:41 > 0:45:46got his Michelin star in 2009, and was catapulted to culinary stardom.
0:45:46 > 0:45:51He was recently named one of the UK's top ten chefs.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Do you want to get stuck in with this, Nick?
0:45:54 > 0:45:57All I need you to do is just pick the leaf off.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00It's a very lowly task which even I might be able to manage.
0:46:00 > 0:46:06How does a small place like Ludlow come to have two Michelin-starred restaurants?
0:46:06 > 0:46:13It's always had this fantastic reputation for food and Michelin stars always make headlines.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15They're always there in the big, bright lights,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19but there's a lot more to Ludlow than just that.
0:46:19 > 0:46:24It's the foodie culture of the town, and what's always attracted that,
0:46:24 > 0:46:29but it is remarkable. The population's only 10,000 and there's two Michelin-star restaurants here.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31It's kind of like...
0:46:31 > 0:46:33It's a foodie theme park, Nick.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37And how much of your produce is local?
0:46:37 > 0:46:42A lot. I've got fantastic local suppliers that I've got a really, really good relationship with.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47I buy quails' eggs from two miles from the restaurant.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51In the UK, probably about 95% of quails' eggs come from France,
0:46:51 > 0:46:56but mine come from two miles down the road, so that's a fantastic thing to sing about.
0:46:56 > 0:47:01I open the back door of my kitchen and look out onto the largest larder in the world.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05- Shropshire.- Exactly, Shropshire.- I wouldn't get a job here, would I?
0:47:05 > 0:47:08It's taken me 20 minutes to do about ten stalks.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11I wouldn't like to work out your hourly rate at that speed!
0:47:14 > 0:47:17- I'll speed up.- I'm all right because my venison is just getting better
0:47:17 > 0:47:21because essentially it's hanging, but your parsley is wilting.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34I'm really impressed by what Will is doing here.
0:47:34 > 0:47:39This quest for perfection is intoxicating. It's very appealing.
0:47:39 > 0:47:47It's an attractive journey to set out on, and he's doing it, and it ties in, it's in tune
0:47:47 > 0:47:54with what Ludlow is about - the perfect castle, the perfect architecture, the perfect church.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58It's almost too good to be true and, deep down,
0:47:58 > 0:48:05you know, you absolutely know, that nowhere can be absolutely perfect.
0:48:11 > 0:48:18In a town of haves - and it's had its haves for a long time - what about the have-nots?
0:48:18 > 0:48:23I'm thinking about the unseen Ludlow, away from the gaze of the tourists,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26and I'm not the first one to think about it.
0:48:29 > 0:48:35In January 1931, around the time my aunt painted her beautiful picture,
0:48:35 > 0:48:39the normally conservative local paper ran a series of articles
0:48:39 > 0:48:41on the ugly side of Ludlow.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46It began with a report on how the local vicar had challenged
0:48:46 > 0:48:48his congregation during the Sunday sermon.
0:48:50 > 0:48:56"How can you sit and listen to the church bells playing Home Sweet Home," he thundered...
0:49:04 > 0:49:06The newspaper agreed.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21Vicar and journalist were railing, both at the town's social problems,
0:49:21 > 0:49:25and also at the indifference of most of the townsfolk.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30Was the very idea of a slum beyond comprehension in a town
0:49:30 > 0:49:34which had so carefully cultivated an image of perfection?
0:49:43 > 0:49:47But the council was listening, even if others were not,
0:49:47 > 0:49:52and here, in the 1930s, in the previously undeveloped north-west corner of Ludlow,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56they built Sandpits estate.
0:49:58 > 0:50:04Today, it's home to nearly 4,000 of Ludlow's 10,000 residents,
0:50:04 > 0:50:06nearly half of Ludlow's population,
0:50:07 > 0:50:11but it remains a bit of a secret, unseen place.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16I met a few people in town who were surprised I was even coming here.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20The population of Ludlow is disproportionately old.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24Over 30% are over 60.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28You have to come to Sandpits to find the young people,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32because most of the town's under-30s live here.
0:50:32 > 0:50:38Statistics can be slippery tools, but here's one I've been trying to grasp.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42Sandpits is the most deprived place in South Shropshire.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47You have to travel 30 miles north to find anywhere more deprived.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52Given that the historic heart of Ludlow exudes such an air of wellbeing, of prosperity,
0:50:52 > 0:50:57it does make you wonder whether there aren't two different kinds of community here,
0:50:57 > 0:51:00that this is a town of two halves.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06I do love the town,
0:51:06 > 0:51:10but it's the unemployment side of it which is a nightmare.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13When I was in school, the only thing I was good at
0:51:13 > 0:51:18was my cooking side of things - I had a passion for cooking, so they put me on this apprenticeship.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22Then after that, I had a full-time job at a three-star hotel with two rosettes.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Straightaway after school at 16.
0:51:24 > 0:51:29That was the highlight of my life, and I'm 22 now, and it's gone gradually downhill.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34Obviously, the pub trades are dying out. 25 pubs a week are getting shut down.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38That side of things are not working out for people like me, like a young chef.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42And are you applying for chef jobs at the moment?
0:51:42 > 0:51:46I apply every day. I fill in CVs, I look on websites, I go into pubs,
0:51:46 > 0:51:52walk in in a nice posh suit, try and get myself a job, but it is difficult.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55If you could change one thing about Ludlow, what would it be?
0:51:55 > 0:52:01Don't just look at the fame and glory of the food side of Ludlow and all that sort of thing.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05Try and help the people that are unemployed, try and help us out a little bit.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08We do try. People say we don't try, we like to dole doss.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10It's not the case at all. I hate it.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12I can't stand being on the dole.
0:52:15 > 0:52:20The characteristic that's preserved the historic face of Ludlow,
0:52:20 > 0:52:25that vast cocoon of protective, productive countryside, makes life difficult these days
0:52:25 > 0:52:30for young people who want work, and for a lot of young people here in Sandpits
0:52:30 > 0:52:35who can't get work in town, it's a very long hike to find it elsewhere.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39All that countryside used to create a lot of jobs.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41Not any more.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48Let's go.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55But some in the town haven't forgotten Sandpits.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00In 2007, former boxer Chinny Richards and others
0:53:00 > 0:53:06set up Ludlow Amateur Boxing Club in the heart of the estate.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20We're trying to give the lads an aim, get them off the streets,
0:53:20 > 0:53:24not that Sandpits is a bad place - it's a decent estate these days -
0:53:24 > 0:53:27but it just gives the youngsters of Ludlow a chance to come
0:53:27 > 0:53:31and vent their anger if they like and install discipline along the way.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37Do you think it's made a difference to the community having it here?
0:53:37 > 0:53:39I think so. I hope so.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41What do you get out of it?
0:53:41 > 0:53:44You've only got to look around! That's what I get out of it.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53What do you think it's doing for Ludlow?
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Putting Ludlow on the map in the boxing world.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59Make Ludlow famous for something other than its castle and its food!
0:53:59 > 0:54:02That's right, that's right!
0:54:02 > 0:54:08This whole club is being run by volunteers who are busting a gut to make Sandpits work.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12Anybody who doubts this community's future, come along here.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16This community is on its feet and fighting for its own future.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28The citizens of Ludlow are gathering at the racecourse on a chilly night in March.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32But tonight's action is not on the track.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34It's in the ring.
0:54:37 > 0:54:44It's a benefit night for the boxing club, to raise funds for a new clubhouse.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48The town has turned out in force,
0:54:48 > 0:54:53keen to support Chinny and the amateur boxers of Ludlow.
0:54:53 > 0:54:58This is the last kind of show I expected to see in Ludlow. It's a big night.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03There are people here from all over town, both sides of the track.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05It's electrifying, edge-of-the-seat stuff.
0:55:05 > 0:55:10To get up in that ring, these youngsters have been training four years.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12There's so much happening in here.
0:55:12 > 0:55:18It's about fundraising, it's about taking youngsters off the streets.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22It also tells us something about Ludlow itself, the self-discipline,
0:55:22 > 0:55:29the self-belief, and the guts that it takes to make an isolated town work.
0:55:39 > 0:55:40BELL RINGS
0:55:40 > 0:55:42'Let's hear it for these guys!
0:55:42 > 0:55:44'What a cracking contest!'
0:56:02 > 0:56:09All towns have their contrasting neighbourhoods, have done since the earliest days of our urban history.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13There's always a community on the other side of the track.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18What matters is that communities on both sides of the track
0:56:18 > 0:56:22feel as if they belong to the town, THEIR town.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Perfect it isn't, but maybe it comes close.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35Ludlow cleverly uses its shared spaces,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38from the markets to the boxing club,
0:56:38 > 0:56:41from the church to the supermarket, to bring people together.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44It's something that a town can do best.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48Bigger than a village, more intimate than a city.
0:56:48 > 0:56:55Its ultimate shared space is the vast landscape that surrounds it.
0:57:06 > 0:57:12To this day, Ludlow's never lost touch with its surrounding countryside.
0:57:12 > 0:57:18It does send a shiver up my spine that a place like this can exist in the 21st century,
0:57:18 > 0:57:25a real market town, a country town that's managed to preserve its roots, managed to stay in touch
0:57:25 > 0:57:31with the fields and the pastures that gave rise to its first streets nearly 1,000 years ago.
0:57:31 > 0:57:37Ludlow's still the hub, the beating heart of its own market garden.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40It's not just a beautiful town.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42It's a beautiful idea.
0:57:49 > 0:57:56For a free booklet about what makes our towns work, call...
0:57:56 > 0:58:01Or go to:
0:58:01 > 0:58:04And follow the links to the Open University.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09Next time, I'll be in Scarborough, in Yorkshire,
0:58:09 > 0:58:14where I'll be discovering what it's like to live on the edge.
0:58:14 > 0:58:20Why Scarborough has inspired one of our greatest living playwrights.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24The best is here. You're a seaside resort, but you can have the best.
0:58:24 > 0:58:30And what the future might hold for this traditional seaside town.
0:58:37 > 0:58:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:40 > 0:58:43E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk